I feel like I'm going to be tossing and turning at night like the Seinfeld "The Contest" episode, except instead of John John running through Elaine's head, or any of a million different things running through George, Kramer and Jerry's head, it's going to be three letters, floating by, over and over, causing me to break out in a cold sweat... DLP
So lets ask the question why is it only in the USMNT forum do you see this? Is it really a vendetta or hard reality check of facts and situational awareness of a player and a Team/program? You dont see this in the MLS threads. the fake victim and hate routine gets old.
It's worth noting that none of those tweets mentioned the national team. But USMNT fans have this absurd overreaction. He had a good game. He's gonna have a bunch with Toronto. He's a good player. So was Bedoya last year. Neither have the legs for the international game anymore, and certainly not how we're playing.
I wouldn't add to any discussion of Bradley the person or locker room 'leader' mainly because for me he's in the rear view mirror. His time has passed and I don't want to waste much time on analyzing that past. But seriously, you want the MLS crowd to see Bradley as anything but the lion savior? I had to laugh at that.
[ I don't think it's an absurd overreaction, unless you're talking about the one specific poster and he's one guy (actually I guess there are two of them, but one in particular). Anyway, I do think it's reasonable to worry a bit that Egg's head might be turned by this because against all logic he spent an entire year trying to build around that insanity, he wasted all of '19 with DLP Bradley and/or Trapp. Just a gigantic pile of games and caps were wasted on utter nonsense. I think it's reasonable to be alarmed by it because our coach was utterly nonsensical about central midfield for basically a calendar year worth of games and that was just 16 months ago. It's not like it was five years ago.
Doyle isn't referring to anyone that actually exists, just trolling like a few other people in here. Once again the whole thing is misconstrued and it is the Bradley worshipers making a big deal out of everything, when the majority of us normal people just want to move the ******** on already.
My hatred for Bradley is not irrational. Oh, I'm with you. I can't stand him, don't want him anywhere near the national team. I find him poisonous, total scum. But in his own languid way he bossed last night.
You're a good guy, but it goes beyond that. Bradley is a jerk. I could skewer him from my cultural perspective, but that wouldn't be nice. Not to him, not to anyone on these boards.
I was referring to the psycho reactions, but I also wouldn't be worried. I think it's important to note that Tyler Adams simply was not healthy for any of that time. Yunus Musah and Gio Reyna and a bunch of other players weren't around. It's been very clear through what Bradley has said that Berhalter specifically didn't call him in, and that Bradley wasn't happy about it. Berhalter is retiring him quietly. Are you really worried that a single CCL game suddenly has him on speed dial? I suppose there this space since we don't really have a backup six ... but I just can't see it. I know you folks think Berhalter's an idiot but he's not. For a while I though Bradley was going to get phased out with some real goodbyes; at this point I think his best shot at another cap is Gold Cup and that's it.
Who are those hired hands and what are they saying? I made the first post about Bradley's performance against Leon but I wasn't advocating that he should be called up to the NT. Rather it was an example of what could have been had he been played in his best position when the NT actually needed him.
Actually, I've heard some of the backstory.If you want to share, I'm down with that. I've always said he was the best option in our CM role at the time he was playing. What most people didn't understand was that my statement was an indictment of our development system.
I stopped following the Nats for a period because I couldn't stand how they played with Bradley bossing the midfield. But I also realize he was the best option at the time. There wasn't a better alternative. At a deeper level, I objected to him because I thought he was one of those players who made his teammates worse. He was a toxic alpha male imo. But as I said we did not have good alternatives during his prime. It is complicated. A frustrating period in the team's history for me as a fan.
They clearly do exist, or it wouldn't be good trolling. There's a contingent of people who hate Bradley so venemously that they can't countenance positive remarks about him, to the extent that the people praising him get attacked ("worshiper", "fanboy"). Doyle might not be reacting to actual comments, but he knows it's a button he can push.
Why did his toxicity not work against TFC? They aren't more talented compared to their competition than the USMNT. I think the difference is that Vanney is a better coach than both Arena and Klinsman.
No, I'm worried more that lets say a brick in the wall just got pulled out, and there's a tiny opening in that wall, a possibility. I think it's unlikely, in a rational sense, but then I look up his call ups in '19, and those weren't rational either. As for Adams, I 95% agree. It's really unfortunate in a non-results oriented sense that Adams went down when he did, because if he hadn't, a lot of '19 might have played out very differently. Maybe the RB silliness goes away with Adams before the summer (though probably not because Dest wasn't breaking through with Ajax until August), and maybe Adams is just the 6 period by that Gold Cup. Who knows, but I do think Adams injury created an opening for a huge swath of sub mendoza line DLP's and 6's who just flat out sucked, and caused the roof to cave in on performances because every layer of screw up could be seen in how the team was a sieve defending through the middle and through our LB, and our ability to play out the back was compromised by both poor choices in the pool and the liability right in the middle and at LB. Maybe the whole year goes differently without that. However, with Musah now also in? I'm like 90% secure in a less stupid approach to the MF. He did eventually give up on Trapp afterall, he didn't call Bradley up in the past year, and while Roldan still inexplicably gets call ups, it's not with our top group so theres that. The good news to me is we have so many options in Central Midfield, I think he'll err on just changing a guys role, rather than throwing a guy that's nowhere near as good automatically into the slot (I think he'd probably go with McKennie or Musah if Adams is out now, rather than call up Bradley, Trapp, Perea, Cardoso, Yueill or anything else like that as a nonsensical replacement) We'll see, but I do think Bradley opened a door that was shut and nearly locked, I just think it's barely ajar, but still, it not being locked alarms me, I'm just that kind of neurotic lol.
I think of the guys on their Extra Time podcast for instance. I'm not attacking you, and if I did make a post that does that, it was a mistake in tone and/or diction. I'm more of the mind that I want to bury this out in the desert outside Vegas, never to see it again, and now that a single noteworthy performance happened (sort of), the MLS marketeers are out in full force like those podcast guys and it just drives me nuts. I should probably go have a drink lol, but it's noon and I'm at work.
I hate it when people let '06 or '17 derange their perception of Arena (not saying your guilty of this, more just that Vanney doesn't have 1/20 the accomplishments that Arena has, and that means something). The guy won a billion college championships, rescued the team from the '98 debacle and produced the best performance ever in a World Cup, took over an ego filled room in LA and maximized their talent, took over a moribund New England and turned them competent. He's not a horrible coach, even for '17 basically the horrible was essentially a pair of windows in September/October, while the March/June windows were near perfect. He's a difficult figure, egotistical, NY/NJ east Coast, which always rubs me wrong since I'm the opposite (California North Bay to the core), can seem kinda close minded, but whatever he has in him, he can make magic with it, hell, the 1 of 3 game plans at WC '06 that he drew up (his assistants took the others with his input) was the Italy game. He's super accomplished. Like the abomination at Couva is a catastrophe, but it is one with a thousand fathers, not just Klinsmann, Arena, Bradley or anyone else, and in comparison to the others, Arena has a ton of accomplishments and they've occured everywhere he's been, ironically except NY. So I'm disinclined to crap on him. As for Bradley, I think the toxic thing is reaching, just heard that on scuffed too, in terms of connecting it to results, the ingredients for the failure '15-'19 when he was on the field were primarily that the vast bulk of his teammates were god awful players, or mediocre at best, and that will make anyone look bad. I do agree with the idea that he had an overpowering personality, and that his sense of himself was greater than his actual talent, but I also respect the fact that he seemed to live by that creedo (until the famed corner, lol) that, "you may beat me, but you can't outwork me" which even if his toxic male side could quiet the room and squelch contrary opinions or the development of other leaders, could also serve as an example of how much can be achieved by simply working harder and wanting it more than others, in his prime, he was a perfect example of that concept. He and Arena are really your strength is your greatest weakness too kind of figures in USMNT soccer history. Tremendous self-belief, and desire and committment, but also lacking a bit in what us teachers call the crucial "self-reflection" piece, they probably had more of it earlier in their career, and like most, the more success they got, the less self-reflective they were inclined to be in terms of addressing weaknesses and frailties. I could just be babbling too, and completely full of it.
One crank on BS means we need to waste caps and roster spots on Michael Bradley. Got it. Bradley is not in the MNT picture. Hasn’t been for years now. C’est la vie. He can do well for club, or poorly, it’s a moot point as far as the NT is concerned unless we end up with a half-dozen or more injuries in the midfield (knock on wood).
This is an entertaining thread. Bradley doesn't belong anywhere near the national team. Appreciate some good memories, but the jogging in Couva is the end of the discussion for me. The current Nats have a depth issue in certain center-midfield roles. Bradley looked good against a strong MX club, better than the folks typically listed as backups to Adams have looked. Bradley wasn't playing exactly the same role, but the point of it all to me is that the Nats need either to identify players or formations that don't rely on players like Acosta or Yueill on the two-deep because Bradley would be better than them and there has to be a better option than Bradley.
It's less of an attack on Arena and more respect for Vanney. I've watched a lot of TFC with Jozy and Bradley and took them from a bad team to the class of the league. His three MLS Cup finals, CCL final and player development have really impressed me. He lost 2 cup finals on PKs. He's won as the favorite, won as the dog and been able to roll with injuries etc.
Now where did I say we should give Bradley caps? I think I've posted something like this like three times in this thread. Doesn't change that a bunch of people are psychos about him.