Soccer fans

[Esmerelda Villalobos]

I remember, about 10 years ago, some kid named freddy something that was suppose to be the next big thing for american soccer. Never heard of him since. What happened to him? You black kid if I remember correctly?

Also, I remember when beckham signed with LA for that stupid number and everyone saying soccer was here. Umm yeah. Disregard that comment. I didnt mean that to bash soccer. Just an observation.

[TheRef]

I remember, about 10 years ago, some kid named freddy something that was suppose to be the next big thing for american soccer. Never heard of him since. What happened to him? You black kid if I remember correctly?

Also, I remember when beckham signed with LA for that stupid number and everyone saying soccer was here. Umm yeah. Disregard that comment. I didnt mean that to bash soccer. Just an observation.

Freddy Adu. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddy_Adu

[DudyDawg]

Adu was supposed to be the next big thing in soccer, and hasn't done a thing. I think it's mainly been due to being pushed into the pros wayyyyy too early and not developing correctly. I honestly feel bad for him because I think all that pressure and premature pushing him wrecked what could've been a promising career.

And beckham was really the one who brought it for real to America. I know it may not have seemed that way then, but look today at all the big named Americans and big names from abroad who are signing here. That's all thanks to Becks coming and succeeding so well. So that "Becks is here and so is soccer" is somewhat correct. It may not have immediately shown, but it is now

[smootness]

Adu was supposed to be the next big thing in soccer, and hasn't done a thing. I think it's mainly been due to being pushed into the pros wayyyyy too early and not developing correctly. I honestly feel bad for him because I think all that pressure and premature pushing him wrecked what could've been a promising career.

And beckham was really the one who brought it for real to America. I know it may not have seemed that way then, but look today at all the big named Americans and big names from abroad who are signing here. That's all thanks to Becks coming and succeeding so well. So that "Becks is here and so is soccer" is somewhat correct. It may not have immediately shown, but it is now

Yeah, the hype was legit in terms of talent with Adu. And he was still clearly our best player through the U-20 team, a team that also included Altidore and Bradley. He just never had a great chance to really develop. Had he entered, say, Barcelona's training program instead of playing for DC United, I think we'd be talking about him in the same breath as some of the elite today.

[DudyDawg]

Yeah, the hype was legit in terms of talent with Adu. And he was still clearly our best player through the U-20 team, a team that also included Altidore and Bradley. He just never had a great chance to really develop. Had he entered, say, Barcelona's training program instead of playing for DC United, I think we'd be talking about him in the same breath as some of the elite today.


I truly believe he had that kind of talent. That's why i feel sorry for him. By no fault of his own (wasn't arrested or anything like that) he was put in a situation not conducive to developing his talent and it never worked out for him. That's sports though.

[War Machine Dawg]

He just signed to play for his 10th team in 10 years. That's unbelievable. No wonder he's never developed.

[The Federalist Engineer]

Freddy Adu was the kid, the hype was a desperate move by MLS. The kid, as far as ability goes, was a fraud due to being born in a country with bad birth records. U17 and U20 soccer tournaments have featured African sides like Nigeria and Ghana for years. They play men against little boys and can usually manage 3rd place. These teams are like Taiwan in the little league World Series, winners but baseball people don't correlate the success with future greatness.

Beckham was a marketing fraud that only Americans and Japanese girls fell for. Man United super fans could see that the engine of that team was Roy Keane. For non soccer people, Keane is like Ray Lewis for on-field leadership. Beckham was an energetic winger that Man Utd more than replaced with Ronaldo of Portugal. Giggs, Scholes, and Nicky Butt were all far more important to Man Utd that Becks ever was. Becks is basically the male Ana Kournikova.

[DudyDawg]

Freddy Adu was the kid, the hype was a desperate move by MLS. The kid, as far as ability goes, was a fraud due to being born in a country with bad birth records. U17 and U20 soccer tournaments have featured African sides like Nigeria and Ghana for years. They play men against little boys and can usually manage 3rd place. These teams are like Taiwan in the little league World Series, winners but baseball people don't correlate the success with future greatness.

Beckham was a marketing fraud that only Americans and Japanese girls fell for. Man United super fans could see that the engine of that team was Roy Keane. For non soccer people, Keane is like Ray Lewis for on-field leadership. Beckham was an energetic winger that Man Utd more than replaced with Ronaldo of Portugal. Giggs, Scholes, and Nicky Butt were all far more important to Man Utd that Becks ever was. Becks is basically the male Ana Kournikova.

Wholeheartedly disagree with your assessment of Becks. Much better player than you're giving him credit for and one of the best winners at the club level that's ever lived.

[Bully Dee Williams]

Yeah, Adu is taking his talents to Serbia next year. Overhyped is an understatement.

I'm going to have to pump the brakes on the Beckham bashing. The man was world class at what he did. He wasn't a huge scorer and he didn't have much pace, but he was deadly accurate with passing and set pieces. I watched him the majority of his career and really do think he is one of the top talents of his generation.

[DudyDawg]

Ding ding. He is one of the greatest winners of all time, a leader, and really one of the best passers (especially at long balls) of all time. He's England's Juninho and his ability to send long through balls and crosses/set pieces is among the best that have ever played. You're way off base IMO

[dawgs]

Beckham came to to mls when he was on the tail end of his career. Most big time euro players move on to 2nd tier leagues for big pay days once they pass their primes. Guys like Henry and Rafael Marquez did the same thing with the red bulls (though Marquez went back to France I think?).

People who dismiss soccer because it hasn't gone from basically no mainstream coverage to being bigger than football in less than a decade are setting an unrealistic growth curve.

[DudyDawg]

Beckham came to to mls when he was on the tail end of his career. Most big time euro players move on to 2nd tier leagues for big pay days once they pass their primes. Guys like Henry and Rafael Marquez did the same thing with the red bulls (though Marquez went back to France I think?).

People who dismiss soccer because it hasn't gone from basically no mainstream coverage to being bigger than football in less than a decade are setting an unrealistic growth curve.

Rafa is back in Mexico with Leon I believe.

[dawgs]

Ah yeah that makes sense. I must have had "Lyon" in my head, not "Leon", which I thought was weird and why I phrased it in a question.