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Freddy Adu re-signs with Rowdies

Freddy Adu v CAR

Freddy Adu’s late-season performances have earned the 26-year-old forward a new deal with the Tampa Bay Rowdies.

The Rowdies announced on Tuesday that Adu has signed a new one-year contract to remain with the club in 2016 with a club option for the 2017 season.

“We liked what we saw from Freddy Adu last season and we’re excited to see what he can do with a full preseason of preparation,” Tampa Bay Rowdies Head Coach Stuart Campbell said. “He hasn’t had a regular preseason experience in a while now and I think it’ll be hugely beneficial to him to have the chance to build up to the regular season instead of getting thrown into the mix midway like last year.”

In re-signing with the Rowdies, Adu finds a bit of club stability, a privilege that has been ill afforded to him in recent seasons. The new deal will allow Adu to stay at a club for more than one season for the first time since his 2011-13 stay with the Philadelphia Union.

Adu, whose signing with the Rowdies saw the 26-year-old join his 13th club, saw his initial Rowdies campaign hampered by injuries. In total, Adu went on to make eight appearances for the Rowdies while producing three assists in 2015, his 13th professional season since joining D.C. United as a 14-year-old in 2004.

The Adu announcement, which was originally reported by Sports Illustrated, comes on the heels of another big offseason move for the Rowdies, who announced on Monday that the club had signed forward Tom Heinemann, formerly of Ottawa Fury FC.

What do you think of the Adu reports? How will he fare in 2016?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Good news to have him back with the Rowdies. In the games he played in last year for us, he was a difference maker. One of the who can “create” things instead of just helping to pass the ball around. He can make the “final” pass, which has been lacking for the Rowdies.

    COYR!!

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  2. Freddy Adu is an irresistible fragrance, unforgettable like a savored seduction. Freddy exhibits exquisite notes of ginger, exotic maninka and leather unfold over time, seducing the senses.

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  3. still not sure exactly why philly got rid of him–salary just too high? he seemed to be doing pretty well there–if unspectacular–when i saw him.

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    • He always showed his potential in brief flashes, but never reached it.

      He finally put it all together into a pretty complete game as the number 10 (w/1g & 1a), but got a red in the second half and was traded not too long after that.

      It comes down to consistency in performance for Adu, and he lacks that – no matter what team he’s on.

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      • cool, thanks.

        yeah, i only saw 4-5 of his games with philly, so he could easily have been good in those games but disappointed in the others.

  4. God Bless. A little stability for our wandering Freddy. Let’s hope he has learned a few lessons in his travels. Forged in the fire of failure and adversity, from his troubles he may one day arise. He is a Gemini like DM Beasley. When Beasley decided to grow up and tell his other half, the shite scared little boy, to sit down and park himseslf on the bench and enjoy to watch DMB the Champion’s League veteran and WC star play like a man, then DMB really began to flourish and he resurrected his USMNT career, etc. All Freddy has to do is to decide he really wants back in, and then apply himsel to his training, his nutrition, his sports psychology, and meditative stabilization and there is real, though albeit slim chance, that we will one day again see some of the magic he produced in Gold Cup 2013. Choose, and choose again wisely. You decide Freddy. You write the script. It’s your karma. Cause and effect. You are running the show, no one else. Well, really, God is running the show but that is whole ‘nother training session and motivational speech.

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      • I stand corrected. GC 2011. U20 WC 2007 was one of his absolute peak performances on the world stage so far. Pretty much down-hill since then. I just hope he grows up, grows a pair, and gets with the program, big time. Not holding my breath.

      • I happened to be watching a youth international US game some years back and Freddy had scored a hat trick and the announcer said he was the only player in history to have a hat trick in two youth world cups. Even if it has been done since, and I don’t think it has, he will always have the distinction of being the first to do it.

  5. Good for Freddy! Cheering for him to have his best season yet.

    It is really perplexing to see some of these Internet haters, as if he has done something to them personally. Go see a psychiatrist.

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    • Freddy Adu has at times for the US looked like the most skilled US player. It’s about him seeming to have potential unrealized and many people have the suspicion it is because he doesn’t want to play defense or work hard.

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      • he could easily be the “most skilled” player in the u.s. pool, if you’re referring only to dribbling and passing. it’s why he’s still talked about, even though he hasn’t shown to be capable of playing at a high level for years now.

        and i think his aversion to “playing defense” isn’t necessarily the problem here. david silva–along with most of the top attacking players in the world–does the same thing. the problem is that freddy’s not good enough to be a luxury player for the clubs who can afford it, and our national team isn’t good enough to carry an offense-only player.

  6. After that one Gold Cup final, I’ve always held out hope that he would get his act together. After 13 years as a pro and being 26 years old (wink wink 36 years), he really isn’t news anymore.

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