Climbing the Mountain: Bob Bradley at Stabæk

I'll be 100% honest, I felt the same way about Bob as coach of USMNT until the guy left and then it became readily apparent what he had to work with and how much he achieved. Doubt you will feel the same, but it's funny how perspective shifts thing. If I had known the USMNT was going to end up the way that it has with Klinsmann I wouldn't have blinked if they had extended his contract another 4 years.

I had the man all wrong. I don't know what it was, I guess I've always been a fan of manager's who wear a suit instead of a tracksuit on the sidelines. SOmething about his demeanor always left me feeling cold and sterile. But honestly, I think I had the man completely wrong and I personally think he ranks up there with Arena as the premier American coach and I think you will miss him when all is said and done.... thanks for the insights and be well

 

The grass is always greener my friend

 

The national team now is not any worse than it was with Bob. It's not any better either. There's no real appreciable difference in the quality of performances or the results, no matter what the armchair analysts (looking at you, @MLSAnalyst) tell you on Twitter. Thinking Bob is an improvement over Klinsmann is revisionist. Both are fine, neither is a master of the craft, and they hold similar opinions about the state of things in US Soccer, as evidenced by Bob's recent interview with Rob Harris.

But that isn't what this thread is about. Congrats to Bob, and I hope I'll be able to watch him manage in Ligue 1 next season. As an aspiring coach, having an American to watch go to work in a top league will be awesome.

 

And as the great wheele of time turns onwards - rumours are beginning to seep out that Stabæk have signed Bobs replacement. No names as of yet though.

 

Jason Kreis? Will keep the majority of fans here....

 

Les Ciel et Marine: Le Robobob



Congrats to Bradley the Elder. It should be an entertaining ride.

 

French version: http://www.hac-foot.com/actualite/communique-officiel-1.html

Oswald Tanchot will also be an assistant coach.

 

Thread jack. , but your comment that the "national team now is not any worse than it was with Bob" deserves a rebuttal. The difference is that JK has done something to the team that has reduced the ability of the individuals to play as a coordinated team at the skill level of each individual player, whereas BB got the most out of each player by maximizing the contributions their individual skills made to the team. The net result is that the Nats have gone backward under JK, while under BB, the worst that can be said is that they did not get better. End Thread jack.

 

I'm guessing Barrieu will also be covering the duty of interpreter for Bob.

 

When you compare where Staebek finished both last year and especially this year with the other relelgation candidates, he did indeed blow away the competition.

As long as you ignore all the recent historically bad milestones set, this remains true.

 

As a non-Stabaek fan, who has kept attention on the club for only those months BB was in charge, yes, I agree. For guys like @@ringo who has been a supporter and seen them qualify for Europe only two (or 3?) years before BB got there, his terms wasn't a massive improvement over recent (from Stabeak's fans perspectives) results. It's all a matter of your perspective. From my YA perch, I'm just glad he's still got a job, and hopeful that he can pull Le Havre up to Ligue 1.

 

True!

Looking at the points per game average since we first entered the top flight back in 95 we're on a solid 3 place only beaten by Molde and Rosenborg.

We also seem to forget that the way we played last season, beeing outplayed and outshot in 8 out of 11 victories, was everything but impressive

 

We already know you are here to play devil's advocate (as you've stated many times), and not to provide an honest appraisal of Bob's tenure, so give it up already.

 

The recent historically bad milestones don't change the product that's being displayed on the field. We're stationary, not moving backward. We still don't play pure boot and run, and there's still no successful choreography of movements. However, we aren't in a vacuum. The competition is improving, which is the reason for the decrease in recent results (although Klinsmann still holds the best record of USMNT coaches, for both competitive and noncompetitive matches).

This is what I mean by revisionist. Focusing of Bob Bradley's good moments and Klinsmann's bad ones to fit your narrative does not give an accurate picture of reality. For the majority of the first cycle, both were generally thought of as the right coach for the job. During their respective second cycles, the failure to see a marked improvement from the shortcomings of the first has led to a popular movement for the coaches to be fired.

Importantly, I don't want my posts to be viewed as an attack of Bradley or as an endorsement of Klinsmann's tactical acumen. IMO, as tacticians, they're even. Neither is terrible, neither is great. But the movement for Klinsmann's head is being led by a specific group of USMNT "journalists" (they're just fans with a platform) who have ulterior motives for their opinion. They don't like being talked down to, and take it personally rather than as a professional critique, so they fire back. I'm not happy with what's being displayed on the field, but Klinsmann isn't the problem, just as Bradley wasn't. There's only so much you can do to find success when the players available aren't that good.

 

You are glossing over some bad facts for JK, who struggled greatly in our first round of qualifying.

 

Wow, what a weird place to bring these theories up.

 

First video interview of Bob Bradley since joining Le Havre (bottom video for English version):

http://www.hac-foot.com/actualite/bob-bradley-au-hac-ses-toutes-premieres-impressions.html

 

Does Bob speak French?

 

His son's season is over so he can do his off-season job as translator

 

Bob Bradley made me quit as USA mod when they retained him after the world cup . Now I'd give him JK'S salary plus his own. That's how I realized how undervalued I was about him.

Go Le Havre

 

Brünnhilde's aria: