Posts Tagged ‘Freddy Adu’

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Old Man Adu Ready for Olympic Leading Role

Old man. Grizzled veteran. Elder statesman.

These are not the usual characterizations US soccer fans make when talking about Freddy Adu. For the longest time Adu has always been the youngest player just about anywhere he has played. He was the youngest player in MLS. The youngest player at the Under-17 World Cup, the youngest on the US Under-20 team and the youngest ever to be capped on the US senior national team.

But time has a funny way of changing things. Four years ago, at age 18, Adu was on the US team at the Summer Olympics in Beijing.  Now 22, Adu stands to make his second Olympic team and suddenly finds himself as the most experienced man in Caleb Porter’s Under-23 camps.

He cannot help but laugh when thinking of himself as ‘the old guy’ on the team, but for a player who has had a nomadic career such as his, Adu can provide a great lesson to his Olympic teammates on the pitfalls that soccer can bring.

“That is something that we we’re talking about at the last camp,” Adu told 10 Kit. “It is kind of strange to be around guys who are actually younger than me but it is a great opportunity for me to be a leader and bring not just my Olympic experience but also my national team experience to the table.” (more…)

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United States

Adu-Nowak Reunion Could Make Philly Cup Contenders

TRAVIS CLARK – MLS and the Philadelphia Union announced the strongly-rumored signing of Freddy Adu early Friday morning.

It’s a low risk, high reward move that if it pans out, transforms the Union from a playoff team into bona fide MLS Cup contender.

Before his acquisition, the Union were already on track for a playoff spot, thanks mostly to a renovated defense led by goalie Faryd Mondragon that is tied for second-best in the league in fewest goals allowed.

The addition – and then subtraction – of Carlos Ruiz helped the Union keep up in the scoring department, and at times, looked to be sufficient. A rotating panel of strikers, between Danny Mwanga, Sebastian Le Toux and Veljko Paunovic, chipped in as well.

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News in brief

WED. Aug 10 (PM): USA-Mexico, Friendlies, Eto’o, and Adu

If you did not know in less than an hour USA will play Mexico. Join us here for a live chat of the match.

Here are the starting lineups for the USA-Mexico match.

USA: Howard; Cherundolo, Orozco Fiscal, Bocanegra, Castillo; Jones, Beckerman; Donovan, Bradley, Torres; Buddle

Mexico: Ochoa; Juárez, Márquez, Moreno, Salcido; Barrera, Torrado, Castro, Guardado; Naelson, Peralta.

There were a few other international friendlies earlier today. Italy has marked their return to the world stage after beating Spain 2-1. Italy opening the scoring with a beautiful goal by Ricardo Montolivo, and Alberto Aquilani won the game for Italy  with his goal in the 84th minute.

Germany put the hurt on Brazil beating them 3-2. The Germans controlled the majority of the match and Neymar made the scoreline look closer with a goal in the 90th minute. Also, if you have yet to see Mario Gotze make sure to watch Borussia Dortmand’s next match.

A surprise move will see Cameroonian striker Samuel Eto’o head over to Russia to play for Anzhi Makhachkala next year. The Russian club will pay €35 million to get the striker.

Also, Freddy Adu is rumored to be headed to Chivas USA.

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United States

10Kit Roundtable: Unfamiliar Faces to Watch Under Klinsmann

Having Jürgen Klinsmann as manager means new ideas and hopefully a more attacking style of play. It is not just the tactics that are changing with Klinsmann as manager, but also a few faces that the previous regime deemed unworthy get their chance to prove their worth.

The German expressed his desire to add a Latin flavor to the USMNT and he has done that calling up Edgar Castillo, José Francisco Torres, and Michael Orozco. However, Klinsmann did not stop there and he added a few more players that have not seen a USMNT camp in a while. Players like Heath Pearce, Ricardo Clark, DaMarcus Beasley, Edson Buddle, and Kyle Beckerman. So today’s 10kit round table discussion is, which new face that had fallen out of favor with Bob Bradley are you looking forward to watching the most? (more…)

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United States

What to Du with Adu…

With all the buzz humming around where the likes of Luka Modric, Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri, Alexis Sanchez, Neymar, and others will suit up come August, relatively little breath has been spent on Americans plying their trade across the Pond. Jermaine Jones, who enjoyed a successful stint at Blackburn, has had a nearly $16 million transfer fee placed on his head, driving away potential suitors. Michael Bradley could yet move as Borussia Mönchengladbach prepares for another relegation battle in the Bundesliga, and Jonathan Spector is a free agent with an uncertain future.

But no American player’s decision has as much riding on it as Freddy Adu.

The 22-year-old midfielder burst back onto the radar of fans and club teams with a brilliant – and surprising – performance in June’s Gold Cup. Adu’s play brimmed with the confidence you would expect of a player in top form – not a player that had to seek a loan to a second division Turkish club to get regular playing time. By taking on defenders, creating space through bursts of speed or quick one-twos, unsettling opponent back lines (thereby preventing opposing wing-backs the ability to plunge into the attacking third), and adding a creativity the US team has desperately needed, Adu became a focal point of American attacks.

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United States

Who Improved their Stock the Most?

ANTHONY MANNINO- Now that ample time has been given to recover from losing a two-goal lead, it is time look at one of the positives of the Gold Cup. The Gold Cup presents an opportunity for some younger players to shine playing in their first tournament with the USMNT. While a couple players failed to live up to the billing (Tim Ream), a few players were able to use this tournament to boast their stock.

First, Sacha Kljestan who improved his stock, but barley misses out in making it into the top three. A few bright moments from Kljestan will ensure that he will continue to be a part of Bob Bradley’s plans. (more…)

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10 Kit Essay, Gold Cup, World Cup 2014

Thoughts on USA-Mexico

ANTHONY MANNINO- If the loss to Panama was unacceptable, then the loss to Mexico is just disappointing. Not from the standpoint that the USMNT was the better team, but they had control of the match 22 minutes into the game. Mexico controlled the possession, but some how, some way US had a 2-0 lead. After the two goals the US defense was torn apart by Giovani Dos Santos, Pablo Barrera, and Andres Guardado.

It is not just losing to Mexico that is the problem, but not being able to play in the Confederations Cup is a huge blow for the US. Mexico will now be able to warm up for the World Cup against Spain, Brazil, Japan, winner of the Copa America, and the winner of next year’s Euros. Every team Mexico will play is a quality opponent. The US will play in the 2013 Gold Cup, and the best team they will likely face is the Mexican B team. That valuable experience is what these two squads were fighting for tonight, and Mexico won that battle. (more…)

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Gold Cup, United States

Thoughts on USA-Panama

ANTHONY MANNINO in Houston- It was not pretty, but the USMNT has now achieved their goal and will play in the Gold Cup finals. Again Bob Bradley made the gusty move to sit Landon Donovan start Alejandro Bedoya. That was not the only surprised Bradley had up the sleeve of his sweat jacket, as the American manager replaced Juan Agudelo with Freddy Adu. The teenage phenomenon who seems to have a new address every six months made all the difference with his first action in the Gold Cup. (more…)

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10 Kit Essay

New Formation for the Gold Cup

ANTHONY MANNINO- The recent call-ups of Freddy Adu and Chris Wondolowski could mean that Bob Bradley’s formation will not be the usual 4-4-2. In the US national team’s last friendly, Bradley tried a five-man midfield against Argentina. The results were poor, and Jozy Altidore looked lonely up top. The Michael Bradley-Jermaine Jones-Maurice Edu central midfield combination struggled to get past the halfway line. Still, that was against Argentina, one of the best teams in the world… and putting Adu and Wondo on the roster means Bradley has more freedom to change the US formation to his liking. Although a 4-4-2 is still possible if Bradley starts Altidore and Juan Agudelo up top, I do not see the American manager starting the young Agudelo.

The first possible option is a five-man midfield that will look like a 4-5-1 or a 4-2-3-1. Personally, I hope that Bradley does not repeat his mistake and play Bradley, Jones, and Edu at the same time. It’s like trying to fit a circle into a square piece; three defensive minded midfielders cannot occupy the two defensive midfield spots. I know they are the US’ three best central midfielders with Holden injured, but Bradley, Jones, and Edu are too similar to play at the same time. (more…)

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United States

Bradley Addresses Gold Cup Surprises, Omissions

BRENT LATHAM – Bob Bradley’s Gold Cup roster announcement had plenty of surprises, and the coach had plenty to say about it on a conference call immediately following the selection, which was delayed by what the USSF called “last minute issues.”

In the end the buzz was about the inclusion of some surprises, mainly Freddy Adu and Robbie Rogers, and the exclusion of a number of guys that most probably would have liked to see on the team.

More analysis later, let’s get right into what Bradley had to say:

On Timmy Chandler’s omission:

“We felt that it didn’t make sense at this time for him, he has told us that physically and mentally this season has been a hard one. We felt that we’ve worked to build a good relationship with him and that when you add it all up that the time wasn’t right for this Gold Cup.”

“The simple matter is that the way things work, until a player plays in an official match, you don’t know for sure [whether he'll play for another country]. In all of our conversations with Timmy he’s always expressed how happy he is to play for the U.S., and we think he’s gonna continue to play a roll for us.”

On Charlie Davies’ unsurprising omission: (more…)

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