Peter Nowak is out and Tommy Soehn is in.
The news broke over at Bigsoccer but here’s the link to the Washington Post article confirming it (Nowak to Leave DC for US Team) by Steven Goff, who is great as always.
There is a press conference scheduled for today at 11am, not sure if there is any TV or radio coverage (I tend to doubt it).
Anyway, while I’m not happy he is leaving, I’m not upset either.
I have long since mentioned my displeasure with his substitution patterns and with his stubbornness in refusing to change formations and tactics. BUT he also brought alot of good things to this team including a lot of heart and fire and discipline that quite frankly wasn’t there before. He should bring much of that to the national team, and along with Bradley (who handles strategy) should make a real good team.
I’ll probably ellaborate more on the matter, but few questions that immediiately come up are:
- How long have they known Nowak was going to the USMNT?
- Along with that question is how much influence did Soehn have on all the recent moves (trading Freddy, Rimando, letting Dyachencko go thru the expansions draft, etc) and the upcoming ones that are in the works (potentially new brazilian winger, Palermo from Boca Jrs, etc)?
- Will Soehn move to a 442 instead of the 352 that Nowak preferred? This is crucial to me since we seem to have had players better suited to a 442 for some time now. Both Freddy Adu AND Matias Donnet would have played better with less defensive responsiblities and yet both players have been moved. So if we do go to a 442, we have effectively crippled ourselves in that area, but no so much if we stay with a 352.
I’ll have more later…