I think it's a tie between this and that Liverpool "rumor" that's sourced to a facebook post by a guy who met DeAndre Yedlin in a supermarket.
At least, the Liverpool trial was brought up by some English rag before. (on the other hand, if you're John Henry, moving in on Yedlin makes a lot of sense anyway)
Report: Toronto FC Captain Michael Bradley Drawing Interest from the Serie A https://t.co/uVaxGUQ0Zo pic.twitter.com/zOYxOD62cd— Waking the Red (@WakingtheRed) June 20, 2016 744932907467300864 is not a valid tweet id
Mikey should just take a couple loans to an EPL team like Landon did. I think Landon appreciated having that experience, and Michael would too. Things didn't work out in that short stint w/ Villa. He never really got a chance The only difference could be an improvement over getting it until the end of their seasons. That had to be pretty dissatisfying for Landon to join Everton but not be able to be part of finishing any season or European campaign. TFC, in the east, and with 6 spots to make the playoffs, should be able to afford losing him for the first couple of months. In exchange they might be able to get his contract picked up for that half EPL season. They have more money to throw around than Serie A, WTW options are sparse, and teams could be willing to spend more when they know Europe, a title, or avoiding relegation is in sight. Serie A just doesn't seem plausible.
Is Bradley good enough for even mid table clubs in England or Italy to show interest in him? I'd be worried he'd only provide depth for them.
Dude should have stayed at Roma and got a loan to TFC or anywhere and then prepped himself for a good WC and then he could have joined any club he desired. Hell Arsenal might have actually gone for him after a good WC performance. though seriously still any reason why Wenger wanted old Kallstrom over a Michael Bradley at his peak?
He was by far the best player at Chievo Verona, and a decent bench option at Roma (one of the best teams in the league at the time). So I would say yes.
They probably wanted to get the deal done before Bradley out-duels Messi and his price goes way up. Smart move.
I'd go as far as to argue that he was more like an important first XI rotation player at Roma, far more than a decent bench option.
had he waited he'd only been on the bench for a month before that Dutch player got injured and would have gotten his starting position back. Seemed very unlike him to give up just when it got hard especially as he wanted to play for a big club
I don't know why you'd say that given you weren't in Bradley's head, unless Bradley made some public statements I'm not aware of. Regardless it's kind of irrelevant. Anyone who followed the 12/13 season - and by follow I mean actually watched the matches week to week - knows that Bradley was a very important piece in the first XI rotation.
He and his agent made several public statements. Here's one: "I was more than happy to stay and to continue to fight for my place and fight for opportunities," Bradley told MLSsoccer.com in a late February sit-down. "But at a certain point, to do that you need a coach who sees something in you. Because otherwise it’s just a one-way street. You're working and fighting and scrapping and clawing for any little opportunity. But if the coach doesn’t see it, it’s never going to be any real opportunity to play consistently. "There’s no problem with that, but for me at that point, I was done with that,” he continued. “I felt like I deserved more. The coach there didn’t. Again, there are no issues, but it was time for me to move on."
^^That's a selective quote from after his time In Roma, after he'd been through 3 managers and two regime changes, but fair enough. The point remains, and at this point I'm not even sure if you disagree, but the 2012/13 season in which Bradley started some 30 games from Roma, he was an important squad player.
Even if no one suffers a serious injury, the fourth choice player for a three man central midfield at a big club like Roma gets a lot of minutes. Fixture congestion means squads get rotated, and at least some injuries or suspensions are inevitable. As the first backup for all three central midfield spots, Bradley should have gone into any season expecting at least 20 starts in all competitions.
Meh. He felt like Garcia was never going to give a fair shot, and maybe in his mind, he was playing at a level that should have meant more than first guy off the bench and having the manager drop a bunch of cash on another guy in your position. Bring pissed off and then being offered a boatload of cash would be enough to convince almost anyone to move.