Coach ignores Adu furor

The big question just won’t go away for Peter Nowak, D.C. United’s coach: Will he start Freddy Adu?

Though the question is fair, Nowak must keep the Adu sideshow in perspective. With an impressive 2-1 opening win over the San Jose Earthquakes behind him, Nowak has some wriggle room to keep his critics at bay, but the pressure is certainly on. Until he starts the 14-year-old, he will be dogged with the same nagging question.

Yes, fans are buying tickets to see Adu, but United’s coach must follow his game plan and not allow outsiders — some who haven’t the faintest idea what soccer is all about — to distract him from his strategy. The Polish coach, who spent a good many years playing in the tough German league, is known as a strict disciplinarian, and his decision not to start Adu last week shows he’s not going to play media games.

In his five years as captain of the Chicago Fire (1998 to 2002), Nowak was a respected professional, leading the expansion club to a Major League Soccer title in its first season. He knows how to successfully organize a team and hopefully will replicate that success from the sideline, with or without Adu on the field.

Nowak was hired to coach, not be the league’s pitchman. If he were a salesman, the most popular item in the store — Adu — would have been on display last week at RFK Stadium from the opening whistle. But Nowak the coach rightly was thinking only about earning a win and three points in the standings.

“It was very important for all of us to start the season in the right way,” Nowak said. “Of course, if Freddy starts and things don’t go our way, then everyone is going to say, ’What are we going to do next?’”

Nowak obviously never expected his coaching career would draw so much attention. First impressions are very important and Nowak, 39, passed his opening test. You can’t argue with a decisive win over the defending league champion, especially considering that it took United eight games to get its first win last season. In starting Brian Carroll in the defensive midfield role and giving defender David Stokes some minutes in the first game, Nowak has shown that he believes in his young troops.

“We have 18, 19 players who are pretty healthy right now, and everyone is fighting for a spot,” Nowak said.

Now comes game No.2, and Nowak knows he can’t afford any drastic experiments with his lineup against the formidable and talented Los Angeles Galaxy tonight at the Home Depot Center. A sellout crowd is expected, largely because of the Adu phenomena.

“We have one little promotion around him — the Freddy Pack. If you’re 14 or under, you can get into the game for $14 because Freddy is 14,” said Galaxy general manager Doug Hamilton this week. “For the first time, we have an American player who we can build around, and we will do that.”

The Galaxy are led by Andreas Herzog and goal-scoring machine Carlos Ruiz, along with English Premier League-tested Jovan Kirovski. Herzog and Ruiz caused all sorts of trouble for the New England Revolution in a 3-2 home win last week. When a 35-year-old veteran like Herzog can dominate a MLS game as he did, you have to wonder how deep the talent runs in this league. MLS is moving in the right direction, but let’s not believe we’re watching the Premier League just yet.

Giants fall — There were some surprising upsets in the Champions League quarterfinal this week. Spanish giant Real Madrid took what looked like a comfortable 4-2 lead to Monaco for the return game only to see the unrenowned French league club win 3-0 and claim the series 5-4. Real’s David Beckham, who is embroiled in a media storm over allegations he cheated on his wife, was suspended for the game.

Meanwhile, defending champion AC Milan went to Spain’s Deportivo La Coruna with an even bigger lead of 4-1 only to lose 4-0. Monaco now faces Chelsea, which defeated Arsenal in the semifinals, while Deportivo plays F.C. Porto, which downed Lens.