Photo by ISIphotos.com
If Freddy Adu is to receive another loan to Caykur Rizespor, he'll do it knowing that he won't be playing top-flight soccer.
Rizespor battled back to draw Orduspor, 3-3, in the second leg of their promotion playoff semifinal on Thursday, but Orduspor won the first leg, 4-0, and advanced to the promotion final via a 7-3 aggregate victory. As a result, Rizespor will remain in Turkey's second division.
Adu joined Rizespor in February on a loan from Benfica that lasts through the end of May. He's under contract with Benfica until next summer, and his club future remains uncertain. In the meantime, he'll have a chance to display his game on a bigger stage when he joins the United States for this summer's CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Adu finished his loan spell with four goals in 13 games.
How would you characterize Adu's latest loan stint? Disappointed Rizespor didn't get promoted? What do you think is next on the club level for Adu?
Share your thoughts below.
Adu needs the US to blow Canada and Panama out of the water. Little chance that he sees the pitch on matchday 1 or 2 while knockout football is still uncertain. If the USA has 6 points after 2 matches, I would hope that we’ll rest some of our starters, and then Adu might get a start against Guadalupe. Also, maybe if we’re up 3-0 late in some games.
+1
I think a lot of teams in Europe would be interested in Adu once the contract is up.
If Bob Bradley can play Altidore each game, I think he can play Adu as well. Taking his play with Altidore with the U-20 team into account, I think the two of them play well together and I think the both of them can lift each other out of their respective doldrums.
I still very much believe in Adu’s talent and I hope he finds the right coach and right club soon. It’s not like he was doing bad at Benfica, or Aris for that matter.
Agree. The fact that Freddy played his way onto the US Gold Cup team with his stint in Turkey speaks volumes about his turnaround. He may never play in a “top league” and may end up as a journeyman pro. But, he is still pretty young, has had some confidence restored and more importantly, is learning to “play” for a myriad of foreign coaches in several leagues and is getting steady playing time. This shows that he is responding to coaching direction, something he didn’t to well before.
5 min… in a Freddy article. I think we’ve seen much quicker Adu comments in posts not even remotely geared towards this little fella
Well said. I completely agree with you.
Let’s hope that Freddy sees the field during the Gold Cup, and plays himself back into a quality loan or back into consideration at Benfica.
Jonny, even assuming that your sources are right, Adu would be 23 rather than 21, which would put him around the same age as Tim Ream.
How would I characterize his loan stint? A bloody success, especially compared to all three previous loans. Did he play? Yes. Did he score goals? Yes. Did he help others score goals? Yes. That’s as good as anyone can hope for, and it’s about time he had that chance.
Now with his contract running out in just one more year, it’s in Benfica’s best interest to haul him off. Better something than nothing, right? No one has shown any interest in their asking price to date, so I suspect that unless he shows well for them in preseason that he’ll be gone by the end of the summer — and not on loan. That makes MLS a legitimate option, as well as Rizespor. We’ll see.
Well at least he’ll have a chance in the gold cup for some reason. Too bad he’ll be 30 next world cup.
only if he plays
Brilliant…and don’t sleep on Idu.
Its 75% of national team games over the last 2 years. Gold Cup counts but he would be nowhere near 75%.
What is the difference between RT and IE and how does it relate to Jay, Adu and the MLS?
Lets see how good you are Stellar.
+100
Playing in the Gold Cup should get him in.
Who loves this joke??? Idu.
+1
That really, really sucks. Freddie has a personality and game that a lot of coaches don’t like. It is tough for him to find a spot where he fits in. Promotion with coach and club that already likes him and knows how to utilized him would have been the perfect situation.
Agreed.
It may be just me but it seems like his contract with Benfica was abnormally long. It feels like he’s been owned by them forever
Freddy had absolutely ZERO interest in being in SLC, and if a team like Benefica comes calling you go.
I think everyone forgets he was just a teenage kid living in Europe, going through multiple coaching changes, loans, and all that other non-sense that goes along with being maybe somewhat of a mis-guided youth. There are places in Europe where he can thrive. The Eredivisie seems like the best option to me.
Adu was with RSL during his dominant U-20 performance but he hardly even tried for RSL. Then again John Ellenger didn’t seem like the best motivator. Frankly he is the worst manager MLS has ever had to date.
Will we see Adu and Edu on the field together? There has to be a young Udu or Odu growing up in the US somewhere who is just brimming with football skills.
not that he isnt good enough. RSL could live without him and he lacked maturity at the time so when somebody(benfica)came along offering a few million dollars for him… easy decision.
agreed. he can contribute on quite a few teams.
i think Bob Bradley has always been scared of a player like adu. to do well he needs freedom to create for himself and others. freedom and creativity havent always worked well in bradleys system. kudos to him for trying new things over the past year though.
i hope he gets as many opportunities to “grow” as bornstein and kjlestian PSHHH…
Seriously? Freddy Adu isn’t good enough for MLS. Period. Just ask Jason Kries.
he may have to wait for the benfica contract to end before he can come back to MLS. his salary is DP level so most teams couldnt or wouldnt pay that for a loan player (thats why he didnt return to aris). the purchase price is also pretty high. i agree though MLS would be good for him.
i may have read to much into ur comment though. RT:MLS
Yes, for the love of God please send Freddy Adu to FCD. Please!
Love,
RSL Fan
the equation hasnt changed for him. after the gold cup, if rize is the best option (if offered) for both adu and benfica, then he’ll stay. if nothing materializes, then its preseason with benefica. if they wont have him its back to waiting it out in bradenton. either way the gc will be his month long televised trial…
Bring Freddy to FC Dallas!
Disagreed, from what I have heard x-rays on his growth plates actually showed him to be around 2 years older than what is recorded. If I’m not mistaken he came from Ghana without a birth certificate. Or at least something along those lines. I can’t recall specifics.
How would he get a work permit in England?
Whatever happens, I just hope his time with Rizespor has taught him to make his next move about playing time, not about ego. If that means staying in the Turkish second division, so be it. The kid needs to play, end of story.
Here’s hoping he plays well in the Gold Cup and makes a smart loan deal afterwords. Here’s also hoping that if he plays well, he’s finally humble and grounded enough to realize that one good tournament doesn’t mean he’s the world class player everyone thought he was gonna be when he was 14.
Rizespor has served him
well. Stay another year if they want you, Freddy. Get some consistency playing. No rush. Best of luck.
Him and Greg Oden both..
I don’t hate on Freddy at all, but he shouldn’t start against Spain..
We will not have the majority of possession and he can’t play defense..
Adu is 40.
oh, just the youngest person ever to play professional sports in the US. He’s still only 21.
you sound retarded as it’s nothing but love for our nats on this forum…..gosomewhere else and troll yourself to death cuz i get the feeling from most of the threads on SBI that people are welcoming freddy back! There has benn no evidenced against him being 20 yrs of age so we don’t we taks him at his word and personally he looks just like any 20 year old looks to me and nowadays kids look older than what they really are! Hating is no good clown!
Benfica could use Freddy Adu. Call me crazy but this is a 21 yr old kid with a tremendous amount of offensive skill. Unfortunately because he only has a year left on his current deal it is not going to make sense for Benfica to play him and he won’t factor into their long term plans. I think he should try for a spot on a Championship level team. Perhaps West Ham.
Adu’s club future is always uncertain
Who the hell is this guy?
I wonder how freddy played today? I can’t help but feel like Bob brought freddy in to play that CAM role in the 4-2-3-1, which could be very dangerous going forward if freddy, clint, and landon can gel pretty quickly! We know adu has skills but as we all have wondered, has he finally figured it out and can he help the nats get to the next level?! I think adu will get the start against Spain too!
I think even people that follow the Turkish second division will say that the Gold Cup will define who he is and how good he is ( unless we don’t see him…but even then huh ? )
I am sure with the Adu-haters out there, this has been beaten to death, but how old is the kid in that picture ?
I am not one of the Adu-haters, I would love to see him in MLS, I hope he wins the WCup for the US. He looks a lot older than 20ish.
The Gold Cup is now huge for Adu. He can play himself into a quality loan or find himself playing in some European backwater league or worse.
Here’s hoping Freddy has turned the corner…I wish him only success.
MLS
Dear Freddy,
Just stay.
Who knows…? I’ll be interested to see him play though.