For those who aren't aware, Freddy Adu was the U.S. soccer community's great hope for the future - over ten years ago. Basically we all thought back then that Freddy was going to be what Christian Pulisic is now. But we kinda sorta jumped the gun a bit on that one.
To be fair, it wasn't really our fault. Adu was drafted into MLS by D.C. United at a mere 14 years old. 14! And he wasn't just a "one-for-the-future" pick either, they played him regularly for his first two seasons. MLS also picked him on two consecutive All-Star teams.
It wasn't just MLS who saw promise in him either. He went on trial at Manchester United's academy, and eventually was sold to Benfica in Portugal for a seven-figure transfer sum (which was a big fee in those days, especially for an MLS player).
And that was where the wheels fell off. He played a few games, then was loaned out to Monaco for a season. Not a big deal, right? Monaco are a big team, he was still a young player. But then he was loaned again. And again. And then began his journeyman career, rocking up in Brazil for a while, then Serbia, then Finland, and finally back to USL with the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
And now, after a year away from the sport, he has turned up at Las Vegas Lights FC playing on a trial basis. As a fan of the Lights, I have my guard up about this one. When your club history looks like this:
you are anything but a sure bet.
But at the same time, Adu is only 28 years old (I know, right?). He should still be young enough to put together a few good seasons for a team. And you've got to give the guy credit for sticking with it this long, after being turned away from so many trials and teams.
If Adu is signed by the club (and that is a big if), I could see this going one of two ways.
In one scenario, the club goes in with a level head, and addresses Adu on the merits of his play only, and not on his reputation. This goes both ways - you don't give Adu any credit for being the once golden boy of U.S. Soccer; but you also don't hold his frankly concerning history against him (at least not too much). If he plays well enough during these trial periods, you offer him a reasonable deal, and see where it goes.
In another scenario, the club takes Adu's "publicity" value into account when deciding to sign him up. They figure that having Adu on the team will bring a lot of free interest (internet articles like this one, for example), and think as long as he isn't too bad, we can sign him up.
Let's hope for all of our sakes (including Adu's), the Lights front office takes the first approach. If he's good enough, sign him up. If there are better options, let him go.
I think if there is one lesson that clubs should have learned this past year, it's that the U.S. soccer community is pretty sophisticated. Look at Atlanta - they didn't bother getting big name, well-known Euro stars in an attempt to get interest. Instead, they spent their money on good players to build an exciting team. And the fanbase responded in droves. The same thing with FC Cincinnati and Sacramento - they didn't try to buy publicity with any aging stars. They signed good players, and the people came to support it.
I think that is the way the Lights need to approach this. Make the right soccer decision, and that will align, in the long term, with the correct business decision.
On a final note, I think that in a way, Adu's story is a cautionary tale for players and fans of all sports. We need to understand that potential talent is not the same as realized talent. Most promising youngsters just don't make it. It could be for a variety of reasons (injuries, lack of work, lack of talent, dumb luck, whatever). It's just the name of the game, and we need to remember that, and not spend our time crushing players just because their career didn't pan out the way we thought.
Till next time.
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