I think ultimately Bradley just wasnt a big enough name for the supporters and for the coach. Bradley had some visible limitations that were more obvious as the team was fighting for the title and regular CL football. That being said he was a worthy sub and for depth. Perhaps he felt he deserved more though. Shame as he was good enough to start and remain there.
Mikey's best feature was his work rate, which was what Zany Zdenek Zeman wanted for his covering midfielder because he wanted everyone to go forward but not everyone then had the legs to run all the way back. Once ZZ Bottom was gone, the style changed and Bradley's shortcomings could no longer be offset. I wrote on his old Roma thread that the club was simply too rich to settle for a player of his quality. Correspondingly, Roma acquired both Strootman and Naingollan, each of whom could be transferred for upward of $30M these days. And those two have to fight for their jobs vs. Pranjic, Perotti and Salah (the attacking mids) and De Rossi, Keita and Vainqueur (the d/central mids). Mikey had no more chance there than at Arsenal (one of the puffed about clubs).
Too bad Chievo couldn't have paid him a little more. Seemed like the perfect fit for him in terms of level of play. And I suspect TFC's offer wouldn't have been as high if he hadn't been coming from Roma, so maybe he wouldn't have been in as big a hurry to leave.
Maybe we should have a committee of YA posters to decide on the teams for Yanks Abroad, where they'll all find their right level so the players don't have to worry about things like ambition, challenging themselves or big money in a short career.
"I'd like to see him move to a team in Belgium or the Netherlands and then work his way into a bigger league." - BS advice to literally every player
Oh boy, that or either a "mid-table club in spain, italy or france" really gets some folks around here going. Those suggestions in literally every thread grow tiresome. A YA rarely ever moves to one. We know why. Its such a tired subject.
To be fair all the players in China or Qatar today are there for the $$$$. Maybe they admit it, maybe they don't. Maybe they don't care if their NT careers are over or at all concerned with drops in form. What's puzzling is Bradley or Altidore or Dempsey seemed so committed to "making it" in Europe. Heading to a big club or playing in the CL. Now of course being paid 4-6 million in your own country ain't exactly easy to turn down. But do any of those 3 feel they are helping grow MLS? Perhaps maybe Dempsey. Altidore seemingly has given up on his NT career. Heck even a guy like Kljestan who was playing for the best team in Belgium came home to be making like a million dollars.
How has Altidore given up on his national team career? He has played 18 national team games since moving to Toronto and scored 8 goals. His issue is that he's constantly hurt, not that he isn't trying. But seriously, the motivator here is just money. Bradley's salary at Roma was about $1 million after taxes. He's making, what, more than 3 times that in Toronto? Any player would be insane to turn down a payday like that. Even moreso for Altidore, whose European stock had plummeted after scoring 1 in 42 at Sunderland.
IIRC, Sacha was on ~$400K base when he came back. I am sure he got a raise in 2016 but I believe he is still not a DP.
Perhaps I overexaggerated. He hasn't played as well as he did prior to his TFC move. And maybe it is just that he's injured. He seems woeful even against CONCACAF opponents, which is really startling. Jozy could have started over. You're absolutely right about the $$ but really telling how he just seemed to give up on adversity and return home. I'd have loved for Jozy to prove everyone wrong and do well in say a Italy or France. He had interest, he'd just have to work harder to prove it. And bradley was apparently pissed that Arsenal didn't want him. Yet he was so easy to move back to MLS. They can try to help the league's prestige but all they are really doing is $$$$ (which ain't a shame). it's just not helping the advancement of the US perception in Europe. just my 2 cents
Strootman has played eleven league matches for Roma over the past two seasons, three more for the Netherlands. He has barely had more games than he has had surgeries. He's probably never moving for fifteen million, much less thirty. Keita and De Rossi are 36 and 32 years old, respectively.
Seriously. One of my rules of thumb is that posters who spend a lot of time talking about this stuff, usually have a disturbing signal to noise ratio.
Or we could just state our individual beliefs that some players fit better in different teams. One can cheer Bradley for making big money at TFC while also stating that his sharper days on the field may have been elsewhere. No where did I challenge Bradley's ambition or criticize his financial decisions.
This one seems more consistent with the purpose of a message board. Conflicting opinions and all that.
All you need to do is look at his international performances to see the effect of the move on him. He shines against opponents that are MLS caliber or lower, and struggles mightily against any teams playing above that level.
He went from my favorite usa player. A true captain, the general. To now I can't stand watching him. he's lost/losing it at an alarming rate.
I was under the assumption when he came back to MLS that due to his almost robotic level of professionalism that the move back to MLS wouldn't hurt him too badly. Boy was I wrong..... 28 should be your prime as a CM....
It's possible he may have just peaked early (especially for an American). Or perhaps the pressure he faces to be a Big Player for the U.S. in the post-Donovan era is just too much, and he'd be struggling even if still in Europe. MLS didn't hurt Dempsey and Jones. Bradley seems like a completely different player, oftentimes struggling to handle routine passing sequences.