Off Wing Opinion

I had the distinct displeasure of watching the disappointing end to D.C. United's MLS season yesterday evening, as the Red and Black dropped a 4-0 decision to the Chicago Fire at RFK Stadium.

It was a royal beating in every sense of the word. Chicago took to the attack from the opening kick, and United couldn't seem to develop any flow on offense all game long. Throw in a couple of defensive breakdowns, a couple of mistakes from goalie Nick Rimando and a tantrum "ala Roberto Alomar" from Christian Gomez (except he spit on a member of the Fire, resulting in a red card and automatic ejection), and the evening was complete. For a more detailed breakdown of the breakdown from Sunday evening, visit DCenters.

But the big news came after the game, when Mike Wise of the Washington Post interviewed former U.S. National Team member and ESPN broadcaster Eric Wynalda after the game:

"No one is coming out and saying it, but Freddy is not going to play here next year," Eric Wynalda said.

Wynalda is the Sean Salisbury of soccer announcers, a bit of a blowhard but very familiar with the inner workings of his sport. He is the all-time leading scorer in U.S. history. When Wynalda says, "My feeling is, Freddy is going to be in New York next season," well, you get the feeling the kid's junior prom next May might not be at the Rockville Pike Econo Lodge.

United President Kevin Payne angrily denied Wynalda's prediction, but you have to wonder what's on the wind after Adu's agent, Richard Motzkin, talked to the Post's Steven Goff on Saturday:

Adu has not granted any interview requests since making his surprising comments, but his agent, Richard Motzkin of SportsNet in Los Angeles, agreed to discuss the situation.

"Freddy is very much a team-first player and he is very much focused and motivated to do whatever he can to help the team win a championship," he said.

Asked his reaction to Adu's complaints, Motzkin said: "It came from a frustrated young adult. The timing of the comments certainly wasn't good, but in terms of the substance, Freddy is a person who speaks from the heart, and to me, it sounded like he was speaking from the heart.

(snip)

Motzkin was critical of the way United handled the recent controversy.

"Did Freddy do enough to remedy the situation?" he said. "I would flip it and say, 'Did D.C. United do enough to remedy it?' Because, at the end of the day, while Freddy is extremely mature, articulate and intelligent, he's still 16 years old. If someone is looking for adult-like behavior, whether that's in the form of an apology or the request for a meeting, it's reasonable to ask the question, 'Shouldn't the adults also swallow some pride, act in an adult-like fashion and reach out to someone who maybe isn't comfortable clearly doing things they want him to do?' "

Folks, these are not the words of an agent that wants to make peace.

As for Adu's unhappiness and the chances of him leaving D.C. United, think of it this way: How many of us have known folks around Adu's age coming to their parents and asking to transfer to another high school or college because they weren't happy? Do we call those kids immature? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. But move on they do, and we don't give it a second thought.

Toss in all of the additional pressures from MLS and the rest of the American Soccer apparatus, and my money is on Adu getting out of town.

Know this: D.C. United may very well be the flagship MLS franchise. But the folks who run MLS and the U.S. Soccer Federation care more for the game as a whole, than they do about being fair to D.C. United. And if they come to the conclusion that Adu and the state of the sport in America would be better served if he left Washington, expect it to happen in a New York (or L.A.) minute.

UPDATE: Out in the Bay Area, PJ Swensen saw his team eliminated too.

ANOTHER UPDATE: DCenters has more:

Okay, so everyone whose overreacting to the Chicago game, please calm down. If we make moves out of reaction to one game, then they're probably not going to be the smart moves we need to make to improve for next season. This needs to be approached rationally, with a level head and honest eyes. Right now, we as fans feel too negatively to be objective about what we have, just as after a victory we feel too invincible. In case your wondering, I'm sure that Kevin Payne went through a pack-and-a-half of Marlboro (Lights, I'm guessing) in order to chill him out enough to deal with all the yelling and moaning that was going to come.

Shakespeare is wrong. "If it must be done, twere best done quickly" he wrote in MacBeth as he considered the possibility of making various regime changes. He's wrong. We need to do things a little more slowly, to consider what the right course of action is. Sadly, we have plenty of time for that now. So let's use some of it, and use some common sense.

In the end, I guess we really shouldn't be surprised that the season ended this way. We always knew that the biggest hole the team had to fill was on the back line in the wake of the departure of Ryan Nelsen after last season. In a sense, the United club we saw on Sunday evening bore a striking resemblance to last year's team -- the one, that is, that took to the pitch while Nelsen was playing in international competition for his native New Zealand.

D.C. United took a step forward towards resolving the Freddie Adu kerfuffle as it lifted the kid's suspension so he'll be eligible to play in Sunday's match against the Chicago Fire at RFK.

As for the team, they're saying everything is hunky dory now:

"As far as the club is concerned, this issue is behind us and we're eagerly awaiting Sunday's game," United spokesman Doug Hicks said yesterday. "He will train all week and we expect him to be available for Sunday."

So for now, everybody wins: The team (front office and coaching staff) made its point; Team Adu delivered its message to United and MLS; and under the theory that there is no such thing as bad publicity, the press gave some ink to MLS while the NFL, the World Series and the return of the NHL were previously dominating conversation.

Here's another question, that I'm not sure I know the answer to: Would it be better for Adu's development to leave United for another club? It seems clear that Team Adu is convinvced that it couldn't be any worse than it is now in Washington, which is probably why they were squawking in the first place.

POSTSCRIPT: I was at United's regular season finale two weeks ago against Columbus, and like DCenters, couldn't help but notice the horrible condition of the pitch -- the predictable result of having to share a stadium with a baseball team.

I don't know about anybody else, but seeing that really bugs me, and couldn't help but remind me of my trip to MLS Cup '99 in Foxboro where the pitch was clearly burned out. If there is a better indicator of Soccer's place in the American sports landscape, I'm not sure what it is (though We Call It Soccer has another suggestion).

As far as I'm concerned, the new stadium for the Nationals can't get built fast enough. As for the plans for a new stadium for United, I'll believe it when I'm standing inside of it. And in fact, I'd be more than happy to see them stay at RFK after the Nats depart, even if it means forgoing a new stadium altogether.

For more years than most who follow international soccer can remember, Scottish football has been a matter of Rangers and Celtic and Celtic and Rangers, with the rest of the SPL (and its predecessors) being nothing more but chum for the Old Firm.

But that had looked to be changing this year, as Hearts of Midloathian jumped out to an early lead in this year's table. But as much of a surprise as that's been, there was a bigger surprise in store on Saturday when head coach George Burley abruptly left the club due to differences with its new millionaire owner, Vladimir Romanov.

It looks like the club is pursuing Sir Bobby Robson as a replacement. As of today, Hearts stand three points clear of Celtic and seven of Rangers in the SPL.

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.