Much has been written regarding the reappointment of Bob Bradley as the United States Men’s National Team Coach. There are reasons to keep him and reasons to not keep him.
I am not of the opinion that Bob Bradley sucks and he is terrible. On the contrary, he has proven to be a great coach at the Club level. He knows how to build teams and succeed on the field. The question though today, is he the guy to take us to the next level?
To counter some of the claims for why he should be manager, I have my 5 reasons he should not.
1. Michael Bradley
The coach’s Son is a good player. So far, he has had a steady career that started in MLS under his Dad with a transfer to the Netherlands and an eventual move to the Bundesliga with Borussia Moechengladbach. Is he the best player the United States has to build a team around?
I would say no. Midfield is the one position we have depth. If there was another Manager coaching the team, would he build it around Michael Bradley? I am not so sure. In 4 years time that Bob Bradley has been Manager, I think Michael Bradley has been substituted only a couple of times.
The whole Bob Bradley/Michael Bradley situation is akin to US Youth Soccer in that the Father holds his player card.
2. Loyalty to Players
One of the criticisms of Bob Bradley is his loyalty to certain players. While he has tried using a large number of different players over the 4 years as National Team Manager, in the end, he selects players that have played for him already. The exception this time around would have been DaMarcus Beasley.
Of course, the glaring example was Ricardo Clark. Now, I am not saying Clark is a bad player. He is a good player. He had been injured during his club season and was not match fit. Maurice Edu who had been making history for Rangers in Scotland was always a substitute in Bob’s lineup.
Which always left us wondering, did he put our best players on the field?
3. Exclusion of players
One of the most exciting talents in US Soccer is Francisco Torres. He is a kid from Texas that plays for Pachuca in Mexico. He is one of the most technically gifted US players with the ball. HIs passing is excellent and he is very comfortable with the ball on his feet.
He has more International experience at the club level than any other US player on the roster. He has played in the Copa Libertadores, CONCACAF Champions League and the Club World Championships.
Bob Bradley only gives this kid cameo roles and one bad pass puts him back on the bench. Yet, he provides something we don’t generally have. A technical ability to hold the ball in traffic and distribute with accurate passes.
4. Style of Play
Many in this country seem content with the “direct” style of play of the current US National team plays. Even Tim Howard admits as much. The US is just trying to mimic an English form of Football.
Here is the problem with this approach. Despite being the inventors of the game, England has won only one (1) trophy in International competition. The 1966 World Cup final that was in England. Apart from this trophy, the generally get knocked out in the quarterfinals.
Yet, we want to play like them. Organized defense and counter-attack game. Yes, we are physically fit for the first 4 games. But, you can’t go through a tournament and survive. Eventually, you have to learn how to play by controlling the ball and maximizing the energy in your body.
It is time to rid ourselves of the English influence in our game and start building our own style. We have Caribbean, Latin, European and African influences in this country. We could build a style that has speed and creativity up top, technical ability in the middle and strong defense in the back. We could be world beaters.
It’s time to turn to Brazil. Let them help us develop an “American” style of the game to reflect the real diversity that exists in this country. There is talent here and we need to tap into it. It does not all reside in the suburbs. Make the game more inclusive.
I am not sure Bob Bradley can do this for us.
5. Bruce Arena-2006
The next World Cup will be in Brazil.
The US has done well when the World Cup has been hosted in non-traditional markets like the US in 1994, Japan-Korea 2002 and South Africa 2010. We were dead last in Italy 1990, France 1998 and failed in Germany 2006.
The next World Cup will be in Brazil. Enough has been written to show that Managers in their 2nd stint very seldom succeed beyond their first stint. In most cases, they go backwards.
My prediction is Bob Bradley will be 3 and out of the 2014 World Cup with a team built around his Son.
See, it’s not that I don’t like Bob Bradley, I just don’t think he has the vision or ability to get us to the next level. Project 2010 is over. We need a new project that will take us from England wannabes to American Soccer Power.
Brazil is the country that can help us. How can you argue with their success?
Paul is the President of Professional Blog Service. PBS works with clients making strategic investments into blogging, social media and search engine optimization. He is also the assistant Varsity Soccer Coach at Crispus Attucks High School in Indianapolis.
Paul is an Internet consultant and President of Professional Blog Service. Professional Blog Service works with companies trying to beat their competition online using business blogging, social media and search engine optimization to dominate their markets. My interests are in Entrepreneurial pursuits, soccer, music, and travel.
I stumbled upon this website, and felt obligated to reply.
I, of course, was not against or for the rehiring of BB. However, the main point of this post is to say Michael Bradley is not on course to be the focal point of our team, or shouldn’t be at least. Torres? Did the Slovenia game not show you that he is plain not ready for the full blown international level?
MB90 is the most important person on our team. I would like to say Coach Bradley sub out his son every once in a while in a game that is meaningless, or maybe not start him period. But, to say that Torres is in the same class as Bradley is pure nonsense. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side.
MB90 should have the team built around him for the next 4 years. He is a box to box midfielder that 100% makes this team better. Bradley paired with Edu/Clark (hopefully never again)/Torres/Holden/Feilhaber is a better option than any of those two without Bradley. Who else should the team be built around? Donovan in his 30′s? Torres when he gets pushed off the ball by anyone and everyone? I love Altidore, but you can’t build around him either.
Bradley, both son and father, are the keys to 2014. It’s 4 years too early for Klinsmann as well. Bring him in after the next cycle, and see USA Soccer take off.
Just my two cents.
Sorry, do not agree with you about Torres. He has not been given the same opportunities to play on the national team as Michael Bradley. And, with Bob Bradley as the coach, he never will.
He has far more technical ability on the ball than Michael Bradley.
I never said that Michael Bradley was a bad player. I just don’t agree with his appointment as the player to build a team around.
I don’t want Bob Bradley as coach because I want to see the US get away from the direct route football of suburban soccer to a more stylized version that mixes our Euro, African, Caribbean, and Latin talent into a US style.
I want us to look to how Brazil has integrated its multi-cultural football culture into 5 time World Cup Champions and multiple other trophies.
The attraction of Klinsmann is he started the transformation of German Football from blue-eyed arian football to an integrated team that plays attractive football.
He has a vision of what the United States could be that suburban soccer elites can not -a multi-cultural nation that can be blended into its own style of football – not a watered down version of English kick and rush ball.