Posted: Friday, May 29, 2009, 3:11 PM | 2 comments |
 

Live blog: Introducing Piotr Nowak
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Greetings from Chester, where Philadelphia Union is holding a press conference this afternoon to introduce Piotr Nowak as its first coach.

As John Smallwood wrote in this morning's Daily News, Nowak is a very good choice. He won MLS Cup as a player with the Chicago Fire in 1998 and as a coach with D.C. United in 2004, then led the U.S. men's Olympic team to a creditable 1-1-1 record in Beijing last year.

It is of no small consequence that Nowak rose to the coaching ranks after being a playmaking midfielder on the field. Yes, he's a fiery guy, and I think that passion will play very well with Philadelphia fans. But he and his teams have a track record of playing attractive, attacking soccer.

I watched that 2004 D.C. team in particular quite a bit, and arguably the biggest reason why it won the championship was Christian Gomez's playmaking. Then last year at the Olympics, the U.S. was the only team in its group that scored a goal in every game.

I'll be blogging live throughout the introduction, and I invite you to share your comments and questions. We can talk a little Champions League too if there's time.

 
Posted by Jonathan Tannenwald @ 3:11 PM  Permalink | File Under: Soccer | 2 comments
2
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:48 PM, 05/29/2009
    Can you ask Cherkins to confirm whether the tickets are full season ticket plans, or just deposits?
    — Scarf Machine
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:15 PM, 05/29/2009
    Cherkin should send me to Italy to raid the leftover slop from Serie A...
    — Domenic


2 comments
About Jonathan Tannenwald
I fell in love with the Big 5 at first sight upon moving to Philadelphia in 2002. At various points in my journalistic career, I've covered all six of the region's Division I teams. During that time, I've eaten many soft pretzels from the Palestra's concession stands, which is how this blog got its name.

I write primarily about the University of Pennsylvania and the Ivy League, but I also cover the other basketball and football teams across the city from time to time. In the spring, you'll find coverage of the Penn Relays here.

In addition to all of that, I write Philly.com's soccer blog, The Goalkeeper.

You can contact me by email by clicking here.

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