Bob Bradley Did What He Needed To Do

This afternoon Bob Bradley was relieved of his duties as head coach of the US Men's National Team. Bradley's tenure ends on the heels of a 4-2 loss to Mexico in the Gold Cup Final, which saw the US blow a 2-0 lead. There was some talk immediately following the Gold Cup of Bradley's exit, instead, over a month later Bradley has been sacked.  

This is a surprising move and one I never expected Sunil Gulati to make. After the World Cup loss to Ghana, a change was clearly expected when Gulati indirectly bad-mouthed Bradley and said the team had the potential to go further in the tournament. Then after the embarrassing loss to Mexico in the Gold Cup final many pundits were convinced Bradley's days were numbered, but Gulati seemed to be sticking it out. Perhaps, the US Soccer Federation was waiting for the right man to come along before giving Bradley his walking papers. In my opinion that is exactly what went on. 

Even after losing the interim tag, Bob Bradley was always just that, an interim coach in the eyes of the US Soccer higher-ups. Gulati and co were always waiting for a big-name to replace the diligent, chilled deamenor that is Bob Bradley. The bottom-line is that nobody in the organization was ever content with Bob. That's why US Soccer went after former German coach Jurgen Klinsmann so many times, which is something they will continue to do starting right now. Grant Wahl of SI Soccer is reporting that a US Soccer insider told him, "you're not going to be surprised" by the identity of the new coach. This means one of two things, either it's Klinsmann (which is what I have this month's pay check riding on) or a prominent MLS coach a la Sigi Schmid. Forget about Marco Lippi and Gus Hiddink, who would both be great, but in all honesty are not coming to coach the US. Klinsmann is going to be the man and by deploying his tactics from the U-12s to the senior team the Yanks will be a legitimate World contender.

Now, for Bob Bradley and what he's accomplished since arriving in December 2006. Bradley compiled a solid 43-25-12 record, in which he led the Yanks to new soccer heights. Mind you when Bradley took over the team, the US were coming off a horrendous World Cup that saw them get knocked out in the group stage after losing to Ghana, funny enough. Everyone was complaining about the state of the program at that point and nobody had any confidence when Bob was thrown into the mix. But Bob didn't let any of this chatter bother him and as a true captain steered the ship in the right direction. 

The following summer the US won an all important tournament, the Gold Cup, off a magnificent Benny Feilhaberstrike. Not many realized at the time, but this win would set up arguably the biggest accomplishment in US Soccer 2 years later-beating Spain in the Confederations Cup. Defeating Spain has to be the biggest moment of Bradley's career. The US used rigid tactics and timely finishing to take down the soon to be World Champions, who had not lost a game in forever. That was a true spectacle. If his team only would have held on to their 2-0 lead in the final vs. Brazil then maybe we wouldn't be having this conversation. 

The same exact story could be written for the Americans last World Cup run, as they experienced similar highs and lows-winning the group over England only to fall a bit short against Ghana in the Round of 16. But if you ask me Bob did exactly what he was supposed to do and exactly what Gulati and company wanted him to do-get the program moving in the right direction in order to effectively pass the baton to the next man. Yea, Bradley could be questioned for some player decisions he made (starting Ricardo Clark against Ghana is the big one), but in the end Bob did well with the cards he was dealt.

It's time to get excited for Klinsmann and the pleothera of talent that is coming through the US youth ranks (just ask Liverpool) and let's finally get this ship to it's destination- the World Cup final.