yep, a full transfer to a Championship team would be great. The only thing with Hull is you never know where Phil Brown stands as coach and I'd hate to see Adu caught up in another new coach and player turnover scenario again. I also have no idea how he'd get a work permit but I'm not 100% on all the details.

1/3/2010 10:19:00 PM

apparently he's going to Greece to join up with GAM

I love this news; he already had a shit load of pressure on him that he obviously couldn't handle and I can't imagine a good ending under the EPL microscope for a struggling team trying to stay up. Hopefully he can get some minutes and some fucking confidence back. As much as people want to shit on him, he has skills and it's a shame he's gone to waste the last few years

1/4/2010 3:57:46 PM

I was never impressed with Adu's play, but I gave everyone the benefit of the doubt since he was so young. I say he's got maybe three full years to make up ground and prove me wrong, otherwise he's a lost cause. For a player that started so young, he should be nearing his prime about now. Instead he plateaued a couple of years ago.

1/5/2010 1:36:44 AM

i agree with ^. if he was gonna be great we wouldve seen it by now. he wouldnt be on the bench on these shitty european clubs. even with the americans, the great ones at that position were good young. he messed up by going into the mls at a young age and learning terrible tactics. had he gone overseas he might have become great.

1/5/2010 2:23:06 AM

i mean, he's had 2 bad years, but when he first came to benfica, you can't say he wasn't one of the top young players in the world. He had just gotten done dominating brazil u-20, and scored like 5 goals for benfica that year i think? for a guy that was like 18 and playing in europe for the first time, that is really good.

1/5/2010 2:47:38 AM

He's a good player technically. He's got good vision. He's quick and he's got a lot of experience for someone his age. He's still really young too. He's only 20, right? I'm pretty sure Dempsey didn't break into the full squad until he was like 23 or 24 and when he's on his game he's one of our best players.

Adu is also hurt by the fact that attacking midfield is the most solid position the US has as far as the depth chart is concerned. He doesn't have the mentality to play striker despite our weakness at that position and he's not big or strong enough right now to play defensive midfielder. He's just got to learn how to play against bigger stronger opponents. I think a good player mold for him to strive for is Iniesta. They have pretty much the same physical skillset. Adu might even be a little bit faster. Obviously he's not there right now, but he is quite good technically when he's playing well. I just think he's way too young to completely give up on him right now. At this point in his career he is extremely disappointing but I don't think anyone would argue that he's been handled at all like he should have been.

1/5/2010 5:06:54 AM

he could still develop into a very solid player... I think the expectations were just too high for him from the beginning

1/5/2010 5:59:15 PM

Quote :

"he's got a lot of experience for someone his age"

What experience? I thought everyone in this thread has been saying he needs to go somewhere where he can actually play???

1/5/2010 6:07:22 PM

Iniesta?? Adu???




wat?

1/6/2010 1:54:54 AM

Quote :

"i agree with ^. if he was gonna be great we wouldve seen it by now. he wouldnt be on the bench on these shitty european clubs. even with the americans, the great ones at that position were good young. he messed up by going into the mls at a young age and learning terrible tactics. had he gone overseas he might have become great."

We shit on Donovan for pussing out on Europe, balling up MLS, and turning into the best USMNT player of all-time... but yet, we shit on Adu for trying to stick it out in Europe when he's obviously been failing.

Who knows what Donovan may have been if he had stayed at Bayer or moved on to a bunch of other European clubs because he couldn't make the squads? He's obviously has the talent, but being in Europe is just a whole different animal for a young player so I'm not ready to write Adu off just yet. If he gets some minutes at Aris and a full year of experience/confidence... he'll be right back in the picture. I think I also give him a little more credit because I've never really seen him have a horrible game in a US shirt

And learning terrible tactics haven't ruined Dempsey as you could argue he'll probably be the most successful American field player to ever play in Europe when it's all said and done... check these stats I found, they were as of like 12/29 so apps and goals are higher now

Quote :

"-longest active 1st team Fulham player (10 days senior to Simon Davies) -leads all active Fulham players in appearances. 100 PL games since January 2007 (9 PL games more than Davies). -leads all active Fulham players in career goals for the team (21 overall, 19 PL, 1 Carling Cup, 1 Europa League). -lead the team in Premier League goals in 2007-08 and 08-09. -currently has started 44 consecutive PL games. "

1/6/2010 8:08:56 AM

adu to aris, it was the best decision. It would've been really hard for him to get playing time at hull this season. Adu does have a lot of experience for someone his age. He's been playing first team football since he was 14 and has already been playing with the national team. Players like gerrard and john terry were just moving up from the reserves to the first team at 20, so Adu really does have a lot of experience. Im not comparing his talent level to theirs at all, but experience-wise at this point in his career, he has a lot.

1/6/2010 11:12:18 AM

^ and

Quote :

"Iniesta?? Adu??? wat?"

Did you even read my post? I said a good player mold for him to strive for. I even said he's nowhere near the player Iniesta is right now. Read the whole post, twat.

1/6/2010 1:54:30 PM

Ok, cunt. But that doesn't change the fact that Mr. Dribble First and Never Keeps His Head Up Adu is of no comparison to Sr. Pass First, I Can See The Whole Play Before It Happens Iniesta.

I should strive to be more like Michael Jordan.

Twat.

1/6/2010 2:51:26 PM

Freddy Adu HAS the vision to make excellent passes and more importantly he has the ability to make them. Does he always make those passes? No, definitely not. Is that something he can learn from getting more playing time? Absolutely. Will he ever be as good as Iniesta? I highly doubt it. But that doesn't mean Iniesta isn't a good example for him to strive to be. Don't be a jackass.

1/6/2010 4:01:58 PM

Well at this rate Adu is gonna be more qualified for some sort of international language communications job, rather than playing soccer

1/6/2010 5:00:27 PM

He shouldn't be striving to be like any particular player. He should work on his game so that he's consistent enough to earn some playing time. From what I've seen, he doesn't have the vision nor tactical awareness required to be an Iniesta. Iniesta learned the game as a holding midfielder at La Masia, which explains a lot of his abilities such as vision and tactical awareness. Adu, like JT noted, didn't come from a good background tactically and is almost a complete liability defensively. When you're head and shoulders above your opponents at age 14, there doesn't seem much need for tactics, as opposed to being in a world renown youth academy where your playing with/against the likes of Cesc Fabregas and are afforded top notch coaching everyday.

People need to stop comparing Adu to first class players. He has some undeniable ability on the ball, but without any tactical awareness and consistency, he's destined to be another flop.

[Edited on January 6, 2010 at 6:46 PM. Reason : .]

1/6/2010 6:44:14 PM

Quote :

"He shouldn't be striving to be like any particular player. He should work on his game so that he's consistent enough to earn some playing time."

"Work on his game" by.... improving his tactical awareness and learning when/where to make passes? What the hell are you trying to say?

Any struggling player should look at a world class player who plays in a position similar to theirs and try to emulate what they see - what's wrong with Adu saying, "Damn, I want to be like that guy," and then putting in the work to do just that?

[Edited on January 6, 2010 at 8:37 PM. Reason : .]

1/6/2010 8:35:48 PM

^

Skill is the hard part to learn, and he's got that. You can get better at tactics and positioning from watching film and putting in the hours off the field learning. And the guy has been playing as a professional since he was 14. He's still only 20. You can't look at his obvious ability on the ball and write him off yet. If he doesn't do anything by the time the 2014 World Cup rolls around then yeah, he's probably gonna be a bust. But even if he doesn't play in this World Cup (which is about a million to one longshot) he could still legitimately play in 3 World Cups. He's simply a victim of the American hype machine when it comes to soccer.

And I'm by no means guaranteeing that he'll be even a good player. I'm just saying he's still young enough to not make a final judgment on him.

1/6/2010 10:24:07 PM

Quote :

"Any struggling player should look at a world class player who plays in a position similar to theirs and try to emulate what they see"

What the hell are you trying to say? I acknowledged that his individual skills are actually pretty good, he should be learning the game, because the reason he isn't playing is obviously related to his tactical awareness/decision making or maybe just a general bad attitude/work rate that we don't necessarily know about.

My point was that he shouldn't be trying to emulate a single player. He needs to do whatever the manager wants him to do, not what Aaron Lennon is doing at Tottenham or Iniesta is doing at Barcelona.

1/6/2010 11:58:28 PM

it's not his work rate or attitude, from what i've read he works extremely hard in practice. When he first came to benfica, that's what the coaches liked most about him, and that's why he played so much at first.

1/7/2010 12:45:21 AM

Quote :

"My point was that he shouldn't be trying to emulate a single player. He needs to do whatever the manager wants him to do,"

In the short term, of course. But are you arguing that a certain manager might not like it if he improved his tactical awareness and vision, and became a player similar to Iniesta? If he has the skills already, what exactly would a manager be telling him?

Stop taking it so damn literally. We're not saying he should go get Iniesta's boots, wear a #8 Barca jersey underneath his Aris one, and learn how to run the exact same way. It's just that he's a style of player that could fit with Adu's skillset, IF he learns the proper tactics and understanding of the game. Obviously he'll never be exactly Iniesta but he could definitely be a poor man's Iniesta in a country like Greece.

^ I find it hard to believe he's spent so much time on the bench with a great work rate and a great attitude, because we've already seen he has skills (definitely enough skills to make more appearances than he did in the freaking Portuguese first division) but who knows.

[Edited on January 7, 2010 at 7:58 AM. Reason : .]

1/7/2010 7:57:51 AM

yea maybe you're right, but switching coaches so much can't help either.

1/7/2010 11:04:10 AM

Clint Dempsey may have severely injured his knee today at Blackburn.

1/17/2010 1:23:06 PM

FFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

1/17/2010 1:34:10 PM

shit that really sucks. the rest of our national team starters should just rest until the world cup. i can't take any more injuries. by the time the world cup comes around our only player left is gonna be brian ching at this rate.

in good news though, maurice edu has been playing a lot for rangers lately and freddy adu was in the lineup for aris today. Having them get more playing time will help our team a lot.



[Edited on January 17, 2010 at 1:51 PM. Reason : as]

1/17/2010 1:47:42 PM

Quote :

"by the time the world cup comes around our only player left is gonna be brian ching at this rate."

isn't that all we need though?

1/17/2010 6:21:36 PM

Is Onyewu going to make it for the WC?

Whatever happened to Corey Gibbs?

1/17/2010 6:34:41 PM

fuck.

this sucks so bad



^ yeah Gooch should be back and Gibbs is having trouble finding a solid spot for an MLS team, so you can forget about him

1/17/2010 9:20:26 PM

Dear USA players:

Please stop getting injured. kthnx

1/18/2010 10:43:17 AM

i'll only ever remember cory gibbs for that red card

i'm glad he did it and all, but still

that's the only memory i have of him, despite knowing full well that he did other things

1/18/2010 10:47:10 AM

Quote :

"During the Blackburn Rovers fixture on Sunday 17 January, Clint Dempsey sustained moderate damage to a ligament in his right knee. Following the results of a scan, early indications are positive in that no operation is required. At this stage it is thought that the injury will not prevent him from featuring for Fulham, prior to the end of the season. Whilst obviously disappointed, Clint is focused on his rehabilitation and will work hard, in line with medical advice, to return at the soonest opportunity."

http://www.fulhamfc.com/Club/News/NewsArticles/2010/January/DempseyInjuryUpdate.aspx

1/19/2010 6:12:30 PM

that sounds promising...i think

1/19/2010 7:39:32 PM

^

1/19/2010 7:41:26 PM

yeah, I guess it's good for us that he'll be back

sucks for Fulham though, he's been their best player this year

1/19/2010 7:43:39 PM

.


[Edited on January 19, 2010 at 7:44 PM. Reason : .]

1/19/2010 7:43:39 PM

We better hope everyone recovers for the World Cup. I didn't see the game last night, but if that roster is all we have when the World Cup comes around then we are screwed.

1/24/2010 2:30:34 PM

i watched the first 20 minutes. referee was card-happy and we looked pretty bad.

1/24/2010 2:58:28 PM

No one played for the U.S. that will play in the world cup besides probably Bornstein and Feilhaber (maybe Connor Casey). With that said they looked pretty bad.

1/24/2010 5:59:26 PM

so it was pretty much the mls all stars (except landycakes) against honduras and we got smoked...says a lot about the mls....

1/24/2010 6:58:39 PM

I didn't watch this bullshit

^ too harsh... don't forget all the foreign talent in MLS - Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Shalrie Joseph, Dwayne de Rosario, Fredy Montero to name a few

1/24/2010 8:33:30 PM

well they arent americans. i guess i meant american mls all stars...

plus the average of those players you gave me is probably over 30



[Edited on January 24, 2010 at 8:49 PM. Reason : schelotto turns 37 this season, joseph and dwayne 32 or 33. other dude is young though]

1/24/2010 8:47:08 PM

Quote :

"No one played for the U.S. that will play in the world cup besides probably Bornstein and Feilhaber (maybe Connor Casey). With that said they looked pretty bad."

I don't know if I can agree with that statement at the rate our top players have been getting hurt.

1/25/2010 12:03:47 AM

ahh shit. now we may actually have to worry about algeria...

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=287448&cc=5901

1/25/2010 4:43:39 AM

It's probably better that they got a marquee win so now we won't be overlooking them. I feel like the USA is definitely the better team, now we just know we need to not sleep on them.

1/25/2010 5:51:20 AM

Quote :

"schelotto turns 37 this season"

true

he's still a baller though

1/25/2010 7:38:28 AM

I was already worried about Algeria. We are cursed because we always seem to blow it on the last day vs an African nation when a win would advance us (2006 WC, 2008 Olympics).

1/25/2010 12:30:38 PM

Quote :

""That's what's been driving me this whole time," Davies said. "I've been looking at Web sites the whole time and they're always saying, 'We need to find a replacement for Charlie. We need to find someone because he's not going to be back.' "These people don't know," Davies said. "They don't know me, and if they just knew me alone, let alone the determination and will I have now, you guys don't know. "

OH HE (will be) BACK

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/id/4856256/ce/us/davies-remarkable-path-recovery?cc=5901&ver=us

1/25/2010 2:48:11 PM

The way I look at it, I basically discovered Charlie Davies.

You my boy, CD9.

1/25/2010 3:44:40 PM

that article decided it

I'm getting a #9 when the new jerseys come out

1/25/2010 3:45:33 PM

Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world's first bionic man. Charlie Davies will be that man. We can make him better than he was before. Better, stronger, faster.

1/25/2010 3:50:32 PM