Union boss Nowak gets it wrong after Thursday's MLS opener
by Steve Davis on Mar 26, 2010 10:53 AM EDT
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I have a lot of respect for Philadelphia Union boss Peter Nowak, but he wasn’t at his best after his team’s debut last night.
His team had just lost its inaugural match, 2-0, a fairly predictable result considering the circumstances.
Less predictable were Nowak’s misguided comments afterward. He went banging on about “diving and whining” from
If you saw the match, you would be hard-pressed to argue about any of the five cautions issued by Ricardo Salazar, who had a good night managing a pretty difficult match –
one seeded with lots of young, excitable players. (Players hopped up on the great atmosphere and, presumably, lots of strong
Issuing yellow cards and a red before halftime takes some guts, and too many referees might not have had the stomach to be so bold. But it was the correct way to go; if MLS referees follow Salazar’s lead MLS matches will be a lot easier on the eyes this year, believe me.
Nowak sees it differently. But that’s understandable. His job is to win matches – and make no mistake, his young team’s best chance to win this year will be through high-pressure and physical play. Because his young roster, full of pep and potential but short on caginess and creativity, simply won’t be able to match most opponents’ attacking talent. He doesn’t have a Ljungberg, a Donovan, Kljestan, de Guzman, De Rosario, Jamie Moreno, etc.
Here’s what Nowak had to say:
“From the other standpoint we got to see all this flopping and diving and when you see the stats we have eight fouls and six cards that is too much. There is guys rolling around the pitch like they got shot. I think we need to recognize there are guys doing this stuff and trying to take advantage of the referee decisions. I expect someone like Freddie Ljungberg who has scored so many goals and played hundreds of games with the national team and won so many trophies would be more honest than he is. He is complaining and whining about missing a goal and trying to push the referee for a yellow card is not up to his standards. I believe and we both played the game and I believe when you play the game you not only try to win but try to be honest with your effort. I think it is below his standards.”
First, let’s remember that Nowak chose to sign one of the league’s all-time worst divers, Alejandro Moreno. Nowak is smart enough to know so, so there’s outright hypocrisy at work here.
Second, I’d like to hear Nowak acknowledge that his own players bear significant complicity in the six cards issued. Nowak beat the drum during preseason for toughness and discipline in his young team. Well, toughness without smarts is effort wasted.
Danny Califf got a yellow card less than a minute into the franchise debut match, for something that happened off the ball, no less. That’s just silly for anyone. But for one of the teams more experienced players to do it? Well, what kind of example is that?
(How about this from your team captain: “Obviously, I try to impose myself on the attackers straight away and it just happened to be seen,” Califf said. Huh? How about just being a defender and not an MMA artist? A good defender imposes himself by winning the ball. If you leave a mark in the process, so be it, so long as the action was legal. That’s good, tough soccer.)
What about Toni Stahl putting a knee in Fredy Montero’s back – as Montero faced the wrong way, 65 yards away from
Young players will make mistakes, and I understand that. But Nowak’s chief mission coming out of the debut should be to start correcting mistakes immediately. I respect Nowak, but he’s off to a bad start in that regard. He didn’t need to bang on about diving and whining. He didn’t need to excuse unwise choices. He just needed to begin the important business of correcting the correctable.
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Sloppy Play
I was really pulling for the Union, but they seemed to play in classic underdog style.
The Union apparently came out with mindset that they knew they didn’t quite have the horsepower to beat the Sounders so they were going to try to overcome that gap with aggresiveness. That can work, but you also have to combine it with skill and strategy, which this newly consituted team lacked on this night. They’ll get better however as they play together more.
IMO, both teams looked pretty sloppy. Sloppy passing, missed balls, bad first touches, lack of field presence. It looked like the first game of the seaon, and the rain certainly didn’t help.
Rerettably, I had the Manchester United v. Milan game still on my brain when I watched the MLS opener so I think I was expecting too much. Nonetheless, I have high and great expectations for this adolescent MLS league now entering their youthful 15th season. Play on.
"I'd like to play for an Italian club, like Barcelona."
Excellent points
I had a very hard time evaluating a game played in a serious rain on fieldturf. It obviously affects footing, ballhandling, and the way the ball moves on the turf, but I couldn’t tell how much of the sloppiness was due to the conditions, and how much was due to sloppy play, period.
"And Julio Franco is batting right-handed!" -- Wayne Hagin, A's radio play-by-play, mid-80s
MLS Opener
Well, hopefully the Union won’t take several years to form a good team that plays together. I don’t know that we can really look too much into this first game. Yes, they were overly aggressive. Yes, they didn’t play very well. But they have all of 1 game under their belt as a unit. We’ll see what they are made of over maybe the next 10-15 games I suppose.
Cheers, Elmundo
A well-stated, reasonable and concise assessment of the big picture
by Steve Davis on Mar 26, 2010 12:45 PM EDT up reply actions
Agreed
First time on interweb, Elmundo?;)
by Phil McCrack'n on Mar 26, 2010 9:28 PM EDT up reply actions
Dont feel sorry for Seattle
Seattle has done enough to earn their flopping reputation so although Nowaks comments may have been a bit much, they obviously drew some attention so hopefully Seattle doesnt get away with all their antics this year.
As for the Union, they arent just young they are ridiculously young. Half of their team has only been in MLS for 1 year or less. They played 4 players 18 or younger last night. I dont see anyway they are competitive this year.
Nobody is feeling bad for Seattle
They are big boys and can take hits. I think everybody was just surprised at how blatant everything was, and how unprofessional Nowak’s comments were.
by chrisperry1983 on Mar 26, 2010 5:55 PM EDT up reply actions
If you're going to be hard
you also have to be disciplined. It’s the heavy legal tackles that get under the skin of opposing teams. Getting yourself booked and sent off is manna from heaven otherwise.
I can only hope/imagine Nowak is making the excuses to draw fire from his young team.
Nowak will keep things in-house
Steve, the reason Nowak made no mention of his side’s big hand in the number of times Sounders players were on the ground is because he wants to protect his team. Nowak is all about fostering a tight, us-against-the-world culture at his clubs. He’s got young players who were clearly poor in their opener, and he needed to find some way to protect them from the press. Accusing Seattle of diving, while simultaneously ensuring that he is the biggest name attached with the Union after game 1, will shield his players from a lot of bad press. If Seattle takes some heat, and Nowak takes some heat, his players will avoid being burnt before they take their baby steps.
just had the same debate at lunch with a friend
i have no doubt that what Nowak says behind closed doors is different. still, here’s how you handle it: you don’t complain about diving and whining. you just don’t say anything past something like: “we’re a young team and I’m sure we’ll make better choices in the future.” that’s it. when you start calling out the other team, you are providing your side with an excuse. if that continues, you are fostering a victimization complex, as in, “why are they picking on us?” mostly, i think you look something less than classy (and make yourself look bad) when you call out opposition for diving and flopping when the fouls/cards were clearly warranted. just my opinion.
Other teams' defensive plans vs the Sounders...
…all last year boiled down to “make the Freddies pay”. Ljungberg was the most-fouled guy in the league. Yeah, he whines, but he whines because he’s constantly getting fouled.
- most-fouled guy? Montero. Teams look at him, think “well he’s a skinny little guy, we’ll just make him pay” and put the beat-down on him. Yeah, he whines too, but Califf should have been simply sent off for his cheap-ass shot. There’s just no reason or call for it.
Law of the game #12 says you send a guy off for violent conduct. The only difference between, say, Zidane’s head-butt and Califf last night is that Califf used his elbow and arm, not his head.
by Blue Eyed Buddhist on Mar 26, 2010 3:56 PM EDT reply actions
I can’t help but feel like Nowak read a book on Philly sports culture, because he’s hitting all the nails on the head: one game in, and the referees are out to get us, never mind our dirty play. It’s never anyone from Philly’s fault, unless it’s Donovan Mcnabb. Somehow he’s that towns sports scapegoat. /bitter old time capitals fan rant.
As much as I know it’s a can of worms statement, but I do agree with him on the embellishment thing. I understand that strikers do it to help prevent future fouls, because on constant basis they are subject to potentially injurious challenges from larger defenders, however sometimes it’s too much. I know we all find ourselves at one point laughing because someone writhes in pain for 5 minutes in the middle of the field, then as soon as they’re helped to the sideline miraculously they’re ready for play.
seriously
umm, watch the two Stahl yellow cards. he twice put his knee up into an attacking players back while making no meaningful challenge himself for the ball! To make matters worse, both infractions were well away from the Philly goal.
In what alternate universe does the assaulted player get blamed for the assault. You know that Freddie was subbed off at 60’ and could barely walk after the match, and had to be taken for X-rays.
Look, I know, i’ve been there too hundreds of times. Its pretty easy to sit back and drink you beer and mock players for whinging, but there is no place for some of the thuggery that Philly demonstrated last night, and they got what they deserved!
...that's MISTER Keller to you!!!
by malcontentjake on Mar 26, 2010 7:55 PM EDT up reply actions
You missed my point, I never said Philly didn’t deserve what they got, in fact that was the entire premise of my first paragraph. I wasn’t talking about challenges where people are legitimately hurt like in yesterdays game, that’s not embellishment. Embellishment is when someone is not injured, but pretends to be in horrific pain just long enough to draw penalties/cards, and then as soon as one is awarded makes an immediate miraculous recovery.
hmmmm
quoting you:
“As much as I know it’s a can of worms statement, but I do agree with him on the embellishment thing”
putting that statement into the context of this article and discussion, this is where I derived my perception of your statement.
the facts are the facts, as in my message below. The two most fouled players in MLS in 2009 were 1) Ljungberg (despite just 22 appearances) and 2) Montero.
I’ll be happy to share a beer with you anytime and engage in a lively debate about perception vs. reality, and I’ll even put the problem of embellishment and whinging in soccer on the table, but the facts are that Ljungberg got pretty fed up with overly physical play last year, and he has justification for his cause. It’s pretty disingenuous for Nowak to try to play on this and I just think its silly to defend a comment clearly made under anger and not reason.
Otherwise, I’m sorry if I misinterpreted you.
...that's MISTER Keller to you!!!
by malcontentjake on Mar 26, 2010 8:43 PM EDT up reply actions
I understand why you missed my point, which is why I explained it. For posterity it should have read “i do agree with him in some way on the embellishment thing, just not in this case.” I don’t agree with his comments in regards to this game, which is why I was mocking his surprisingly typical Philly comments, and I figured with that context it was clear that I didn’t agree with these specific statements, and that I was speaking generally about the general state of diving/embellishing injury in soccer. Sorry for the misunderstanding.
facts vs perception:
I’ve never been much for putting too much stock in emotional post-game outbursts, but Mr. Nowak is just trying to push the same old buttons that football managers have pushed for years. The Facts are that Fred[y][die] were the two most fouled players in MLS last season. the Perception is that Fredy embellishes too much and Freddie whines too much. These arguments will rage as long as people gather together on pitches to kick a ball! Nowak’s other primary complaint seems to be a specious argument about the ratio of overall fouls to cards called on his team. The fact of the matter is, the Union, like so many teams who come into Qwest, came in with the attitude that they were going to "push the boundaries" of what is acceptable physically and essentially dare the referees to make the calls. Well, the referees made the calls! A referee is actually a lot like a sports broadcaster, in that in all but the absolute rarest of instances will he genuinely add anything to the match. Generally, you’re hoping that he (or she) will simply not take anything away from hit. By simply hitting your marks and letting the game tell its own story, you have usually done the job. I don’t see how you can complain about the calls last night… Stahl was just a jackass and deserved to be sent off, Nowak should be complaining about his own players recklessness which essentially killed any realistic chance for Philly to get a result!
...that's MISTER Keller to you!!!
Was this an intentional diversion?
His starting XI was puzzling to say the least. Perhaps he said this to divert everyone’s attention from his screwy tactics.
starting XI
Yeah, no one is talking about his crazy lineup. Multiple players in new positions. I was confused when I saw it and I’ve been following them.
by danielfarrell on Mar 29, 2010 8:57 AM EDT up reply actions
This happened during the preseason too
This is turning into a bit of a pattern for Nowak. During the preseason three (that’s right, three!) of his players were sent off in a game against FC Dallas and he complained some more. Here’s a link to a series of links:
http://www.3rddegree.net/2010/03/16/fcd-news-recap-530/
Methinks that if you have three guys sent off in a game, then the other bench probably has reason to complain…
