Freddy Adu - The Missing Piece of the USMNT Puzzle

Photo credit: www.theshinguardian.com

"Freddy Adu is washed up."

"Freddy Adu...oh yeah I remember him! He was that kid that was supposed to be really good and never panned out."

"Freddy Adu is a waste of talent."

"Freddy Adu is a failure."

 

These are just some of the criticisms that Freddy Adu has to face every day. The once highly-touted American phenom was burdened with the weight of completely unfair expectations as a 14-year-old and hasn't quite lived up to them. My question is how the heck are you supposed to live up to being compared to Pelé, arguably the greatest footballer of all time? There will never be another Pelé. Oh well. Ironically, Adu now finds himself in Pelé's old stomping grounds of Brazil after just having signed with Bahia, where he will be looking to erase the memories of his time with the Philadelphia Union. Many criticized Adu while he was in Philadelphia for not providing the number of goals and assists expected out of one with the salary he had. And yes, his stats were rather poor during this time. But don't think for one second that it was his own fault; he created several goalscoring opportunities that his teammates consistently failed to capitalize on. Take a look at this video, a compilation of chances he created during the 2012 season with Philly:

 

If Adu's teammates had finished even half of the chances he set up for them he would have been among the league leaders in assists, right?. I mean how frustrating must it be to see Lionard Pajoy waste all of your glorious passes? As a D.C. United fan I get frustrated enough just watching him on TV. You can't just look at a player's stats when assessing whether or not he is a good player. There's no stat for hockey assists or "passes that should have been assists." If you do this, Freddy Adu fails to impress. But if you actually watch the game you will see just how much of an influence he is.

Last year I went with a couple of friends over Spring Break to watch the U-23s play their Olympic qualifying games in Nashville. I watched the Cuba and Canada games in person and watched the El Salvador game online. The thing that stood out to us the most during each game was how much better Freddy Adu was than everyone else. He was simply on another level, both technically and visually - it was evident in perfect full-field switches that hit Brek Shea in stride, in splitting through balls in and around the box, in retaining possession while dribbling out of the pressure of multiple defenders. It was stunning, honestly. My friends and I found ourselves asking "Wait, so why doesn't this guy play for the senior team again? He clearly belongs there. He's a better dribbler than anyone on that team and one of the best passers. He has plenty of creativity, something the team has been lacking for who knows how long. What are we missing? What is Klinsmann not seeing?" It's truly dumbfounding to me. Here are some of his highlights while with the U-23s (sorry it's not the best quality):

People also like to attack Adu's leaderhip of that team. "Yeah he was the captain but look where that got 'em." Well how would you like to captain a team that plays Ike Opara and Perry Kitchen at centerback? Perry Kitchen is a midfielder and Opara is simply a disaster. Anyone would have failed with that backline.

One prevalent criticism of Jürgen Klinsmann's stint with the USMNT has been the lack of goals. And it's a very valid criticism. We have indeed struggled to score multiple goals in games during his time. It's pretty easy to see why - we consistently field more defensive-minded midfielders than we need to (ex. Michael Bradley, Jermaine Jones, and Danny Williams at the same time) and we field other players out of their natural positions (playing Herculez Gomez or Sacha Kljestan at left wing are just a couple of examples). We don't have that one guy who can "unlock" the defense in and around the box. Michael Bradley is probably the closest to this but he's more of a deep lying playmaker that likes to control the tempo of the game. He's not one to dribble through multiple defenders and make something out of nothing. But you know who is? Yep, you guessed it - Freddy Adu. Let's take a look at the last time Freddy was called up to the senior team and actually played significant minutes:

He made an instant impact as soon as he was subbed on and gave life to a stale U.S. attack. Isn't this what we're looking for? Why doesn't Klinsmann give him a look? He has plenty of experience and has shown he can be a difference maker at the international level. Why is he not playing?

As this post comes to a close I would like to remind you that Freddy Adu is still 23 years old. Clint Dempsey was 24 years old when he moved to Fulham in the Premier League and look at what he has gone on to accomplish. Why can't Freddy do the same? Why are we so quick to write him off and say his career is over? He still has plenty of time to get better and come back better than ever. Best of luck to him as he starts this new chapter in Brazil.

Freddy Adu is exactly what the USMNT needs right now - a spark. He is the missing piece. He is the missing creativity. He's the missing flair. He's done it before. Please, Jürgen, just give him another chance. Call him up for the Gold Cup this summer and let him show what he can do. It worked out last time.

Again, what am I missing? What does Klinsmann see in Adu that makes him avoid calling him up while we can't score goals? Why is it so obvious that Adu is EXACTLY what the USMNT needs to everyone except Klinsmann? If anyone could let me know that would be great.


Hope you all have a great weekend.