23 November 2005

...And Who is this Freddy Adu you Speak Of? Does he Play in MLS?

Okay, as much as I've written on the Freddy saga, and while I've supported at times both Freddy and Piotr and the league, and while I have no problem with Freddy coming off the bench most games, let me say that this statement from Don Garber is, well, ridiculous:
"I didn't think it would change at all," MLS Commissioner Don Garber said this week. "Freddy is not a marketing tool."
It was nearly two years ago that a proud Garber announced at a Madison Square Garden news conference the signing of the 14-year-old Adu. But in two seasons of MLS play, Adu, one of the league's highest-paid athletes, has spent almost as much time on the bench as on the field.
"It doesn't frustrate me at all," Garber said on Monday. "It probably frustrates Freddy a little bit. We have to remind ourselves at times and remind him that he's 16 years old."
Please. He's one of the most visible players in MLS, showing up in commercials for things other than Sierra Mist, video games, and the occasionaly tabloid. He still helps spike attendance at DCU road games. If there's one things Freddy has been very good at, it's having been a marketing tool. Give the kid some credit for that at least.
That being said, nice to see that the league is [publicly] not putting pressure on DCU to deal Adu to somewhere else.

2 Comments:

At 08 December, 2005 12:40, Blogger Remigio said...

Just one thing I want to say...LET THE KID PLAY!! MLS is hurting him as a soccer player. Kids want to play, not be benched during the games! MLS and U.S. Soccer make money from this guy. Can he just play more for a change!

 
At 08 December, 2005 12:49, Blogger D said...

Remigio --

I agree with you that Freddy should play, but coming off the bench as a sub for most games isn't hurting him, if anything the approach works since Freddy this year was much better than Freddy last. He was 9th in minutes played last year, ahead of US International Santino Quuaranta, Defender Bryan Namoff, and impact sub Jamil Walker. He is playing more, and I do want him to play more, but I think the approach taken has, by and large, been the correct one. And starting him every day for the past two years probably would have done him more harm than good.

 

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