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BENNO HANSEN
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Member Since: 2/2006
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A look at Freddy Adu's first half-season in Europe.
Fredua Koranteng "Freddy" Adu left MLS' Real Salt Lake for world famous SL Benfica on the 30th of July 2007. Being USA's brightest hope for the future - youngest ever to appear in professional sports, youngest ever to score in the "soccer" league - the Ghanesian-American's progress must have the interest of most American soccer fans. Because how well will MLS' most talented do in European leagues? Let us take a look at Freddy Adu's fall season in Portugal.
Making commies love America
Washington Post did a Christmas article on Freddy Adu (Washington Post / On His Own, Adu Has Grown) in which an assistant to the U.S. ambassador to Portugal tells of receiving an email from a Communist member of the Portuguese parliament after Freddy's third goal simply saying "I love America".
"Average fans start shouting 'O Americano' shortly after halftime at most games, when, sadly, Benfica is usually scoreless. When he starts to warm up they start cheering in a way they never do for Angel DiMaria, Nuno Gomes, or the other strikers." - Troy Fitrell, assistant to the U.S. ambassador to Portugal to Washington Post.
Freddy's role has been that of a power-sub. Neither more nor less than expected. Well, maybe more considering his dirt cheap price tag at just 2 million US$. The Portuguese league is currently ranked 8th in Europe. And that's a significant step up from the MLS. But he's making his way onwards.
"I'm in a place where I'm really wanted and where I'm treated well and my teammates have accepted me and I've found coaches that bring out the best in me. It's been a blessing. [...] It's hard for American players to earn any kind of respect in Europe. So I had to prove that I belonged to be there and I can make a difference." - Freddy Adu to Washington Post.
Adu's games fall 2007
- 20th of December: E.Amadora home, 3-0 win, Portuguese League (AKA BWINLIGA), In 83'
- 15th of December: Belenenses away, 1-0 loss, Portuguese League, In 79'
- 1st of December: Porto home, 0-1 loss, Portuguese League, In 79'
- 28th of November: AC Milan (of Milano, Italy) home, 1-1 draw, Champions League, In 88'
- 24th of November: Academica away, 1-3 win, Portuguese League, In 62'
[goal 90'] - 3rd of November: Pacos away, 1-2 win, Portuguese League, In 81'
- 31st of October: Vitória de Setubal (away?), 2-1 loss, Portuguese Cup (AKA Carlsberg Cup), played whole game.
- 28th of October: Maritimo home, 2-1 win, Portuguese League, In 81'
[goal 87'] - 24th of October: Celtic FC (of Glasgow, Scotland) home, 1-0 win, Champions League, In 62'
- 20th of October: Vitória de Setubal (away?), 1-1 draw, Portuguese Cup
[one goal] - 29th of September: Sporting home, 0-0 draw, Portuguese League, In 82'
- 26th of September: Estrela da Amadora (away?), Benfica through on penalties, Portuguese Cup,
[two goals on penalty kicks, 92' and in penalties] - 14th of August: FC København (of Copenhagen, Denmark) home, 2-1 win, Champions League qualification, In 37'
That's 13 games total. But most of them just about 10 minutes playing time towards the end of the game. Five goals and zero assists.
I only watched one of these games in it's entirety: Being a fan of FC København I was glued to the television that night. Adu mildly impressed us after being subbed for Brazilian defender Luisao when he was injured, making it a tactical substitution as well as an injury replacement. At the time of the substitution the score was drawn at 1-1 after goals from Benfica's own Rui Costa and Canadian international Atiba Hutchinson. But he's not going to revolutionize European football anytime soon.
Benfica this season
All of the above is to bee seen and considered in the light of how things have worked out for Adu's club, SL Benfica, of course. Soon after Adu's arrival, team management fired the coach who brought him in, and put hard-liner José Antonio Camacho in his place. Probably a short-term setback for Adu.
But along with Freddy Adu, Benfica brought in South Americans Oscar Cardozo, Maximiliano Pereira, Andres Diaz, Angel di Maria, Edcarlos and others totaling about 10 times Freddy in transfer sums. And the club keeps adding new talents: this December Benfica signed 17 years old Brazilian midfielder Fellipe Bastos from Botafogo, captain of the Brazil U-17 team. I hope no-one ever told Adu Benfica would be a free ride.
After 14 rounds the Portuguese league is on a short winter break until the 6th of January. Benfica is 2nd; trailing reigning champions Porto FC by 7 points, ahead of 3rd place reigning cup winners Sporting Lissabon by two points. Their win-draw-lost record is 4-2-1 both home and away, their goal score is comfortable at +17 (25-8) and they have quite consistently beaten lower ranked teams.
The rest of the league is best described by Porto FC being even more dominant than expected, promoted Guimaraes and Maritimo doing somewhat better than expected to over-winter at 4th and 7th spots respectively, quite a few draws (35%) to level out the league standings in general and Uniao Leiria (zero wins, goal score at -13) in particular having been severely beaten up.
In the European cups, Benfica beat Copenhagen to qualify for Champions League group D where they finished only 3rd competing Milan, Celtic and Shakhtar Donetsk. This qualifies them to enter the UEFA Cup round of 32 where they will face German 1. FC Nürnberg in a two game knock-out during February 2008.
We'll see more from Freddy Adu in 2008 - both in the UEFA Cup and in Benfica's race for Portuguese medals.
Elsewhere: Freddy Adu's Wikipedia entry, Freddy Adu at Football-Lineups.com, Mais Futebol / Freddy Adu diz que o Benfica «tem sido uma benção».
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{"commentId":1302740,"authorDomain":"SVForbes"}
An interesting peek at a career.
{"commentId":1302740,"threadId":"194331","contentId":"1186658","authorDomain":"SVForbes"}
- 3 votes
#1 - Wed Dec 26, 2007 12:43 PM EST{"commentId":1302785,"authorDomain":"benno"}
{"commentId":1303241,"authorDomain":"SVForbes"}
I think it's his career that's interesting
That, too. :)
{"commentId":1303241,"threadId":"194331","contentId":"1186658","authorDomain":"SVForbes"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":1303635,"authorDomain":"ultimategfx"}
That's 13 games total. But most of them just about 10 minutes playing time towards the end of the game. Five goals and zero assists.
That's an extremely good looking radio of goals to games for a substitute. The Portuguese Liga (BWINLIGA) isn't the most challenging league in the world, but it's still a significant step up from MLS. Still, next season I reckon he'll be a first team player, and if not I'd consider a transfer.
I still maintain that the best move for Freddy Adu would be to the English Premiership. A player of his nature would fit in brilliantly with many teams, bar the top flight teams in the league. He'd fit perfectly into the Bolton side, as well as with Sunderland. At a stretch I reckon he'll do well for Man City or many other clubs in the league. A lot of people seem to doubt his ability with fitness, being so young, probably a reason he's used as a power sub. I can guarantee the Premiership would knock any fitness issues out in the open, leaving him to fend for a place in the fastest league in the game.
{"commentId":1303635,"threadId":"194331","contentId":"1186658","authorDomain":"ultimategfx"}
- 2 votes
#2 - Wed Dec 26, 2007 7:43 PM EST{"commentId":1303654,"authorDomain":"benno"}
Also read The New York Times GOAL Q&A: Freddy Adu
Q: The obvious first question is how are things going in Lisbon?
A: Things are going pretty well. I'm adjusting pretty well to living in a different country. At first not to sure about it. But I guess I have to grow up sometime. I made the jump and could not be happier I made the jump. It was really out of necessity because I needed to learn to grow up. I'm living here by myself, my mom has gone back and forth on visits, but I have to take care of a lot of things by myself. It's kind of exciting.
{"commentId":1303654,"threadId":"194331","contentId":"1186658","authorDomain":"benno"}
- 1 vote
#3 - Wed Dec 26, 2007 7:52 PM EST{"commentId":1304591,"authorDomain":"temujin"}
Being the star player and the one who must solve things when things are going badly is harmful for a young player. The role of gifted youngster and useful substitute is a good choice for young players like Adu or Di Maria, for not having all the dangers of being in the spotlight. The same thing happened to players like Cristiano Ronald who were brought to the main squad slowly.
{"commentId":1304591,"threadId":"194331","contentId":"1186658","authorDomain":"temujin"}
#4 - Thu Dec 27, 2007 8:29 AM EST{"commentId":1304611,"authorDomain":"ultimategfx"}
As good as I think Freddy Adu is I still think he's yet to prove himself as the great player America believes he is. As a substitute he seems to be doing well for now, but what about in a few years? Perhaps the lack of first team football will get to him at the end of this season and he'll go looking for greener pastures, ending up with a lacklustre team heading for relegation.
Freddy Adu is already capped as an American player, that must mean they're keen to keep him on their side and not Ghana as they see something good in him. Sadly, he's yet to prove himself as a real talent, considering a team reputable of taking in top young talent (Manchester United) decided to let him off after his trial.
In all honesty, I reckon Freddy Adu will eventually make it to the Premiership, where he will sign for a mid-tier side, such as Bolton, Sunderland, Newcastle, Tottenham, etc. I have serious doubts that he's the player everyone believes he is, and he'll only ever become that player by Benfica utilising this apparent talent and nurturing it into something that can be used for a full 90 minutes.
{"commentId":1304611,"threadId":"194331","contentId":"1186658","authorDomain":"ultimategfx"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":1304723,"authorDomain":"benno"}
{"commentId":1305865,"authorDomain":"ultimategfx"}
Mike, the world is bigger than the English league ;-)
Maybe so, but when you want to play with some of the best players in the world, along with some of the best teams, and gain more exposure than anywhere else in the world, England is the place to be. For someone like Freddy Adu, he needs to take all these lessons back to his country, learn the many different styles of play, and utilise everything he's learnt to develop himself into the player he's said to be. As a youngster with at least some club football experience a stint in the Premier League will do him wonders, then in a few years a move to somewhere like Spain or Italy is usually preferred for players around 25.
{"commentId":1305865,"threadId":"194331","contentId":"1186658","authorDomain":"ultimategfx"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":1306204,"authorDomain":"benno"}
{"commentId":1308100,"authorDomain":"ultimategfx"}
I completely agree. The home-grown ability shown in the Premiership shows a major lack of skill.
However, from what I've seen of Freddy Adu he doesn't lack skill, just the pace and stamina of fellow players. It was the same for players like Cristiano Ronaldo, until he joined the Premiership and was thrown to the lions. It's a matter for Freddy Adu's career as a whole, he needs to get some first team action next season or he won't progress in the way that he could.
La Liga is a brilliant place to play Football. I'm actually shocked that some of England's talents haven't opted to play abroad, and it's one of the key reasons I believe our national team is so crap. In the Premiership we rate our players far too highly, and the reason a lot of European teams won't touch them is because they're generally just not that good.
This is why I usually maintain that after a player is shown the ropes in the Premiership and is able to keep up in domestic first-team football that he should seriously think about gaining more culture to his football in another country. If David Beckham had spent all his time in the Premiership he'd be nowhere near as good as he still is now.
But, as Freddy Adu is in Portugal now, perhaps he should give futsal a try? All the top players in the world (Ronaldo, C. Ronaldo, Eto'o, Ronaldinho, Zidane, etc) started out in futsal and gained their skill through that sport.
{"commentId":1308100,"threadId":"194331","contentId":"1186658","authorDomain":"ultimategfx"}
- 2 votes
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