Every young player who enters Major League Soccer faces a challenging adjustment to the increased intensity and competitiveness of the professional level, both on and off the field. But for Freddy Adu, whose youth and talent had already led to international fame even before becoming the first overall pick in the SuperDraft as a 14-year-old prodigy in 2004, this adjustment proved even more difficult.
Saddled with those high expectations, Adu showed tantalizing glimpses of his tremendous potential in his first two seasons with D.C. United. But he found consistency to be elusive as he coped with head coach Peter Nowak's highly disciplined system amid fierce competition for a spot in United's first 11.
The gifted teenager's frustration detonated in last season's final days, when he questioned his limited playing time on the eve of D.C.'s playoff matchup with the Chicago Fire. The incident led to widespread rumors of an offseason departure, and questions lingered even after Adu met with Nowak to clear the air in December.
But the Ghanaian-born wunderkind has gone a long way towards assuaging his doubters with a strong start to 2006, rejuvenated by a new attitude and an increased role in a Black-and-Red attack which has paced the club to a 2-0-1 record.
"I guess I've just grown up a little," Adu said. "Last year, I felt like the way I went about it was definitely the wrong way to go about it. What happened last year got me so mad, it would completely distract me from playing my game and helping the guys out on the field.
"This time around, this is a new attitude I have: whatever. When you go in there, just do what you've got to do to help the team win. Even if it's 10 minutes or 15 minutes, just make a difference when the team needs you the most."
Adu went 90 minutes in the season opener against the New York Red Bulls, yet lost his starting spot to Alecko Eskandarian against Chivas USA the following week. Despite his obvious disappointment, he made an impact coming off the bench in the second half, earning plaudits from Nowak.
"I talked to Freddy before the game and let him know that our relationship, his mentality didn't change," said the United boss afterwards. "He impacted the game; he played a good ball to Jamil (Walker) and we scored the second goal. ... Everything is open right now and we're going to work to make sure that we reward his performance today."
Between Adu's renewed commitment to the team-first philosophy and Nowak's willingness to adapt his formation to better suit the youngster's abilities, there are signs that a deeper trust has been forged.
"Coaches have their reasons for putting out the starting 11," said Adu. "Esky played a great game (against New York), and he was rewarded. He was rewarded with a start, so I don't take anything away from him. ... I want to start every game, and I am willing to work to get that start every game. But when I don't, hey, it's not the end of the world. You just keep plugging away and working hard."
Adu is forthright about the heavy burdens he carried through his first two pro seasons as a photogenic talent tagged as the future of U.S. soccer -- and the public face of several corporate ad campaigns.
"That's when it's hard," he said. "You've got all these endorsements. They expect you to be out on the field playing and making a difference. And when you're not playing, there's a lot of pressure put on you, you know, to get out there on the field, just so you can maintain all this stuff, so you can satisfy their needs, too. I had a lot of pressure last year, due to that. I was thinking about that too much."
He's since found better ways to get things off his chest.
"Guys on the team like Brandon Prideaux, Jaime Moreno, Ben Olsen, Josh Gros and Esky, I talk to them," said Adu. "They see -- they know me. When I'm not outgoing and I have something on my mind, they come up to me and they talk to me about it."
In fact, one of the team's oldest players stepped forward to encourage the 16-year-old after his demotion to the bench.
"Brandon Prideaux came up to me and said, 'Hey Freddy, you played great last weekend, especially in the second half. Don't worry about it,'" revealed Adu. "He told me he's in the same boat -- Bobby (Boswell) comes back and he's on the bench. All you can do is work as hard as you possibly can and not worry about it too much. That's the approach I'm taking: I'm just working hard, but when I get my chance I just try to make a difference."
It's been said that the game is the best teacher, and Adu is finally getting the chance to absorb those lessons firsthand.
"It's important for him to just keep playing these games, keep learning these lessons and keep getting experience at this level," said Olsen after Adu's strong outing against Houston last week, when he was once again in the starting lineup.
"It's great for him that the coaches are showing a lot of faith in him this year, to keep putting him out there and starting him. That's important too: he's going to learn on his own. That's going to be exciting to see. Hopefully he keeps on doing what he's doing."
Charles Boehm is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
