I freely admit that a part of me is unhappy that Juan Agudelo scored last night.
To take it a step further, I was hoping that Bob Bradley wouldn't call him up in the first place.
Why? Because I remember Freddy Adu. Because I was front-and-center in Giants Stadium for the Jozy Altidore hype parade. The main float in that parade has since crashed somewhere in Western Europe and sits in a smoldering heap after bouncing its way to Spain. I will literally be sick to my stomach if Juan Agudelo fulfills the "Death comes in 3's" potential for the best teens the USA seems to have produced.
Not Juan, dammit.
He needs to stay home. MLS isn't what it was when Freddy and Jozy were here, and this DAMN sure ain't Jozy's Red Bulls. Unlike those two, Agudelo has the chance to play on a championship-level, fairly relevant NY team, in a world-class arena. Above even that is the opportunity to partner with and learn the tricks of the trade from Thierry Henry on a daily basis.
God forbid MLS do NY any favors, but in the back of my mind, I really want to believe that the amazing potential of Juan Agudelo is a contributing factor to the new Homegrown Player and U-24 rules that were announced this week. I think The Don knows it's time to stop losing our kids to FC Gesundheit in the Norwegian 3rd division because of cash, or to the bigger clubs under the mistaken perception of opportunity.
For once, can we just see how this plays out? I'll even be semi-realistic and only beg for 2-3 full seasons in Harrison for the kid. At 20-21, if he's everything we hope he is...fine, take him. I could stomach it then. But Juan Agudelo not only represents future hopes at the striker position for the US Nats, he's the present for Red Bull. He represents the beautiful progress in the MLS academy system. He's the local boy with a real chance to be a homegrown hero for his club. For once, can't we let it happen?
I know it won't. Next January, we'll be reading the Ives headline "Juan Agudelo to Atletico Madrid" or some shit. We'll wonder why he isn't getting minutes, we'll wonder why he isn't scoring for the US anymore. All because his most important developmental years will be spent on a bench.
Then we'll line up the next 17yr old and do the same thing to him . . .
Posts
1 comment:
Don't give up on Jozy yet. At least he's actually on Villarreal this season and playing and scoring a little in Europa League and Domestic Cup games. There's still more to come from him.
I won't even talk about Freddy...too much. Shit is too depressing. Dude just needs to sack up, swallow his pride, pull a Donovan and come home. If he gets a contract with Randers, it's just going to turn into just Benfica/Monaco/Beleneses/Aris. He'll play in the beginning, then mysteriously disappear.
As for Juan, I hope all that doesn't happen to him and he gets at least a couple full MLS seasons under his belt before Europe comes calling. I guess no JPA doesn't look so bad next year does it? How he does in the January camp could change everything though. It could get him on the Gold Cup radar (as well as his early performances in MLS could too) and then it can all just take off from there
Post a Comment