Benching Adu might cost Peter Nowac his coaching job?

This article was obviously from before the LA game but that's not an issue.

Nowak is not going to be fired for his handling of Adu. Plain and simple. He is hired by DC United ... not the MLS Media Office.

First, he hasn't benched Adu. Picky here maybe... but benching implies he had been starting or playing significant minutes and now his minutes have diminished greatly or disappeared altogether. That hasn't happened... granted we're only 2 games into the season.

Secondly, there are many in the league that don't want Adu to be anything more than an average to good player this year. What does it say about MLS if a 14 year old comes in and dominates?

Third, if Nowak was ever going to be in danger for his job for not starting Adu, it would have been for the first game. Until he goes on a losing streak and his starting forwards aren't scoring goals... he doesn't have to worrry about pleasing the "curious" fan. Why not show them there are other things in the league to watch and enjoy other than Freddy.

Last, he is proving a point... you don't start unless you are better for the teams chancing of winning than the next guy. Nowak is in charge of the team, make no mistake about it. Freddy has looked respectable in his games to date, but nothing to show he is an obvious starter.... yet.

 

Jose, Adu is just a kid and precious gem to MLS and US Soccer. We have to be very careful with him, he needs wise people around him, he needs to be given small baby steps. The kid could be ruined mentaly more then anything else if not taken care of. He does show a lot of maturity(thanks God) but still he is just a kid, and Wahoo has also covered good points. We would love to see what he is made of and play him every game 90 min but we don't want him burned out and used up the time he is 17, we cannot be selfish but must think of the future and that could be 20+ years.

 

"If you take someone of his age to the well too many times you end up with a tired old horse. We want to allow him to keep fresh, develop at his own pace and hopefully in two years' time we'll see the fruits of that.

"Ensuring young players don't get burned out too early is one of the things I've learned in my time as manager. Ryan Giggs got exactly the same treatment and I'd like to think he's been able to play at the highest level for 14 years simply because we watched what we did with him when he was a boy."

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/preview?id=109542&cc=5901

 

Peter Nowac?

 

The only soccer guy in DC is Steve Goff of the Post. When he writes about it, then you should worry. Haydon does a good job, but the paper he works for it just a joke.

 

Quiet, he's on a roll.

 

my dream is for DCU to have a winning season and do well in the playoffs...

Freddy who?

before the first game of this season we had some media walking around the ScreamingEagles tailgate and generally around the parking lot, as if they were lost, they were looking for people to talk to about Freddy... seems it took them eight years to find the parking lot!!

and inside the stadium some of the fans were chanting for Freddy, and seemed to ignore the eleven players on the field who won the game

Juan, you must remember that Freddy joined DC UNITED and not the other way around

 

He's just a kid, a kid. Give him a few years before throwing him to the wolves.

 

Stupid Post of the Week.

 

I second this.

 

I think you guys are jumping the gun. The week is young. Many contending posts will be written before the week is through. I beg of you: do not cast your vote until all entries are in.

I want a fair competition.

 

I stand corrected.

 

This isn't a joke league (anymore). D.C. didn't hire Nowak so he would start Freddy and give MLS the badly needed exposure. D.C. hired Nowak to developed the talent that was on the bench (something Hudson would have never done), and to turn the team into a winning team. Guess what, he's done both of that (at least it looks like that way). #1 draft pick already scored. Rookies are making an impact on that team. And guess what, they still have Freddy on the bench. Point is Freddy is not ready. He's not proven, so why bother taking the chance of putting him out there. Let him get use to the game at this level. Its called smart coaching.

 

Yet also applauded.

 

It is a joke league in the US compared to other professional sports leagues. I would put it on par with Arena Football, maybe a bit lower. I'm thinking Peter will be getting some "encouragement" from the MLS higher ups to play Adu more in the future or he will find himself quickly replaced.

 

I dying to find out. How is that you put MLS on par with Arena footall? What's your reasoning?

 

could you imagine the uproar of the fans, not only in DC but in the whole league, if Nowak (with a team that has a winning record and playing good football) is fired b/c he does not play Adu enough?

i think MLS if more afraid of Freddy getting playing time and not playing well or even getting a serious injury to him not getting enough playing time

 

If you'd actually read the article, you'd noticed that it's NOWAK, not NOWAC. Also, you would've come across quotes like this....

So in short... where do you get the idea that Nowak's job is in jeopardy?

 

Maybe it has something to do with recognizing Adu's relative inexperience at this level, and from that recognition, maybe he's drawing the conclusion that, at this point in Adu's career (not to mention his life), he would contribute more to the team by coming in in the second half and having fresher legs than most of the guys on the field. You know... maybe NowaK is thinking about how to win games, something he's making DCU better at this year, so far, than they were last year.

 

On par with Arena Football? Are you serious? After two weeks, Arena Football is averaging 13,014 fans per game. That is a 33% increase over their average after two weeks last year of 9,957. Sure it proves it is growing in popularity, but compare those figures to MLS after two weeks. Average MLS attendance is 18,990 even with Dallas and San Jose pulling the league down.

As for NOWAK, his job is to win games and get his team to play well. As a long-time DC United season ticket holder, let me tell you that his job is secure. This is the best soccer these guys have played in years. There would be riots in the streets if NOWAK were fired.

References for attendance stats:

http://www.arenafootball.com/around_the_afl/inside_the_afl/339979.html

http://www.mlsnet.com/statistics/league.html

 

Never underestimate the ability of your average BigSoccer poster to draw amazing conclusions from extemely limited data sets.

Hey, the Wizards are going to average over 20,000/game this year!