Freddie Adu was supposedly only 15 years old when he started playing
for DC United. I think this is suspicious in and of itself, but after
seeing him play in person, I know the whole Adu thing is a joke. My son
and I went to see DC United play, and like almost everyone there, we
wanted to see this young phenom. Here's the reality; Adu not only
doesn't start, he barely plays. Despite fans chanting "FREDDIE" (there
goes the first name thing again), and stands filled with his jersey
replicas, Adu didn't even enter the game until early in the second
half. I kept expecting to see something amazing out of him, but instead
I saw a barely noticable, lazy forward who wandered the field out of
position, like so many young hispanic soccer players I have coached
over the years. The most puzzling thing about Adu is the fact he
doesn't appear to possess blazing speed. One would expect that the only
way a kid that young could appear so remarkable to pro soccer scouts
would be because he was so much faster than everyone else around him.
Well, either he just didn't run his fastest that night, or he simply
doesn't possess extraordinary speed. Anyway, I don't follow pro soccer
much, but I understand that Adu somehow made the all-star team. Now,
that must be a first; a forward, who isn't even a starter for his team,
being their representative for the all-star game. A cynic would think
that maybe the lords of pro soccer, in a desperate attempt to gain a
following in the U.S., invented this allegedly underaged phenom in
order to attract fans. If they did decide to do something
dishonest like that, the phenom certainly wouldn't be a white
player.
for DC United. I think this is suspicious in and of itself, but after
seeing him play in person, I know the whole Adu thing is a joke. My son
and I went to see DC United play, and like almost everyone there, we
wanted to see this young phenom. Here's the reality; Adu not only
doesn't start, he barely plays. Despite fans chanting "FREDDIE" (there
goes the first name thing again), and stands filled with his jersey
replicas, Adu didn't even enter the game until early in the second
half. I kept expecting to see something amazing out of him, but instead
I saw a barely noticable, lazy forward who wandered the field out of
position, like so many young hispanic soccer players I have coached
over the years. The most puzzling thing about Adu is the fact he
doesn't appear to possess blazing speed. One would expect that the only
way a kid that young could appear so remarkable to pro soccer scouts
would be because he was so much faster than everyone else around him.
Well, either he just didn't run his fastest that night, or he simply
doesn't possess extraordinary speed. Anyway, I don't follow pro soccer
much, but I understand that Adu somehow made the all-star team. Now,
that must be a first; a forward, who isn't even a starter for his team,
being their representative for the all-star game. A cynic would think
that maybe the lords of pro soccer, in a desperate attempt to gain a
following in the U.S., invented this allegedly underaged phenom in
order to attract fans. If they did decide to do something
dishonest like that, the phenom certainly wouldn't be a white
player.