Aris Salonika will play one of its biggest matches of the season when it takes on Kavala in a Greek Cup semifinal match on Wednesday, and Freddy Adu will take no part in it.
Adu was not named to the 18-man roster released by manager Hector Cuper for the first leg of the home-and-home series, marking the fourth straight match Adu will fail to see the field for Aris. Adu's omission may come as somewhat of a surprise as he played a role in helping Aris reach the semifinals by scoring a goal in a 3-0 second leg victory against Skoda Xanthi in the quarterfinals in February. (Update- One Greek outlet is reporting Adu's absence is due to tactical reasons and not because of injury.)
Fellow U.S. international Eddie Johnson was named to the roster.
What do you think of this development? Concerned at all by Adu's omission? Do you see Johnson getting the start tomorrow?
Share your thoughts below.
K bone, be careful when you say “all of you”.
I understand the use of hyperbole to make a point, but I would hope that you are not including me.
I think Freddie is a fraud and always has been. I have always said this anytime I step into a discussion on Freddie. If I had a chance to post below an article on his goal, I would have said “Freddie is a fraud and always has been.”
so how many of you experts have ever seen an aris game? or a game between two greek teams? can you name me one player on Kavala? Can you tell me what place they are in the standings? I didnt think so.
Acually, now that the game has been played… any of you care to tell me the score?
Thanks.
OK, you were a borderline case anyway. Off the list!
I think the biggest question that should be asked is…why is his agent Richard Motzkin and Wasserman Media Group doing business in Europe when they don’t have experience? Motzkin is a danger to American Soccer. He has ruined the careers of many players for his own financial gain. Does Demarcus Beasely, Eddie Johnson, Danny Szetela, Freddy Adu and possibly Altidore (on loan at hull city isnt headed in the right direction). Tim Howard is the only notable player he has had success. Landon Donovan Failed 3 times in Germany before his recent stint at Everton. Sending youth prospects to Greece is a sign that WMG is unable to help players succeed. They have lost many of their clients to their competitors in the past few years. Why does Freddy Adu stay with someone who has clearly not managed his career correctly.
Thanks for sharing Yellow River, it’s good to get some insight from somebody who is actually watching the games.
I’m hear to agree. I don’t hate Freddy Adu. But I am saying it that he doesn’t deserve to be on the World Cup squad. If he is only 20, he needs to get to work on his game and attitude. If he is only 30….umm I’m not really sure what to recommend 🙂
Having reached 5’10”, I stopped growing at 14 as well. I think we forget how often teen progidies do, in fact, plateau. Many amazing teen players have gone to do very little as professionals. For every Lebron, there are many who players a few years, maybe even hung around for 5 or 6, but accomplished nothing of note. It actually isn’t all that suprising.
Yeah sure, but if his birth certificate is fake who’s going to be the reputable source? His mom, right? And folks back in Ghana. But if those folks back in Ghana told the real story, there would still be no proof, and you’d have to choose whether to believe or not. And I don’t think Freddy’s mom is going to admit anything.
So we’re back to speculation and theories. But I think it’s pretty suspicious.
SPOT ON Yellow!!!
People have not watched much of Freddy, but it’s clear to me that he’s put on some “bad” weight. He was never a blazer, but always had a quick first step. That is completely gone. I don’t know who his personal trainer is but he should be fired. It’s one thing to lift for footbal, but it’s a completely different story when it comes to futbol!
Development? He’s had 26+ years to develop. His pan has flashed and his gun is never going to fire. To that extent, I agree with you.
By the way, have you seen some of the prospects in the pipeline? We will have a lot of u17 players to talk about once we stop it with the Freddy nonsense.
Yes, that makes sense. The entire world is conspiring against Freddy Adu. That is a much more likely reason than skill, work ethic and professionalism, which hardly ever impact a player’s playing time.
Not when x=20. LOL
Come on! Joe? Adrian? Rory? A.S? mikeandike? kenny_b? William the Terror? Robinswood? Polish Wonder? Dan? GoUSAworldCup? Aaron in StL? Jason? fubar? inkedAG? Sean? madmax? seanie blue?
I can vouch for you from now on!
Please read into this if you can:
I saw Freddy Adu during a practice session with his first MLS club. (I won’t type which.) I think I learned more about why Freddy Adu had issues with playing time, just being there for 3 hours. I would have gone more often, (for fun) but lets just say going to a MLS team practice on a Wed. at 11am, is not so easy when you don’t have a soccer-related job.
I was promised not to say anything about what I saw or heard. So I kept my agreement. But I will say if I could go to Greece to see his practice sessions, I’d love to see him developed into a very humble, no-nonesense, team player respected by his teammates and coaches (not just the ones his age, but the veterans as well.)
I also know how hard this must be for Freddy. He’s young, has fans, accolades and oh yeah good money for someone under 23!
That said, maybe he’s happy to have what he’s achieved of riding the pine in Europe and getting “paid” for it. But from what he’s said, it seems he isn’t. The less happy he is with the arrangement, the more he’ll work to improve his lot. Sometimes life needs to kick you (big-time) in the butt, for things to get better.
now, that’s funny.
Keep in mind, I am not trying to dump on him for no reason at all, and I don’t really care if it’s “played out”. I am just responding to Ives’ article with what I think accounts for his dissapointment. Even Ives’ update doesn’t change my opinion. Good players aren’t left out for tactical reasons, the tactics are adapted around them. Freddie isn’t that good for a 32 year old (o.k. 26 year old).
quack quack!
There is nothing to say except, People cant assume everything goes as planned, just like people also cant assume their are aganedas. So its basically another form of speculation on both sides. But, So far we have seen numerous Agneda’s in soccer. Anybody who does not believe possible Agendas exist, belongs in the fairy tail town in the Movie “Stepford Wives”.
Guys,
I am a fanatic ARIS fan and follow all the games of the team. To be fair, I do not see much future in Freddie’s career in ARIS…He is very slow to play on the wings and does not seem technical enough to cover his lack of speed. Thus, I cannot see how he can compete against players like Calvo, Meriem or even Javito (who is sloppy but very fast). I hope he’ll prove me wrong. EJ on the other side has more potential and will have minutes either as a sub or as a starter, due to his physical ability.
The story of a young player raising expectations and not standing up to them is very common, so it shouldn’t shock you. It happens with 9/10 16 year old stars…
Why does anyone think Adu still means anything? He could not get of the bench in Monaco, a minor league team that plays in front of less than 10,000 people at home. He can’t cut it for another minor league team in Greece. He could not get a breath of fresh air in Portugal. Didn’t you see this coming? Every time he gets to a new team, he gets a look and does well with a goal or scintillating play. But then, sooner or later, his terrible fundamentals put him on the bench. Wake up. This cat has no more lives! Say hello to Philadelphia or the USL, Fred.
He’s on a roll….
OK, who wants to join the Haters registry? It will make things so much smoother later when everyone claims to have been on the right side of the Freddy issue since March 2010.
I think we gotta face the facts; Adu isnt as good as we all had hoped he would be – yet.
Time to come home Freddy. Come back home and polish your skills in our quite entertaining, yet unrefined, domestic league and get your confidence back. We’ll still love you.
“not even good enough for me local rec league team”
ARRRRR! You’re a pirate!
He’s really the actor Gary Coalman in a Freddy Adu suit.
Um, Ghanaians can be conspiracy theorists too. Particularly when they’re at a remove from actual reputable sources.
Oh, great, the birthers are taking up their crusade in the field of sport now, too.
Beware all you man-children, and anyone from a country of people with dark skin: the witch-hunt is on (no pun intended, but it’s okay. Until you grow a satisfactory beard by the age of – what? 19? give them a year to get their testosterone going – you are in danger of being OUTED!
Other than ball tricks, Benny Feilhaber does a lot of the same things Freddy does (good vision, good passing), as does Sacha Kljestan ( say what you want, he CAN pass pretty well, and strike a good free kick) and both play hard while doing it.
Interestingly, Benny’s career got off track, and he got it back, looks like Sacha is the same.
Maybe Freddy can look at the guys a couple years ahead of him, and get it pointed back in the right direction.
He has not made the bench for one game. Maybe 6 or 7 games into his Aris career. Suck it up and get back to work.
Enough whining about coming back to the MLS. From the you tube highlights so nicely shown to us on SBI I haven’t seen some amazing overall play from Adu. He has made some decent contributions. The club seems to do decent with or without him in the lineup. So he isn’t a game changer for Aris. Get to work Adu, earn your way back into the 18 and hopefully the starting 11.
If what I read was correct, Nguyen was cut from his Vietnamese league team a couple weeks ago. Can’t even last there.
You’re a tard. I’ll stick with it over the rest of my posts.
Adu may be really good. But he just may just be a really good second division player. Nothing wrong with that by the way.
Was it over then?
Don’t forget Traci Lords, she was a teen phenomenon too.
That is Fun!
I’m sorry but Freddy hardly strikes me as a ladies man…..but I could be mistaken.
Exactly, why bother bringing in the player, playing him in some games and then suddenly benching him.
Wouldn’t it be much simpler to NOT sign him?
To be fair, Charlie’s touch is pretty good
He is not the most tactical player in our pool but he might be in the discussion. But the problem is that he is small, slow and weak which negates alot of his skill.
i’m rooting for him as a “chai wallah”, and stealing from foreign tourist (euros)…then making a comeback on “who wants to be a millionaire”
That is not completely uncommon. I was 5’8 at a4 and now as a 19 year old I am still 5’8.
Freddy, his fans, his agent all live in a parallel universe.
“I’d still take him over Nani” *fresh bait here…come and getcha fresh bait…we sellin 2 fo a dolla!*
Man U picks up young players like Adu all the time. Lots of them don’t work out but , and this is the key, there are plenty more where they came from and they all want to play for Man U.
Adu would die to have half of the career Nani has had to this point.
please say this again and shout it next time: “Just because our world revolves around American players doesn’t mean everyone’s does.”
Isaac,
I can’t say that when I saw Charlie Davies, I ever thought of Freddy Adu. And after reading your post I still can’t see any similarity.
Charlie has a poor first touch, is hard nosed,tough to knock off the ball, very strong, very fast and quick, scares defenders and seems completely committed to his career.
Freddy has a great first touch, is soft, easy to knock off the ball, puny and weak,not the fastest, doesn’t seem to worry defenders and has a questionable professional attitude.
Sorry, don’t see it.
What? Do you think he’s on the radar?
The Germans bombed Pearl Harbor
Jerome,
So what is the agenda?
Why would Aris not want Freddy to succeed?
If it’s anti-Americanism how about EJ?
still can’t believe this is the same Freddy that Man UTD wanted to pick up all those years ago. I’d still take him over Nani when he’s having a bad time (although he’s getting better).
Adu should buy his time instead of coming back. The only thing that is worse than being stifled in your growth as a young player is becoming the next clint mathis or nicolas anelka.