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World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

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Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

Cardiff beat Leicester 4-3 on penalties this afternoon, promotion playoff final v. Blackpool on the 22nd at Wembley
 
Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

Bravo Fulham. Sorry you lost, but don't be ashamed. Roy Hodgson is the man. Sir Alex even said so. You represented well.
 
Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

Kepler said:
Naive question: why are the Elo and FIFA rankings significantly different? England, for example, is 4th in one and 8th in the other, while Portugal is 12th and 3rd, respectively.
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Well, to make the FIFA rankings, they started with the rankings they wanted, and worked backward to get their system. It has some really head-scratching behavior in certain situations, which is very unfortunate because they're still being used for seeding.

The Elo ratings are based on the chess ranking system.
 
Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

pirate said:
There was a very good recent article on ESPN or SI regarding his situation (can't search for it now)...several key people providing feedback that he has speed and individual skill but does not know how to play the game...weak tactically etc. They felt he lost so much by not spending the right amount of time learning the game.
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Mostly right, except that Freddy isn't fast. He's very average speed-wise, you will seldom see him run away from anyone. That's part of his problem... he's neither fast nor strong on the ball. Throw in his lack of tactical nous, and the only thing he's got going for him is outstanding technical skills that he has trouble using productively because of his other deficiencies.
 
Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

Craig P. said:
Mostly right, except that Freddy isn't fast. He's very average speed-wise, you will seldom see him run away from anyone. That's part of his problem... he's neither fast nor strong on the ball. Throw in his lack of tactical nous, and the only thing he's got going for him is outstanding technical skills that he has trouble using productively because of his other deficiencies.
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What was the basis of the early hype? Was it a matter of being way ahead at 14 and then not developing -- a predicted trajectory fallacy?
 
Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

MountieBoyOz said:
Bravo Fulham. Sorry you lost, but don't be ashamed. Roy Hodgson is the man. Sir Alex even said so. You represented well.
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Indeed. A very absorbing game, too. No shame in either game. I think I finally have my EPL team (which should doom them to relegation :p ).
 
Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

Kepler said:
What was the basis of the early hype? Was it a matter of being way ahead at 14 and then not developing -- a predicted trajectory fallacy?
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The basis of the early hype was legit, even if the hype was out of scale. He had (and still has) great ball skills. He played very well in the U20 World Cup a few years back.

He's never been all that fast, so I don't think you can chalk that up to a lack of development - but where his development has lagged is in between the ears. His tactical awareness isn't good, he often ignores or misses defensive responsibilities, etc. So, the good news is that you can learn a lot of those things.

The other related question has to do with motivation, or lack thereof.

So, it's debatable if Adu's early spotlight impacted either his motivation or his tactical development negatively - some Europeans have certainly suggested that, particularly noting the small roster sizes in MLS that really limit coaches in how much they can force a kid to earn playing time.
 
Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

Is Freddy Adu's "failure" really that surprising? Think about how many kids are supposed to be the next big thing at 14, and fail to pan out. Granted, his situation is exponentially magnified because he was sold as the great hope of American soccer, but still.
 
Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

Failure is too strong. His grade is incomplete in my book. Again, he's 20 years old. He would be the youngest player on the US team by quite a bit (current youngest players are Bradley and Torres, both are 22).
 
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Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

HumRsky said:
I am happy for Atletico, it is the favorite team of a good friend of mine, and while I don't consider myself a 'fan,' they are my favorite Spanish team. Today, however, I was kind of pulling for Fulham to win their first major trophy.
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MountieBoyOz said:
Bravo Fulham. Sorry you lost, but don't be ashamed. Roy Hodgson is the man. Sir Alex even said so. You represented well.
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I'm sad Fulham lost. Visiting their stadium last January was a real treat. Too bad they were out of scarves otherwise I would have one.
 
Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

Kepler said:
What was the basis of the early hype? Was it a matter of being way ahead at 14 and then not developing -- a predicted trajectory fallacy?
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His ball skills are legitimately top class. But when he was being hyped, he was big and strong for his age. It's turned out that he was an early-maturing kid (or, if you subscribe to the conspiracy theories, his birth year was fudged), so rather than turning into a solid 5'10-180 type guy, he's short and, as I said, not particularly strong on the ball.

Furthermore, there were serious issues with his tactical development, some of which may rest at the feet of Peter Nowak, some at the feet of the Bradenton residency program, some at the feet of turning pro too early and jumping up a class too high for what he was able to handle.
 
Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

Basically he never grew, they expected him to grow and be tall and combine that new-found strength with his ball skills.

To succeed being small, you need to be Messi. A once in a generation wizard.

Adu's not Messi. He's tiny, slow, and he's not showing any sort of tactical development.
 
Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

Terrierbyassociation said:
Basically he never grew, they expected him to grow and be tall and combine that new-found strength with his ball skills.

To succeed being small, you need to be Messi. A once in a generation wizard.

Adu's not Messi. He's tiny, slow, and he's not showing any sort of tactical development.
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Again, he's 20. He'd be the youngest player on the WC roster by far.
 
Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

Terrierbyassociation said:
Basically he never grew, they expected him to grow and be tall and combine that new-found strength with his ball skills.

To succeed being small, you need to be Messi. A once in a generation wizard.

Adu's not Messi. He's tiny, slow, and he's not showing any sort of tactical development.
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When I look at small players Adu's physical limitations seem to place his "ideal" somewhere near Xavi. A player who isn't fast or particularly strong on the ball but has amazing technical skills. The main difference, and its a big one, is Xavi is a tactical genius while Adu's soccer IQ is lagging well back.
 
Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

A cynic would also point out that Freddy might be closer than 30 than 20, with the way some African players have been about their age.
 
Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

WeWantMore said:
A cynic would also point out that Freddy might be closer than 30 than 20, with the way some African players have been about their age.
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Fair, but I don't think his age was off by 10 years.

Even if he's 24 instead of 20, he still has lots of time to learn and grow into a role and still have a good shot at helping the US in future international competition.
 
Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

blockski said:
Again, he's 20. He'd be the youngest player on the WC roster by far.
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One, we're not sure he's 20. Two, we can't look at a guy's age here because he's not the typical 20 year old. He's been getting the best coaching for the last 5 years. Are we really comparing him to a 20 year old who is in college right now?

That guy has been brought along slowly. Adu on the other hand...
 
Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

What should worry freddy is the number of people that can 'thin slice' him and say "he doesn't have it". He may mature, he may develop but if this many people are saying he can't help them then they can't all be wrong. Sure there are guys that could develop later but there are also guys like Jack McInerny (not him specifically, but the age group) that are breathing down his neck and are 2-3 years younger...which would you choose to 'develop'?
 
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