"I have a lot of concerns. I want to score goals, and I need every support I can get in order to do that," Adi told MLSSoccer.com. "When you're a center forward and you don't score goals, you get worried about the whole situation. But this is something that the coaches are working on. We still believe that the club can bring in a No. 10 for us, someone that is very experienced and can push us (forward)."
Adi scored two goals in the team's now-concluded preseason. Both were scored against Charleston Battery Feb. 16 in a 2-1 victory, although one of the goals was memorably and incorrectly called back by the center referee.
Adi was also a prolific creator of chances at earlier stages of the preseason. Many of the chances he created were individual efforts, though.
His concerns over a perceived lack of support likely speak to the absence of a true attacking midfielder on the FC Cincinnati roster.
The context and backdrop to Adi's concerns
Adi's concerns are legitimate. They might stem from last season when he faced noticeable criticism from FC Cincinnati fans that adored him upon arriving at the club.
It was Adi's lack of goals, along with the occasional appearance of lackadaisical and disengaged play, that upset local supporters and called into question his relative worth as a player.
The expectation of dominant play from Adi likely came from the fact that he's a designated player for the club and pulls down nearly $2 million in salary, along with his history of scoring goals at the MLS level.
Money and production are a big part of the conversation. So, too, is his past production and whether he can produce at that level again.
"What I'll say is that whatever money any player's making, people should think it's because Adi's obviously earned that money wherever he's been," FC Cincinnati midfielder Nazmi Albadawi told The Enquirer on Tuesday. "He deserves it because he's earned it. He has the right to make that money. There's going to be haters out there. There's going to be people that question you, no matter who you are. At the end of the day, he's a proven goalscorer in the league and he's earned that money for himself.
For his part, Adi's facing undeniable scrutiny and doubt from many corners of the MLS soccer scene. In part, that's why FC Cincinnati brought Adi and others into the fold for 2019.
They wanted players with chips on their shoulders. Perhaps Adi's concerns are starting to boil over, though.
"I think he can replicate his success here (Cincinnati), too. People don't realize how good he actually is," Albadawi said. "There's a lot of people out there that don't really understand the game so they think it's only a numbers game. It's a lot more than that, you know? Adi holds the ball up well. He's a really smart football player. His movement is really good, too. I think he's underrated by a lot of fans and they'll be surprised about how good he can really is."
Albadawi also noted that a player of Adi's size, along with the threat he poses anywhere in the attacking half, tends to open up the field for others as Adi often gets attention from multiple defenders.
Asked about FC Cincinnati's pipeline to its attacking players, forward Darren Mattocks said the players currently in-house need to fix any on-field problems.
"We definitely have players to put the ball in the back of the net," Mattocks said. "Whether we're missing, maybe, a playmaker, you know, that's fine. The players in the team are capable enough to be good in the buildup to get the ball to the guys up top... It's just for us as a team to put it together."