It's all exhibition and no finishing product, managers want, someone who can score goals , because they know that is what counts for them at the end of the day.
Exactly the short sighted opinions most of his coaches had of him. Push him into some team mold, cut him if he cant play with people with far less talent
Jajajaja You call that dribbling anything close to neymar and Messi? Lol no wonder this guy was hyped only in usa, cause they don't know sh*t about football
Trust the Americans to ruin a kid with huge potentials so early in his footballing life solely for profit. I'm sure if the USA had the 15yr old Lionel Messi, the story of his career would have been the same as Freddy Adu's.
@@abstraqtphilosophy7357 Agree completely. He was a genuinely special talent - you can see that in the video. Beating players is one of the hardest things in the game and he does it with ease. It's insane to rush a kid like that just for money and hype. The thing he needed was to have his feet on the ground - to develop discipline, movement, tracking, finishing, passing, vision - all the qualities a mature player needs. In almost every case when players get overhyped at a young age they fail to truly master their craft and end up not fulfilling their potential. The Walcott was similar for England. If you watched him play as a senior player he was clueless about movement and making the right runs. You could see the hesitation if you watched him live.
Once upon a time this guy was going to be incredible, now his highlight reel consists largely of times he dribbled one or two players and then blasted the ball wide.
Gotta give it to him for being 14-17 at the time. A VERY raw prospect but someone like this would have lit the world on fire if he had actual training and proper management.
He played for many good to top level clubs in Europe (which even now is by far better than the US). Maybe the problem doesn't come from the training he received, but the dedication he put in his training...
He was developing fine before getting loaned out by Benefica. After the first loan doesn't work you keep the man on the youth squad unless it's about money. I think Rui Costa was his only true mentor. In states with MLS players and coaches did not like him because of the money he made. He's actually a cool person and intelligent person.
This kid had so much potential. Great skill, close ball control.. abit selfish in some occasions, and lacks composure. He should have made it to one of the top clubs at the very least. Very strange how his career dipped, and he's only 28 still.
Scott Michael The MLS/US Soccer itself is responsible for its career dip! They overhyped him. They never gradually worked him up the ranks from Academy level to U-20s, to Gold Cup Squad, to Sr. Team Qualifiers, World Cup Squad. Thats what happened
imo only two managers could have got a 'proper' player out of him and that would have been Ferguson or Wenger due to how great they both were at finding and developing youngsters, and in Wengers case also 'unknowns'. Though considering Adu did trial with Man Utd and despite Ferguson saying he was good they chose not to sign him when he turned 18, and also that (as far as we know) Wenger never really considered him maybe he wasn't all that.
@@nofurtherwest3474 nailed it on the head, it's like he was taught if your in the box never pass n to either try and draw a pk or go for an almost impossible and illogical shot
People who focus on Adu's dribbling skill fail to recognize that the kid had no football intelligence and vision. He doesn't pass. He had quick feet but after "successful" dribbling, he often ended up at a worse attacking position than where he was when he received the ball. All in all, he'd be a great Sunday league player but never was supposed to amount to anything in European top teams.
Sadly, you don't make great players with only great dribble and pace. You need timing, dedication, luck, patience, ,good health... Many talents were wasted or not used to their potential because they didn't match those criterion. Adu is no exception
I’d imagine it would be better if he had proper coaching and was actually put through a real youth setup (rather than having to enter the MLS draft at 14).
As was the stamina. His failure reminded me of the failure of all of the players we had in his generation who had the potential to be special footballers in America. Even the ones who didn't fail, their potential was killed by the same things, they just had the work ethic unlike Adu and the others.
@@fakephoenixprince nope Mls exploited him for marketing reasons and didn't train him properly. Ravel on the other hand went through all age groups, but had attitude issues and was influenced by the wrong people in the rough area of Manchester
@@MrOmarthegangsta I'm no trying to say they were the same person mentally. The comparison is their showing of world class talent so early, both relative countries did not handle them properly.
He was a playmaker not scorer. That being said he can score but he’s getting double n triple team in these highlights. Y’all expect to much. There’s something call chemistry that’s need to score where teammates play well and know spacing. But a novice like you wouldn’t know that.
@Lucas James That’s what happens when everyone is mad he hasn’t brought World Cups to US of all places. It was a a marketing push but that doesn’t mean he can’t play. You don’t see guys standing like statues or running offside in this video? SMH. Adu never got judged as a regular player so he ended being bench for inferior players you don’t peak at 16 or look better at Benefica at 19 than every where else? His age is the truth because in his teens he was slower and his shot power was weaker and then he developed an explosive first step and solid shot power.
I just heard about this player today. He's really got skills but he doesn't use it to the fullest. The best players score or pass it for the goal. That's the next level of skill.
Freddy never had great pace, had ok stamina. His dribbling and awareness were next level though. A lot of times he'd dribble so much he had no one to pass to... 😂
Dios le dio habilidades de gambetear pero no definición. Su historia sería diferente si pasará la pelota a los definidores que se encargue de meter los goles con las jugadas que él iniciaba. Hoy estaría en un club grande.
He plays like a freestyler with the physical capability of a footballer. But nowhere near the consistency. We got RU-vid now so we can find millions of adu
We can't find million Adu's. We haven't found another Adu-like talent since in America and we are now into our golden generation with Pulisic, Reyna, Dest, and others. Adu was special talent wise but you need a lot more than talent to be elite. Adu is basically soccer's Michael Beasley. There are only a few players I've seen with Adu's talent in the last 20 years. To say there are a million of him is foolishness.
@@kennethch9549 obviously I'm not talking about usmnt, but with regards to the entire world, there are many players just like him that never made it for a number of reasons.
You can't deny the lads got skillz! Had he been granted a permit at United he would have lived up to his destiny as one of the greatest footballers ever to play the game!
Football is just opinions though he had the physical condition and speed to excel, but he never tweaked his game just a little to see if things may have turned out much better. Learning to shoot at goal on his first touch would have gave him more space and angle to shoot and wouldn't have allowed the defense or goalkeeper to regain their position like can be seen here in several instance where he's all ' touch, touch, touch, shoot' by the goalkeeper and defense were well positioned and prepared for what was coming. Holding on to the ball or dribbling for too long would pass in the early MLS days, but as noted before once he faced off with smarter footbal IQ opponents it was over for him.
Marvin Hagler once said: "It's tough to get out of bed to do roadwork at 5am when you're sleeping in silk pyjamas." Adu was given everything as a adolescent. Why would he subsequently feel the necessity to be hungry? Money and fame and hype at an early age ruined him.
He's got good control and dribbling ability just wasn't lucky enough with the finish some times just wanted a little bit more grooming from a world class coach
how can you stay in USA and become world star in football.its like living in africa or asia,europe and saying am the MVP in basket ball.he should ve moved to where the heart of the game is,europe.
He had the ability but just was not a student of the game...or maybe MLS as a kid stunted his growth. He probably should have went to Europe instead at 14...but $52 million is pretty persuasive.
I will never understand how can you give up on such a player as a club. When you have such a special and talented player in your roster you should do whatever you can to develop him properly. Like hire a special coach or something. Don't let him go wtf.
Freddy was a major party-drinking-girls plus awful in training type of pro. He really needed more than anything to be born in this generation with his talent. If he was born in our current system in America, he would be world-class but back then, Adu saved the MLS. It was just 10 teams and they were about to lose them. He was major for the league but it ruined his career.
Adu was best thing that ever happened in American Soccer historical, and I alot people are hating on me, and he is still good, or more better than most american players in the national team. Right now is all about politics in american football ⚽ right now.
It's a hot potato affect. These teams are allow him to workout with them and never had true interest to begin with. So trial is misnomer. Teams usually want you or they don't before any trial. I wouldn't call it failure if they knew they were not goimg to sign him.
Must of done something to one of the usa soccer ejecutives to make hos career end like that. Dude was a beast just didnt have the luck of finishing but did everthing else well
I believe the biggest mistake was to make him debut at 14. He needed to develop more and maybe go to an European or South American club where they break your bones in youth teams. He would've got a good mindset and would've been ready to play professionally at 17 or 18.
FREDDY ADU REMINDS ME OF THE MEXICAN PLAYER GIOVANI DOS SANTOS...TOO MUCH HYPED AND AT THE END OF THE DAY NOTHING HAPPEN WITH BOTH FELLAS TOO MUCH PARTY AND ALCOHOL FOR SURE
Even if he didn't improve anything else but his shooting and finishing, he would easily consistently score 15 goals a season in any European team. His dribbling was phenomenal at the time for his age, but his shooting was atrocious. You can see the older videos of a younger Fredy Adu and you can see that his finishing is just as bad today as it was then. If anyone keeps wondering what happened to him, that's what happened to him. He stopped trying to improve. He could have been legendary.
It's not just that - his movement was atrocious - he was very lazy, didn't make penetrating runs at all. I agree he could have been a top flight player but there were quite a few weaknesses in his game. He also wasn't that imposing physically which would have caught up with him as he got older.
For me he ia still the potentially greatest player of all time. Man, if you just seen him in the early 2000 you would think he was miles ahead of any other superstar
No matter what the expectations were of him, he should've have stayed in the MLS to develop more. He would have had more support, more playing time, and time to mature physically and mentally. Everyone says he should have been in Europe...he WAS in Europe, that's what derailed his career. Most of the highlights from this video are, "peak" Freddy Adu when he was playing in MLS or with US Youth National Team (ages 14-18ish) before the European loan cycle began.
Lol he went to one of the best developmental clubs in one of the best developmental leagues, and the problem was that he needed to stay longer in a league that, at the time, was never known for developing anyone? Yeah all right.
@@KandGoodz Sorry, just seeing this. I completely agree that he went to great developmental clubs in Europe, BUT HE DID NOT DEVELOP or get consistent playing time while he was there FOR 4 YEARS! So, as I stated before, he would have been better off getting playing time and developing in the MLS for 2-3 more years. Oh and to your other comment, Bobby Convey, Jonathan Spector, Tim Howard, DaMarcus Beasley, Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Carlos Bocanegra, and Jozy Altidore just to name a few. All got their start in MLS or MLS/USA academies in the late 90s/early 2000s.
Watching his highlights now, he did have talent. Possibly not as much as hype campaign suggests as not many goals in a fairly poor MLS league and fergie didn’t sign him...As to why he never made it...5 reasons IMO: 1.His skill was based on his speed, driven by fast twitch muscle, and this can fade rapidly for some players early on or get injured. It can diminish very quickly if players do not train hard and highly motivated to stay in peak condition. Adu lack of motivation to stay in this condition impacted his performance later on his career. 2.Adu age has always been questionable and many believe he is older when he made his debut, possibly why he was so impressive at age of 14. His decline in mid 20’s may have been because he was closer to 30. 3. from poverty stricken family, moved from Ghana to US at age of 8, they couldn’t say no to some offers, thrusting adu into commercial deals instead of focusing on his development. 4. He earned too much money before achieving anything. Hype killed his career. He didn’t have to fight for position in team early on, it was all just handed to him as they thought he was next pele. 5. Poor advice and Football academies for kids, too focused on developing super stars and cash cows than preparing kids for adulthood if they make it as footballers or not. Dad left family home early in Adu life, so lack of role model to keep him focused just wasn’t there. Overall he made a lot of money, more than many players who have achieved more in the game. If I’d earned 1 million by the age of 15 It would probably change my outlook on life and drive.
@@jesseandoh9907 you must have missed the part where I acknowledged that “he did have talent”. But his talent never materialised into anything... I just gave my opinion as to why...
Goes to show how important mentorship, guidance, and personal drive is to create a truly great athlete. I think there's still time for him but he needs serious therapy and life coaching
Jugaba bien ! Si se hubiera quedado en Ghana o ido a un pais como Brasil o España donde en vez de debutar a los 15 años le hubieran enseñado a definir bien,tener más velocidad y no lo presionarán con decir que era el "nuevo Pelé" hubiera llegado lejos,lo mismo paso con Messi ( en la selección argentina) lo presionaron tanto que le cuesta en cambio en Barcelona no lo comparan con nadie por eso es el mejor jugador del mundo desde los 22 años,las presiones y comparaciones especialmente en la adolescencia son las que te marcan si quieres ser jugador de fútbol profesional
He needed to work on his finishing and his shooting. Being calm in front of the goalie isn’t that easy. That’s why every player needs good coaching no mater how good they are.
