Adieu DC United, Or Much Adu About Nothing?

Now that we've disposed with all of the cute Freddie Adu headlines that could also double as the close to a Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon, it's time to dissect the mess in Washington that Adu, D.C. United and MLS have made of this kid's career in professional soccer.

By now, many of you already know of what at first blush might have seemed like an ill-advised interview that Adu granted to Washington Post beat writer Steven Goff complaining about his lack of playing time at American Soccer's most storied franchise, and his subsequent suspension by United head coach Peter Novak for Friday night's playoff game between D.C. and the Chicago Fire when he declined to apologize for it.

And whether or not Adu plays for United again is anybody's guess.

So much for the preliminaries.

But while I was watching Eric Wynalda try to parcel out some advice to Adu on ESPN2 on Sunday afternoon, I couldn't help but be struck by how this is all just an elaborate sideshow.

After all, we have journalists and commentators acting as if Adu is just like any other spoiled 16-year old. Which means they're asking us to forget that this particular 16-year old is banking millions, and has a virtual army of advisors telling him what to do.

So when you hear somebody saying that Adu is simply acting his age, don't believe it for a second. Plenty of folks have millions of dollars invested in this kid and his career. And if he isn't getting on the pitch regularly and scoring goals, those agents and sponsors aren't going to be happy. So if you're looking for a culprit in this contrived mess, why not go knocking on the door of Richard Motzkin, Adu's agent? Unfortunately, it looks like he isn't answering the phone:

Richard Motzkin, Adu's Los Angeles-based agent, did not return phone calls.

That's ok, as Adu's mother has made it perfectly clear that she's in her son's corner as Motzkin stays silent.

It would probably be good to remember that it was only three months ago that Alexi Lalas, former U.S. international and current GM of the Metrostars, mentioned that he'd be interested in bringing Adu to New York. By the way, who's Lalas's agent?

If you said Motzkin, you're right. Gee, I wonder if Lalas floated that idea by his agent before he talked with the New York Times?

Unfortunately for United and MLS, Adu really holds all the cards here. Say he continues to refuse to apologize, and gets suspended for the remainder of the season. Whether or not United repeat as MLS champs, it will matter little to Adu. After all, he can simply say he refuses to return to D.C. United, and the league will have little choice but to move him to another club in the league (easy enough in the single entity MLS, where New York is already the preferred destination) or sell him to a club overseas.

But here's another problem. You see, Adu (and his minions) wants to be on the world stage as soon as possible. If he stays with United, that means getting a berth with the U.S. Men's National Team that's heading to Germany next Summer.

But just because Adu is an American citizen now, doesn't mean that he has to play for the U.S. in international competition at the very highest levels. In fact, because he hasn't made an appearance with the Men's team at the international level (though he has competed with other under-21 squads), Adu could simply fly to England, gain citizenship there, and represent the birthplace of the beautiful game instead. All it would require would be a waiver from FIFA that he's be sure to get.

Don't think that National Team head coach Bruce Arena doesn't understand this. His statements this past week were a simple wake-up call to the folks at MLS to get their house in order when it comes to Adu and his playing time.

So if the American soccer kingpins really want to show Adu who's boss, Adu may very well wind up checkmating them in the end. Besides, the aim of the folks who run MLS is to fill their stadiums, and have their league seen as a respectable outfit on the world football scene. And having Adu wearing the Red, White and Blue at World Cup 2010, 2014, 2018 and perhaps beyond, is all part of that plan.

So when somebody tells you that Adu is being a brat, be sure to laugh them off. In fact, there's nothing about this dispute that's childish at all.

UPDATE: Dave from DCenters sent in some thoughts via email:

I think your fear that Freddy might bolt for England or another team is misplaced, as Freddy has repeatedly gone on record as saying he wants to play for the US, to the point of spurning a chance to play for Ghana which qualified this year. Your other comments are interesting, especially in terms of the Lalas situation. The issue is playing time now, both to expose himself to a potential Nats call-up but also to showcase his talent for an EPL team.

He's going to the EPL at some point in the next few years, the question is how much PT he gets before he goes. He'll get more in the swamp certainly.

I'm not really afraid that Adu might bolt, but I think it's on the minds of USSF and Bruce Arena. Sure, he's been making all the right noises about playing for the USA, but all it takes is a few years at Man. U, Liverpool or Arsenal, and he might be ready to bolt.

After all, it's hard to argue that his commercial opportunties as a Soccer player would be better in the US than anywhere in Europe.

In my mind, it's all about the threat, as it may never have to be exercised in order to be effective.

Here's a question I'm not sure I have the answer to: Is there any side in MLS who would have used Adu as much or less than D.C. United? I suspect that answer is no, and Team Adu is well aware that's the case. Certainly Lalas seems to think he could use Adu more often. And I'm sure the league would absolutely die to have him in New York.

I think the bottom line here is that MLS and the USSF need Adu a lot more than he needs them. Indeed, in time, Adu could become the face of American soccer, and that would be all to the good. But Adu, and more likely his advisors, might very well have other plans -- or at least let people think that they might.

ANOTHER UPDATE: DCenters has a followup answer to my last question:

As for "are there any clubs that would play Freddy as little or less than DCU?" I can think of two or three. Freddy is a center attacking mid, maybe a forward. New England is deep at those positions (Noonan/Twellman/Dempsey) and San Jose has likely MVP candidate Dwane DeResario at CAM. So for those two clubs he'd be fighting for time. Ditto in Los Angeles with Hurculez Gomez and Landon Donovan, although he might break in uptop. New York, FC Dallas, Chicago, Salt Lake, Chivas, Kansas City, Columbus and Colorado all would probably play Freddy more, not just for talent but for the draw at the gate. The question is do they have anything that DCU would be willing to trade Freddy for, aside from an international allocation.

Something tells me that if the situation for Adu in D.C. can't be salvaged -- and I think that's entirely up to Adu's handlers at this point -- the league will do what it needs to do in order to get him playing time somewhere else. And that will be the case even if D.C. has to take a bath in terms of trade value (not like that didn't happen when Landon Donovan said he didn't want to return to San Jose, now did it?).

For more on the Adu situation, click here.

Eric 12:18 AM

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Posted by: at October 24, 2005 12:52 PM

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