Here's an email I got about my Adu article.
I have just read your article about Freddy Adu’s kind of frozen status at Benfica and I think he should find himself a team where he would be playing regularly , a mid-table team in any of the top leagues and he should shelve his dreams about playing for the Man Uniteds and the Barcelonas of this world for now....because what he needs now is regular match practice and that’s the way he can improve.
Who agrees? Why?
Disagree? Explain.
5 comments:
I don't think large amounts of playing time at bad teams are tantamount for our players. Get on good teams and receive great training.
It is really NOT a case of "Large amounts of playing time at a bad team" vs. "get on good teams and receive great training". It is a case of getting on a good team with large amounts of playing time!
Look, Benfica is a good side, but it is not a great side. And hasn't been for a while. Nor are its training programs, as currently run, of the quality they were in the past. It is a team that has much rebuilding to do in every way. For Adu to be "frozen out", then, substantially wastes his time.
So, does he then jump ship to join Derby [and get frozen out there by its dinosaurian manager]? :)
NO. He finds another good, but not great team, to join. One which is not dysfunctional a la Benfica and is ready to utilize Adu's talents.
Europe has many such teams;some in Portugal, yes, but also in La Liga, the Eredivisie,Bundesliga, Serie A.The Premier, on one end, and the French/Belgian leagues on the other, are less appropriate for Freddy, but would still be better to play there than sit and sit at Benfica.
To improve, no matter the training, at some point you need to consistently take the field under match conditions, and you want to take the field AGAINST the best opposition you can find. Playing for a solid, mid-table team, in one of the leagues mentioned above, is far superior to being benchwrap at a self-styeld "top" club.
i agree with that statement, if Benfica aren't going to give him time he should find another team to benefit himself in the long run of his career. ya he can get great training from a good team but you don't really get the experience watching your team mates play high level games while sitting on the bench hoping to get playing time.
i remember hearing about Manchester City looking into getting him but that's when sven was there, it would be nice if arsenal would get him since Wenger has a great track record with developing young players. there should be a team willing to buy him or get him on a loan that might give him the playing time he needs to get better the potential is there and now that he's in europe it's his chance to fine tune his game.
I agree with most of what arelcao akleos said, but I completely disagree that the French Ligue 1 wouldn't be an appropiate place for Adu. I think Ligue 1 is probably on par or slightly better than the Eredivisie. Besides the French national team players, the French league also helped develop players like Ronaldinho at PSG, Michael Essien at Lyon, Didier Drogba at Marseille, Rafa Marquez at Monaco, etc. It's a league where I think he would definitely succeed at, plus teams like Lyon usually do well during the Champions League.
Adu needs to PLAY. People can talk about how intense practice is all they want, but it's worthless without game situations. Adu seems to be intimating as much in his comments.
I honsetly don't know where he goes though. Let's face it, Benfica is a top team in a second tier league. Most teams in the top 5 of the 'Big 4' Leagues would/could regularly beat Benfica.
I also don't think he should go to a low table relegation fighter since the coach there is more likely to go with veterans to try to keep the club up.
Basically that leaves him with about 2-3 teams per league to choose from and they may not all be looking for a 5ft 6in playmaker in training.
He's in a tough situation. I think he still has a shot at cracking into Benfica next year and get a feeling he will so it will all be moot.
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