Should We Let Bob Bradley Be Our Coach or Listen to Idiots on BigSoccer?

I agree that some people go immediately overboard on bigsoccer....but, come up from fellating the hose of Bob for a few minutes and Re-lax.

(been in the mood to write 'fellate' for a couple of hours...thanks.)

 

It's rough when the discussion moves beyond "OZ sucks" and "Trust in Bob" isn't it?

Try to look at it as good training for your future endeavors.

 

Two games.
We're missing half our team right now, and it's out of our control. (as is everyone else, I know, but still.)
We didn't even give up any ground, thanks to all the results going our way last weekend.

Boo hoo hoo.

 

I'll be the first to say that everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion (except Nick S. who shouldn't be entitled to sh!t, not even a drop of dog p!ss) but you know how emotion can run in futbol - we need to win and we need to win now. So let's give the bigsoccer.com posters some credit. If I was a coach, i would shop Mathis around the Bundesliga, bring back Donadoni and Amman, and hey, I might even start a game in net myself as a player coach (ahh, the days of Zenga...) to "show 'em how it's done!" So lighten up fellas, and let's start a Bring Back Bora from China thread sometime soon! We can be called the MetroSARS!!!! Yippee!

 

I don't want to knock Bob...but in all honesty has he made any big improvements to raise us to a Championship caliber ?.... honestly no he hasn't.

Our defense is looking the best it has in years but then everything after that is somewhat of a disappointment.

Our midfield is the same it has been for years. We show flashes of quality football but time and time again we look flat out there. In every match I have watched this season our team never has a proper form out on the pitch. We ever the ball is , is where the players go and we all seem to circle around it. Never is there enough space for someone to run through because the rest of the players on the pitch have brought their markers with them to clog up the free space. Never is the ball switched from one side of the field to the other, instead it's always played back to defense to form yet another half-hearted attempt on net.

Our forwards this year have been rubbish...or to be more fair , anyone with the ball at their feet between the 18' and 25' yard line. We never ever shoot from outside the box, once or twice you'll see Digi try something and then there is always a nice try from the El Salvadorian wizard but otherwise there is zero attempts to try and put the ball on net from outside the box. Time and time again the ball is played to the outside of the box leading to a Brian Kellyesque weak cross to the middle. Bob should be hammering it home to his offensive players that we need to put the ball on net from outside of the box. We don't score much purely for the fact that we don't finish.

Keeping Addo on the roster is another question mark in my books. The guy can play and he can bring a sense of veteran stability to the pitch that is lacking when you have the likes of Arena and Leblanc playing. I'm not knocking the young guys but they are just that young, and they are going to make more mistakes going through the motions then an Addo would on his worse day. Plus you have the bigger question mark of why is this guy eating up our cap space when we can use it on a striker or a quality keeper. Players like Dillon Sheppard, Andy Williams and so forth were given walking papers for a bigger vision Bradley had which is fine but it seems obvious his vision never included the well documented inevitable moves of Howard and Mathis.

Bob has gotten the morale up and has the defense in good shape. Player additions like Clark and Guevara are gems but it seems like Bob is getting too many pats on the back when the job is only half done. I'm super, super hyped that we have some key corner stones to a Championship team in place, but when you're playing iffy football it's only a matter of time before the ship starts to sink if you don't plug the other holes up.

I'm sure I'm going to get hell since Bob has gotten us to the top of table....but honestly have the majority of wins been deserving ?..no way. We have eaked out to many wins based on pk's and trying to kill of one goal leads in the 50th minute. We need more passion in the midfield and more quality finishing. If can simply finish or even attempt to finish then we would a lot better off, but these are things that the coach needs to institute and with that I say Bob has only gotten half of the job done.

 

I think we should listen to you sweeper.

Hey, Bob started the princeton Soccer club right near the University. We played them 2 friendlies in two different age groups a few yrs back they even used a few guest players from other clubs. They lost both games

So it might be true what do they know.

Richie

 

Bob has never made any questionable moves or trades this season. Who knew Jaime was going to get hurt?? Who knew Howard would be leaving us with Grafer as the only GK to take his spot?? Who knew Wolniak would not be a certified star on this team of young forwards?? How could he predict Pope would get hurt and miss some games and Bruce's son would not be able to handle it in the back???

I say never question Bob and no discusion on these Boards is pertinant as he knows all and is always right.

 

There are other parts to this post I could answer.

But, I will just answer one. When Oz had the team we knew we had a big hole to if Howard was injured or got a red card or goes to not play in the olympics. We knew Grafer was not a good back up for Howard at that time.

Then we get the rights to Contess who would be a good back up to howard, and we get rid of him.

Smart move dog.

 

Metrostars looks and plays like a High School team.

Andy Williams was a mistake the wouldn't soon forget

 

Bring back Mama Diallo

 

Why can't someone criticize or question Bradley's moves? Is he that high on the pedastal that he can't be questioned?

This isn't the Bush Administration, where you can't question policy or actions. It's just a game....that's what being a "fan" is all about.

Bill Parcells took 2 clubs to a Super Bowl (almost a 3rd with the Jets) and was STILL questioned for his playcalling. Phil Jackson has 8 NBA rings and was still questioned for his line-ups and decision making. If these guys can be criticized, so can Bradley.

Besides, exept for starting Arena in place of Pope and starting Clint as a midfielder early in the season, no one's been on his case about anything.

 

O.k. 1/3 of the season is done. The record states that the boys are 5-3-2 with 17 Pts. The last match was the first time that the defense allowed more than 2 goals in a match.

Pope would have been in France anyway, but the cracked knee cap has sidelined him for a little more.
I would like to see Forchetti & or Joe Addo get a shot to start since it seems that Kenny Arena is making the typical rookie mistakes and with the playing time he can get better, but for now he would be served better on the bench and coming out for the final 10-15 minutes remaining in the match.

Clark has been rock solid, Magee needs to keep the scoring touch on his feet and not off his head. Gaven looked great out there.

These problems are fixable and when Clint comes back things will be fine. Hopefully Moreno will be ready for the Galaxy.

I always see you guys who love to panic and assume the coach is not playing or having the right players on the pitch. The thing about Andy Williams was that if he played like this in every match for the Metro or if he could be the type of player that Guevara is then Andy would have stayed. Bob didn't feel it was possible. I didn't want to see Andy go, but the decision was made.

If the front office wanted to hire you guys to be the head coach for the club, I would like to see what you can really do. It's very simple, if you boys got a game plan or a system to set up every week for practice & game time, also to draft the right players in the Super Draft to fill our needs, then I will shake all of your hands.

But if you stink up the joint and make the club 0-30 then you well get the harrassing anti-head coach posts like you do with Bradley.

Armchair QB's are not a part of the hiring system ladies & gentleman. If they were I would see about 4 head coaches who have normal day jobs sitting on the bench with Clint & Eddie Pope.

10 Matches have passed. The 3rd Round Match of the US Open Cup is July 16th. Clint should be back and Eddie Pope should be healthy enough to participate.

In the middle of three losses a 7 match unbeaten streak. To me that's pretty damn impressive when originally Bob Bradley told us that don't expect the Metro to be in the MLS Cup Final at the end of this season. He told us that the boys would be competitive match in, match out. They have done a terriffic job. Unfortunatly National Team call ups will hurt the club a little, but they can be easily fixed.

In Bob I trust and so should the rest of you. Panic, grip & whine all you want, if Bradley isn't good enough for you unless you are gonna wait for Bruce Arena to finish up his National Team coaching, then no one else is.

I want the club to be successful as much as the rest of you, but I'm not going to join the bandwagon to get Bradley out of the swamp.

 

Couple a points Jamie.

1. Joe Addo is making MLS minimum. He is essentially a player-coach at this point. His legs are gone, but his attitude in training is a positive.

2. Dillon Sheppard was not "given his walking papers." Ajax of Capetown wanted a pretty good transfer fee for Sheppard and he was not, as billed, a left-mid, left back, but an attacking mid.

3. Andy Williams has played so well this year that the Fire benched him in favor of rookie Logan Pause for three games. Williams played against Metro this weekend because of National team callups. If he is the center mid for the Fire at playoff time, I believe it will be the first time since he was a kid in Columbus that he's been a starter on a playoff team. He is just not that good.

 

There is a pattern to his teams starting slow, so I don't really have any postion other than he has a) shown a good touch with the young players, b) has the team playing organized.

I have been critical of the playing so many kids-but I don't put that at Bradley's doorstep. That's a by-product of MLS salary restrictions. I don't think it's going out on a limb to assume that he has a "wish list" that could add some players if he could get a bit more cash in the budget. With the Fire, you saw that he could field/coach a team that has panache-that played a nice attacking brand of soccer. He doesn't have those type of players now, and as a result, this team IMO is boring to watch.

Doesn't mean I don't value or appreciate his work and the wins, but the product in its current state is lackluster.

 

Sweeper-

Why is it that you feel the need to exaggerate every slight criticism of Bob Bradley into a call to "Fire Bob"?

Why did you start a post whose sole purpose is to draw a ridiculous line between those who believe every decision Bob makes is unquestionably correct, and everyone else, who you think must want to fire him?

I understand your frustration at some invalid and unjustified criticism of the coach (and of a lot of players) on this board, but why do you feel the need to constantly deem ANY criticism to be "idiotic" without even addressing the issues people are raising?

Even the best coaches in the world routinely make mistakes. They would admit as much. Why can't we admit that too?

 

Sweeper, you're the only one bitching and moaning right now.

 

My take is a little different. We got some points in the standings to play with. I think Bradley is using that cushion to give everyone a chance to show what they have and to initiate the newcomers into the next level so that they are ready to contribute in the all important 2nd half of the season. The key to winning the MLS Cup is not to start fast, but rather to finish strong. Players like Magee, Regan and Arena can ONLY get better by making some mistakes. Better to let them do that now than when it really counts. If Bradley was afraid to make mistakes right now, there is no way he would have started Gaven. I'm sure he would prefer introducing only two at a time rather than the 3-4 he has the past few games, but that is MLS.

V.O.R.

 

Fixed your post.

Now, no more criticisms of coaches or players here or we will have to take drastic action. This is so unlike the Metro boards we have grown to love.

Kevin

 

Guess I'm a fool.

 

Ask San Jose circa 2001.