This is the only thing that I’m worried about with Adu. He tends to add touches and flare when its not needed. But I think the only way he grows out of that is with playing time … which he is not getting at the club level or the international level.

2) I don’t think you have it right about Adu. He may not be big, but he’s strong. I think he should be seeing major minutes in the center midfield because he can hold and possess the ball, which is what we’re going to need for the next 12 years. Which leads me to what I think is the real problem…

3) Almost no one on our team is seeing significant club minutes. And by significant, I mean in the top leagues around the world. We have plenty of players that get lots of time in MLS, which for your top top stars just isn’t going to cut it right now. We’ve been very unlucky with how things have worked out for our successful young players who have made the jump to Europe. Beasley, Adu, and Altidore, specifically, who were all supposed to be major cogs for us right now, they can’t sniff the field over there. So do you bring them back? or do you hold off moving over any other players in the next season? I don’t know the answer to that other than to make sure we do our homework and get these guys in spots where they will actually get minutes rather than just a splashy name with a big transfer fee. You saw how Onyewu and Dempsey played for us – those guys play pretty much every minute for their Euro clubs – they may not be the best clubs, but they are getting real significant minutes, which is the only way they can be ready for these kinds of games.

2010 is coming up fast, we need to replace probably 3-4 guys with players ready to play and contribute heavy minutes to have any shot to do any damage.

Effin A right, Cotton!