Goff source says Bradley will get the job full-time

If he was going to give it to Bradley he could have done it months ago. I know that he might have been feeling other candidates out, but he left everything hanging in limbo for a very long time.

 

This would be a good move. Thank you Bob Bradley for proving me wrong. I initially was against Bradley's hiring but his decisions have been on. He appears to be a better motivator than his predecessor, you just have to look at one key players recent performance versus his performance at WC 2006. I apologize for saying anything hurtful in particular comments about nepotism. And in the end, do you really think Gerald Houllier would be a better coach? Talk about an underperformer (ie Liverpool). Now that that's hopefully out of the way, Let's go boys!

 

If true, I'm sure it's because SG couldn't get Houllier (or whoever). Which seems about right.

 

Well, he's also at the head of one of the most dominant teams in Europe over the last five years, and credited with the majority of one of the best development systems in international soccer.

 

2010 should be fun!

 

Regardless of the decision on Bradley, the process the USSF has utilized to hire a new coach is a quintessential example of their incompetence. This is the biggest hire for soccer in the US and yet they've mucked around for almost a year with it and finally appear to be on the verge of saying -- well, guess no one halfway decent wanted the job -- I suppose you can have it, Bradley.

What a Mickey Mouse organization.

 

How can you tell he's a great motivator? Playing average teams doesn't mean you can motivate. What battles has this team been through?

Hamas Mickey Mouse or Disney's?

 

all of the handwringing about when he becomes permanent is nonsense. what was lost? Bradley coached as if he had the fulltime position. Gulati got an opportunity to see if he could land a big fish. not a single thing of note was lost. business as usual. good luck to Bradley.

 

Crap....

 

If in fact Bradley is the choice, then to finally name him as the coach is somewhat of an insult. This process has taken way to long at this point and some level of direction is an absolute at this point.

It shows that Gulati has basically been turned down and written off by every big name he has contacted. He now must turn to Bradley who he has never seem willing to give a vote of confidence?

Situations like this never work out very well

 

im fine with it. give him a couple of years and then re-evaluate.

best of luck to bob.

 

Not saying this result of keeping Bradley will be bad thing in the end but it really shows what an absolute joke Gulati is. This whole process has shown that he really is weak and unable to reach the goals he sets. Now we have to hope that the goals he tried to set (i.e. foreign big-time coach) weren't worth reaching for anyway and that we can still do well otherwise. Frankly, that's no way for the federation to be run. We need someone to make a clear agenda with realistic timelines, and then get it done. We can't just hope we succeed by accident. We need a visionary that can implement a plan.

The only good thing Sunil has done is get us back to the Copa America, and even that accomplishment is weak given we are openly sending a B team when a great result there would be an awesome moral booster to fans and players.

 

Do you really think it is important to raise the "morale" of Big Soccer posters when deciding how to run the US Mens National Team?

 

Double crap. He's just not good enough.

Unfortunately, this will likely only be borne out when it is too late, and when it really counts (World Cup).

If Bruce 2006 taught us anything, its that inferior technical coaches will get trounced on some very important occasions.

 

I think it's important to rally the die-hard supporters again after a World Cup flop.

Our support was magnificent in Germany, and US Soccer should try to maintain that energy. The Copa is a great opportunity to do so. If we win the Gold Cup, people will forget about it in a week, but long-time fans still talk about our 1995 Copa run. We could use another run like that and the Gold Cup doesn't provide for that even if we win.

Another run like that would be great for the fans... and I do consider supporter's moral to be important after a serious heartbreak.

It would be a serious mistake for US Soccer (trying to be a growing instiution) to take the fans they have for granted.

 

I think the USSF should focus on doing better in the next World Cup and not worry about giving the "die-hard" (how "die-hard" are they if they are ready to jump ship) some BS to brag about.

 

oh well.

i would've rather had a coach with more international experience.

let's just hope during bob's term, the ball bounces our way.

 

To me, I think the more interesting question is what this says about the USSF's ability to attract "top talent" and who's to blame for that? Or is it just a case of bad timing? Assuming, of course, that SG was dead set on finding someone else and just couldn't do it. I suppose it is possible he had a change of heart but I doubt it's likely.

 

If true, this is very bad news

 

And fortunately, there's room for both making your supporters happy and improving your team.

Taking your team to South America and have them play in an intense and hostile environment will make the team better and the fans happier.

Beating up on Guatemala for the 10,000th time in the hope that you get one shot at Mexico (who we play all the time too) bores the fans and gets the team stale.

And spare me about qualifying for the overrated Confederations Cup. BFD on that one and the so-called benefit of getting experience playing in South Africa's stadiums.

Back to the topic at hand, Sunil is weak. He can't carry out his agenda and what we are left with is hoping we can succeed without a clear plan from the Federation president. Even if Bradley does alright, his hiring as a full-time guy represents a failure of leadership to achive the goals it sets for itself. Hoping that an emergency back-up plan works (and it very well may) is nothing to be proud of and it shouldn't be the way things are done if we want to move forward with the sport in this country. It will lead to failure more times than not.

The board at USSF needs fire Sunil and find someone else who has a solid vision and can get it done.

 

I'm really curious about this. How did the term "Plan B" become a four-letter word in American culture?

 

It's not like the housing market. There's no perfect time to buy. All coaches are not available, as we have seen.

No one takes into consideration the personalities of these coaches. Houllier? Typical frenchman, can be snotty (different from Arena though). Would he motivate like Bradley (although there was none vs Guatemala)? Mourinho? Too expensive. Fell short this year despite player riches. Behaviorally, he is really crazy.
You think Eriksson could even communicate with our players, except for grunts?
Did Queiroz get along with the Metrostars (who were lousy)?

Several Dutch coaches have gone elsewhere. Hiddink seems to do well with any nation. Beenhaker has gone back to Europe after a stay in the Carribean.
I've always said we should look for a Dutch coach. Rijkaard? Van Basten?
Not good enough? Uninterested?

Bradley, judging by the clips of him in the locker room pregame, is a great motivator, better than Arena.

 

Good on Bob.

He's earned results, motivated players and enabled the team to make a positive impression with the casual soccer fan.

He's done very well so far and deserves the respect of having the stupid "interim" tag removed.

Sure, it would have been nice if he'd reworked the lineup to offset Guatemala's bunker but it was a friendly. I think the choice to cap Simek, Spector and Demerit (ok, Demerit probably plays anyway) was the better one. Also, Pearce (a more attack-minded back) would have probably played at left back if he hadn't gotten nicked.

Finally, if BB doesn't have the tactical acumen to make a dangerous WC10 run it should be clear in the results of the 2008 Olympics. This is not "til-death-do-us-part". How many of us expect to see Steve McClaren at the helm of England's national side in 2010?

I wouldn't be surprised if we get our "tactician" sometime in 2008 as BB gets more focused on the Olympic Team. JK might be ready to do some "consulting" in addition to his TV gig by then.