Okay, be honest, even if you don't like him, Adu is inevitably going to make the National call ups one day. How soon do you think he will achieve this goal?

2007 or if he catches crazy fire for DC and just goes on a tear he could be called in for the last qualifier versus Panama. When I say fire, I mean he has to average a goal a game from now til the final. But then again he plays for DC so he has a better chance than anyone to make it. Realistically, Freddy has to wait, I would love to see him develop very quickly and become a star now for the nats, but he has time to develop before we really need him and time for him to learn. 2006 might not have many games so it would be hard for him to fill in there but 2007 is the Gold Cup which is where I see his first appearance.

Indeed. He's young, there's no rush for him, he's got the time to get better. I would just love to see him prospect well and earn a spot in the National team ranks. I think it would do alot for US Soccer advertising, seeing a young player like Freddy make a national team and Succeed. For USA Soccer to become big, they need entertaining players. The MLS doesn't have alot of the entertaining players that make you jump out of your seat. National team might, in the eyes of Beasly, but he's for PSV club wise.

I think it would do alot for American Soccer to see Freddy actually SUCCEED, not just be a overrated prodigy.

Honestly,I would love to see Freddy play in the national team.Since the national team hasnt had any good players since Donavan ,and if freddy is really good as they say i think we could see him in the year 2007 in the national team.It would take a lot of scoring and beating defenders and dominating games if we want to see him in the World Cup.I think though hes too young and not ready.If he does go to the world cup i think is just to compare him to pele.Pele was in the world cup at age 17 and Freddy is going to be 17 around the world cup and ppl are going to put presure on him by probably forcing him to play at a young age.I could be wrong though

*Cough* Beasly *Cough*

yeah Beasley is good,but lately he hasnt really been playing good in my opinion.What i meant was that USA hasnt had a good player like Zidane to France,Pele to Brasil,and Maradona to Argentina.U know wat i mean man

you cant expect that, soccer barelly started in the states. I seriously hope that wont ever happen, because I dont wanna see the US in the top 10.

That's your opinion. Everyone in the states would love it. A country is a country, you support where you come from. I feel the same way about your portugal

My money is on Adu not making the team until 2008. I think 2007 is a possibility, but I think 2008 is more likely. Though, Jrlm8? pointed out that being at DC is a plus for his chances as Arena definitely gives some prefential treatment to DC players (Quaranta getting more time & calls that Cunningham for example! ).

Adu has been a bust!!! He has not done anything in MLS, his name and age are what carry his reputation. Until he can be a solid everyday player for DC, hr does noy merit a callup.

adu wont play for the national team before the age of 18 unless he goes over seas and proves himself aginst the best players in the world not mls teams who would complain about a two-a-day practice

and another thing what about eddy gavin i think that he will be the united states big name in a few years with more experiance same w/ the fires Nate jaqua(sp.)

He's improved tremendously since last season. Regardless of age controversy, I think it's pretty clear this guy is under 18 years of age. There is tremendous room for growth at his age. In my opinion, he is doing very well.

Regarding call ups, very very few US players play in Europe before gettting call ups, so I don't see why that would be a criterion.

The bottom line is his level of play, and right now, that is far short of what is necessary to win a spot on the national team.

i think that you just answerd your own question.

also theres nothing to say that freddy isnt doing bad just average you should stand out to be on the national team its the highest honor in soccer and should not be taken for granted ie. josh wolf

Adu hasn't been a bust. He's just an overrated hype. he's got talent. Mad talent for his age, honestly you can't dissagree with that. It's a matter of time before he makes the national team. I say when he's around 20 years old...4 years from now, he'll be in shape, alot more experienced, and he'll prove he can show his stuff.

he'll own wc2010 my prediction

are you guys crazy? 2007? 2008? i guess i'm going to make a bold statement w/ 2005/2006. he deserves to be called up now. here are the reasons why.

1. we are not brazil. he doesn't need to be world class to make our bench.
2.josh wolff is trash. he can't pass the ball for anything. time to be demoted.
3.there will be 23 open slots for the world cup team. they will find room for him if not for marketing alone (though i think he'll deserve it).
4. arena does not mind playing young/inexperienced players in big games (i guess he figures that's how they get experience). he'll probably bring in adu after we qualify though.
5. clyde simms has been called up.
6. adu might not be scoring a lot, but he can pass better, hold the ball better and is faster than a lot of the players on the national team. his assists should be way higher but he plays in mls where your teammates aren't going to always finish. too many people pay attention to stats and not what he does on the field.
7.josh wolff is trash
8.we lack creativity very badly. adu can bring that.

i'm looking very foward to the day when beasley, donovan, adu, convey, johnson are on the field together. imagine the speed in our attack.

I agree. The attacking force would be spectacular.

some good points there.I think with him on the team yes there will be more creativity and speed oh man the speed USA will be a fast team with Adu there

Clyde Simms got called up for meaningless games and serves a different role than Adu.


What position would Adu play? I'll go through the possible positions and list players that *I think* are better:

Striker or supporting forward? There are many forwards WAY ahead of Adu:

1) Eddie Johnson
2) Taylor Twellman
3) Brian McBride
4) Jeff Cunningham
5) Pat Noonan
6) Nate Jaqua

As a wing he is behind:

Left:
1) Beasley
2) Eddie Lewis
3) Pat Noonan (who has been used effectively as a wing by Arena)
4) Bobby Convey

Right (this is probably his best shot of making the team):
0) Donovan, I listed 'zero' because I feel he belongs on the right but Arena never plays him there anymore.
1) Ralston
2) Quaranta
3) Justin Mapp
4) Ben Olsen

At central attacking mid?
1) Donovan ( I list him only because that is where Arena tends to play him)
2) Dempsey
3) Reyna
4) Gaven

You'll notice that most of the players I listed there are young enough that they will still be at the top of their game or improving witin at least the next two years with the exceptions possibly being McBride, Lewis, Olsen, Reyna & Noonan.

Is it crazy to list those players ahead of Adu??

The only possible chance for a call-up before Germany would be a meaningless game which US Soccer is trying to make some bank on. There is no way he'll make the 2006 WC Squad, and I'd be disappointed if Bruce fiddled with lineups that close to Germany anyway.

look at all the right wingers you listed. the only ones out of them that i feel confidant that will make it is quaranta. ralston and noonan are good in mls but they don't translate that well in international games (one of them might make it though. like i said there will be 23 slots for the team. justin mapp is not going to get in the way of anyone. especially after his game against real madrid. did you see adu play for 45 mins against chelsea? there was a big difference between those two.

after the gold cup i think ben olsen has blown his chance to make the team. cunningham deserves to make the team. he's been on a tear lately. twellman isn't guranteed. he still has to prove himself on the international level. clyde simms did play in meaningless games. the games after we beat mexico(*thinking positive* haha) will be meaningless and thats when adu will get called up(2005/2006). from there he can prove if he deserves to be on the wc team. most importantly arena has said to the players don't be suprised if the world cup rosters look very different.

as long as u guys will think that sweden is the same thing as switzerland and that we speak spanish in portugal (those r just a few examples, I aint even talking about your world conquer tour), I bet that no1 in europe would like you to win it.

What are you talking about? Let's keep the sweeping generalizations out of it. The thread is about Adu, not your views on America.

Joshinho do you still believe adu's not going to make the team until 2008/2007?

Yes. He MIGHT get an odd call up here and there due to injuries of others before 2007, but I don't believe that he will be a "regular" call up until 2007 at the earliest.

As I stated above and as you also pointed out in agreement, I believe his best shot is to be called up as a "right wing." However, I still believe that he is behind all of the people I listed as "right wings" and that he'll remain behind them for at least another year.

alright, but i hope your prediction is wrong.

I do too!

If you are imagining Adu making the World Cup roster, you are kidding yourself. Think of it this way, in 2001, Beasley and Donovan already both had been capped by this time, and they were the most inexperienced players on our roster in the 2002 world cup. Unless Freddy makes it on the Panama game roster and really shows his skill I just can't see this happening.
And the games after Mejico aren't meaningless. We qualify first, our potiental chance of being seeded in Germany is greatly increased. So gaining points on the road and wins at home are still necessary, that doesn't mean Landon will be playing the rest of the year with the USNT but that does mean these games are going to be important to us and we aren't going to start pulling names out of a hat to who gets to play. Plus Eddie Johnson and Jon O'Brien will still be around in order to gain fitness with the national team, so spots are filled. Aren't there honestly only 20 spots due to three keepers, then you think atleast 8 defenders, thats 12, atleast 6 midfielders, thats 6 left for forwards/attacking mids. Is he in the top six of forwards/ attacking mids?

Adu, what has he done. I hear he has improved a lot since last year. Well if you did not do anything and basically were a non factor how hard is it to not improve. Everybody loves adu becasue he was quick and could juke the U-16 teams. This is the big boys now. He is too small and to weak to go up against world class players. His foot skills are greater then most teen players but he still depends on it too much. Adu couldnt even cut it for the US olympic qualifying team and 2 years later he should go to the world cup? I think Bill Parcells said it best, Potential means nothing, preformance is everything." Everyone is in love of what Adu can become but he is far from it,

Throw a kid who can not make an MLS allstar team, could not start for the Olympic Qualifying, Cant start for his club, An he merits a call up to the national team, please.

Score some goals Freddy, stop losing the ball, start for whatever team u make it on and maybe you can wear the US on your chest.

Check this out first:
http://a1503.v115042.c11504.g.vm.akamaistr...du_goal_384.wmv
He was at the U-20's for the first part of the season that's why he didn't make the U-20 team. You said it exactly, "kid"...how many other 16 year olds are doing what he's doing. Please name 2... I'd love to hear them!

He won't be in WC 06, but I believe afterward, once he's showing his skill in the MLS a little more, he'll be called up.

Cheers

You realize you just describe Santino Quaranta and Clyde Simms right?
If you play for DC United, you will get a chance at the USNT. no matter skill level.
i.e. Rimando
This is not me saying that Adu will be there in '06 though.

Adu has scored 3 goals this year. The highest paid MLS player has scored 3 times. It does not matter how old he is, he has not done enough to deserve a call up. I would rather call up Herculez Gomez right now before Adu.

Im not saying Adu is not good for his age, but he is not in the elite class of MLS or the national team.

Read past his name and his age, and he is just another midfielder. Plain and simple.

I'm not saying he's gonna be on the national team soon either, and I can read past his name, but you just can't ignore the age, well at least I can't. It wouldn't be a fair comparison with the amount of experience the guys around him have at that level to just compare him and somone else on raw talent.
BTW Herculez Gomez is a great player, where is he from?

Theres no way adu is gonna play WC06...

i dont think hes ready.

i wanna see him against guatamala, since it'll get him a cap and bring some good publicity to the team going into WC06, and the USA has already qualified, so it won't mean shit if he doesnt do anything

leave him out of the germany squad tho

Ok, he isn't the highest paid player in the MLS, that belongs to Landon Donovan followed by Eddie Johnson. He is in the top ten tho.
Thats where he deserves to be too, he is a great player and he is young. He deserves the money thats how DC holds onto him.
He is elite, his footwork is miles beyond many of those in the MLS and he can hit a free kick pretty well. I think seeing Freddy play with talent around him could really reveal his potiential.
He is a game-changer too, look at the game versus LA about a month ago. 0-0 in the 93rd, he gets the ball at about half way, goes on a tear and rips a shot from about 25 out into the upper V. Big time players get big time money, simple.
Herculez knows how to score and would be an interesting call-up but he needs more time than Freddy does. Gomez has never been playing at that level, U-20s have some rivalry to the speed and style of play of international soccer.
And I am going to change my prediction, he will make the squad for the Panama game in October of this year. Its a home game, last qualifier, both teams will know their destiny by then. I am not saying he gets capped but I think he will be in the top 18 for that one. I still think its too far for him to make Germany though.

Yeah good points there man

I was watching an old game where D.C. United play against Pumas(mexican team)and in the game Freddy Adu was getting past defenders and he was way faster than half of them too.I mean i was impressed cuz Pumas at that time had won back-yo-back championships and were a strong team and seeing Freddy tear them apart for a little bit was really impresive.

I think if he keeps improving like he is he will be a great player for USA in the future.Also about that game against L.A. Galaxy I watched that game man he totally left that defender in the ground and scored a lovely goal too. Oh and also Iwould love to see Freddy play against Guatemala,but isnt he injured or something????

You are wrong. Adu is not the highest paid MLS player. How doesn't he deserve a call-up? He's done more than Quaranta who got called up. He can score or change the game every time he touches the ball. No one else can do that. He can be our super sub, our Denilson who ices the game when wea re winning and can get fouled or make the pass or shot that no one else can when we need the win. His age does matter. We called Bobby Convey up when he was 17 for the same reason. He is going to be a very influential player for the future, so why not start grooming him. Yes, he wouldn't be a starter now, but neither would guys like Sanneh, Olsen, or Armas, who have gotten call-ups. Freddy isn't the present, but he is the future. Those guys aren't the present or the future. We will see Freddy this year or next. After the World Cup he will become a very important player. jrlm8 you are right I wrote this before I saw your post. Sorry.

LOOOL THE FANS IN THE PIC

they look like wannabe European fans... rofl!!!

just jumping arround.

Ok im not a expert on MLS football but I did see Adu, (actually i saw him live) in the Netherlands WC-U20, and to be honest, he didn't impressed me, sure he has the talents but he aint ready to perform on the WC06 if he even wasn't ready for the WC u20, that forward, Chad Barret impressed me more then Adu, he did more then Adu, he is stronger then Adu, don't get me wrong Adu will surpass him ofcourse but how it was on the U20 Chad was better and more consistent then Adu, if one of them should be called up its him, though he isnt ready to...

adu was played out of position on the wing. Gaven played worse and he has been capped.

Adu is expected to be called up for the January Camp and we will see there.

But don't hold the u-20 tournament against him. Fabregas also had a bad tournament and he's 2 years older. But people don't say that he's not good.

Freddy got his first cap tonight against canada. came in in the 84th minute for eddie johnson. then he proceeded to get a yellow card...good work.