Preki was always one step ahead
Predrag Radosavljevic, better known as Preki, was an international soccer player for 22 years, but he spent his last few seasons on the field thinking about how to become a good coach.
His studies have already paid off. In his first season as a head coach he’s turned Chivas USA into one of Major League Soccer’s biggest success stories. Chivas posted the second-best record in the league this season and on Saturday will begin the playoffs in Kansas City against the Wizards, Preki’s former team.
It’s a mighty accomplishment for a rookie coach. Only three years ago Chivas finished its inaugural season in last place. Not many gave him, or Chivas, much of a chance this year.
“All my life I’ve had skeptics,” Preki said in his thick Eastern European accent. “But that’s OK. That’s what keeps me going.”
Preki played in Yugoslavia, then in a now-defunct U.S. indoor league, then in the English Premier League and finally as a midfielder in MLS, where he was twice named MVP, before retiring two years ago at 42.
“As a player I always learned that defense is where championships are won,” he said. “And good offense always starts with good defense. . . . I always had in mind that if I someday became a coach, how I wanted things to get done. I always was interested in the tactical side of the game.”
From the start this season, Preki emphasized defense. Chivas finished second in goals allowed (28) behind Houston (23) -- no other MLS team gave up fewer than 30 goals this season -- and goalkeeper Brad Guzan led the league in shutouts.
His personnel moves also get much credit for Chivas’ success. He was the architect behind trades for defender-of-the-year candidate Shavar Thomas, midfielder Paulo Nagamura and Ramon Nunez, who provided offense off the bench.
Preki has also become adept at knowing when to push a player -- even if it’s off the roster.
He dismissed midfielder Amado Guevara from the team after only four games. Chivas acquired Guevara from New York during the off-season in exchange for their designated player slot. But Guevara did not put out the effort Preki wanted.
Guevara had only nine shots on goal before Preki let him go -- and it was one of the turning points in Chivas’ season. “I just tried to explain to everybody that no one is bigger than the club. The club comes first and then individuals come second,” Preki said.
Chivas struggled a bit without Guevara, but the acquisitions following his dismissal have been crucial to the success of a team that has lost only twice in its last 17 games.
Bob Gansler, his former coach at Kansas City, isn’t surprised by Preki’s fast start as a head coach.
“I assure you this is not the last time he’ll have his team . . . fighting for the title,” Gansler said. “He’s just starting . . . and I think there’s no sense in any of us setting any limits for him. He never set any limits for himself as player and he’s going to be as successful as he wants to be.”
One area where Preki does limit himself is in dealing with the media. He guards his privacy and doesn’t talk publicly about his personal life. Friends say he’s devoted to his family and has a great sense of humor, but he doesn’t let most outsiders see that side of him.
“Throughout my career, I wouldn’t say I’ve been difficult to deal with [for] the media, but that’s a part of the game that never interested me,” he said. “I always cared more about the game and how I could get better as a player.”
Preki was born in Belgrade. In 1985 he was playing for Red Star Belgrade (then Yugoslavia’s biggest soccer club), but he wasn’t happy with his salary.
Then he met Bob McNabb, a former player for the English club Arsenal, who was in Belgrade. McNabb was the coach of an indoor soccer league team, the Tacoma Stars. “A few hours later I signed and I was on my way to America,” Preki said.
That began a long and winding career: indoor soccer in the U.S., the English Premier League, a return to the U.S. for more indoor soccer, then the Wizards of MLS in 1996. That year he also became a U.S. citizen.
Preki says he’s had two especially influential coaches -- Mirko Dakic, his youth coach, and McNabb, whom he considers his father away from home.
A common theme with both coaches is that they were demanding of Preki. McNabb on occasion would throw him out of practice for being lazy.
“He saw my ability on the ball and said, ‘I can’t teach you anything about this, I really can’t,’ ” Preki said. “‘But I can give you some other [skills] that you don’t have.’ . . . So he kind of opened my eyes.”
Because of their influence, Preki has become demanding himself.
“He’s certainly of the disposition that it’s OK to be perfect,” Gansler said. “Perfection is something he looks for every day.”
