Bradley re-signs through 2014

[timmyg]

Once again Gulati elects fellatio over success. What a goddamn joke.

[YankeeJim]

Great. Four more years of two D mids & no developement of the young. Three & out at the next cup. :035:

[Tom]

They went with the safe pick. I'm not sure yet how I feel about this. He did do a good enough job to earn the right to come back. I just don't know if he is the guy to put us over the top finally.

[HatterDon]

Bradley is the most accomplished and most successful USMNT manager we've had. Re-signing him is about the only intelligent thing that US SOCCER has done in the last 4 years.

Until you can show me how Klinsmann or any other Eurotrash wannabe can:

a. make Charlie Davies take public transportation,
b. get Gooch's agent to allow him to sign for a club that wants him so he won't be injured due to lack of match fitness, or
c. create a left back out of thin air,

I'll believe that he did extremely well in South Africa -- TWICE -- and did more to find reasonably quality #s 16-23 than any of his predecessors. He has a good relationship with European managers, and pays close attention to MLS. Who's better for the job?

[Steve_orino]

Who's better for the job?

That's the question.  The answer...I don't think anyone, right now.  So why make a change for the sake of change.

Klinnsmann is a popular pick but I'd prefer him to be in charge of the youth development program.  As a pundit in this year's WC coverage, he had a very poignant commentary on why football/soccer in the US is slow to develop and I thought he was spot on (can't remember the details, unfortunately).

In the case of Bradley, I think a 2 or 3 year contract would have been better -- good negotiating on the part of his agent to obtain the 4 year contract.

[HatterDon]

Who's better for the job?

That's the question.  The answer...I don't think anyone, right now.  So why make a change for the sake of change.

Klinnsmann is a popular pick but I'd prefer him to be in charge of the youth development program.  As a pundit in this year's WC coverage, he had a very poignant commentary on why football/soccer in the US is slow to develop and I thought he was spot on (can't remember the details, unfortunately).

In the case of Bradley, I think a 2 or 3 year contract would have been better -- good negotiating on the part of his agent to obtain the 4 year contract.

Steve, unlike Europe where there's a continental championship only every 4 years, in CONCACAF we have the Gold Cup every 5 minutes. It makes sense to hire a European manager until 2012, since he'll be competing for major hardware and you can let him go in time for the beginning of the next World Cup. There's nothing like that in the US of A, so if you're going to appoint a manager shortly after the 2010 World Cup, it makes no sense not to sign him until after the 2014 tourney.

[RidgeRider]

I don't know much about footy, but it seems to me that Bradley has done well enough to keep his job. I thought we did well at the World Cup, as well as our talent would allow, and certainly last summer's results in SA were above what was expected so why not? This announcement neither gets me excited nor disappoints.

[BarryP]

Courtesy of: http://dunord.blogspot.com/

"You need an American coach. You save some money, a lot of money, and you get someone who understands the American way. This country, and soccer in this country, is different to anywhere else.

Our players don't suddenly get better with a foreign coach. They don't suddenly become Superman. It is a bunch of crap to think otherwise."

-Bruce Arena telling critics to shut up and get off Bob Bradley's back.

[duffbeer]

urtesy of: http://dunord.blogspot.com/

"You need an American coach. You save some money, a lot of money, and you get someone who understands the American way. This country, and soccer in this country, is different to anywhere else.

Our players don't suddenly get better with a foreign coach. They don't suddenly become Superman. It is a bunch of crap to think otherwise."

-Bruce Arena telling critics to shut up and get off Bob Bradley's back.

:045:

[YankeeJim]

I'm no fan of Bradley but I have to admit, he did fairly well considering he didn't have a forward or a healthy Gooch. The constant giving up cheap goals is what tired the boys out so that, after we equalized against Ghana the team was just out of gas. Why Clark saw the light of day after England is why I'm no fan of Bob.

He has a reputation as being a work alcoholic that learns from his mistakes. We'll see.

[duffbeer]

I will never understand why Clark started over Edu, especially after Edu played so well in the prior games.  Bradley has been asked the question point blank and his answer is that they wantted Clark's athleticism and tackling ability against Ghana.  Doesnt really answer the question for me.  To be fair, though, I was far more horrified when I saw Borenstien start at LB vs Algeria, especially after his play in the Turkey send off match.  But Borenstien did very well so Bob was right with that decision. 

[Logicalman]

I'm no fan of Bradley but I have to admit, he did fairly well considering he didn't have a forward or a healthy Gooch. The constant giving up cheap goals is what tired the boys out so that, after we equalized against Ghana the team was just out of gas. Why Clark saw the light of day after England is why I'm no fan of Bob.

He has a reputation as being a work alcoholic that learns from his mistakes. We'll see.

Got to agree with you there Jim, he has done well - I feel he is a better coach than BA, but then again, I wasn't around here in the 90's to take much notice.

I would put my tuppence-worth in though and say this.
Arena is correct when he says "..This country, and soccer in this country, is different to anywhere else...", and that's the rub.

I would claim that without the European-experienced players in the USMNT then they would have a much harder time on the World stage, as the Europeans, overall, tend to dominate most WCFs. Thus, it would follow that a European coach would be better suited than a US coach who might have little European/World experience, but that cannot be taken solely on it's face, and only time will tell.

One thing is fir sure, the US game is rising year-on-year, and that's reflected in the rising standard of the USMT overall, so something must be getting done right.

[RidgeRider]

I'm no fan of Bradley but I have to admit, he did fairly well considering he didn't have a forward or a healthy Gooch. The constant giving up cheap goals is what tired the boys out so that, after we equalized against Ghana the team was just out of gas. Why Clark saw the light of day after England is why I'm no fan of Bob.

He has a reputation as being a work alcoholic that learns from his mistakes. We'll see.

Got to agree with you there Jim, he has done well - I feel he is a better coach than BA, but then again, I wasn't around here in the 90's to take much notice.

I would put my tuppence-worth in though and say this.
Arena is correct when he says "..This country, and soccer in this country, is different to anywhere else...", and that's the rub.

I would claim that without the European-experienced players in the USMNT then they would have a much harder time on the World stage, as the Europeans, overall, tend to dominate most WCFs. Thus, it would follow that a European coach would be better suited than a US coach who might have little European/World experience, but that cannot be taken solely on it's face, and only time will tell.

One thing is fir sure, the US game is rising year-on-year, and that's reflected in the rising standard of the USMT overall, so something must be getting done right.

Very good and well thought out Tony. I agree with your comments. US does seem to be improving ever so slowly as a team and having a good European coach would benefit the program from a setup and training perspective but Bob's done pretty well as you point out, but I would love to have Hodgson coaching are squad for a few years.

[Logicalman]

I'm no fan of Bradley but I have to admit, he did fairly well considering he didn't have a forward or a healthy Gooch. The constant giving up cheap goals is what tired the boys out so that, after we equalized against Ghana the team was just out of gas. Why Clark saw the light of day after England is why I'm no fan of Bob.

He has a reputation as being a work alcoholic that learns from his mistakes. We'll see.

Got to agree with you there Jim, he has done well - I feel he is a better coach than BA, but then again, I wasn't around here in the 90's to take much notice.

I would put my tuppence-worth in though and say this.
Arena is correct when he says "..This country, and soccer in this country, is different to anywhere else...", and that's the rub.

I would claim that without the European-experienced players in the USMNT then they would have a much harder time on the World stage, as the Europeans, overall, tend to dominate most WCFs. Thus, it would follow that a European coach would be better suited than a US coach who might have little European/World experience, but that cannot be taken solely on it's face, and only time will tell.

One thing is fir sure, the US game is rising year-on-year, and that's reflected in the rising standard of the USMT overall, so something must be getting done right.

Very good and well thought out Tony. I agree with your comments. US does seem to be improving ever so slowly as a team and having a good European coach would benefit the program from a setup and training perspective but Bob's done pretty well as you point out, but I would love to have Hodgson coaching are squad for a few years.

I would agree that, given all I said above, Bradley has done a fine job, results speak for themselves, and his signing a new contract can only be a good thing, though it might assist him to have someone like Klinnsmann on board as an assistant coach (or whatever label he needs to have). Arena is correct that USMNT is in somewhat of a unique position as being the in-betweeners team.

Onwards and upwards is the future for USMNT (I just hope they don't expect me to give up my support for England when I have to give up my nationality though!!)