SALT LAKE CITY - Whether out of respect for Freddy Adu's lifelong dream of playing in Europe, or out of a wish to bring in a fresh face from out of the country, Real Salt Lake coach Jason Kreis was not about to stop Adu from going overseas.
Adu seems to have played his last game for Real. Saturday, instead of suiting up in Salt Lake City to help Real take on the New England Revolution, he boarded a plane bound for the other side of the Atlantic Ocean on his way to Portugal's Benfica.
"Freddy has received a fantastic opportunity to go overseas and play, where he has said he wanted to for a while," Kreis said. "In my opinion I have to respect that and allow him the opportunity to do that. If we had forced him to play (Saturday) there would be a possible injury, and that whole deal could be scrapped."
One way or another, Salt Lake now is in good position to bring in a talented international player. The team has an open roster spot and plenty of money to offer under the salary cap. Also, the prospect of paying Adu even more next year and having him occupy the team's designated player spot no longer exists.
Keeping their options open, Real have been training with a pair of internationals in the last week: Uche Chinyere of Nigeria and Tony Versailles of France. And reportedly, Argentinean players Edgar Espinola and Javier Morales should begin working out with the team this week.
Doubtless, Real's roster moves since Jason Kreis took over as head coach have improved the team. Kyle Beckerman in particular made his presence felt on Saturday against the Revolution, but with so many moves, creating a cohesive team unit can be difficult in a short amount of time.
"You can't use it as an excuse, but (Friday) [Adu] was in the starting lineup and (Saturday) we found out that he wasn't," Beckerman said after RSL's loss to the Revolution. "He is a dangerous player, but we went into the game knowing that he wasn't on the field, and we still felt that we could win the game."
RSL are now 1-9-6, on track to have the worst season in Major League Soccer history. But, as many Real players have said over the course of the season, things are getting better.
"The new faces I think have done well for us and we're playing a little bit better system and we are keeping the ball a heck of a lot more than we have in the past," midfielder Carey Talley said. "It's only going to get better fo us in terms of keeping the ball in possession and figuring out how to link with our front runners."
Peter Richins is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
