Zardes's cross was a terrific play. His work rate was great. But he botched some chances too. Jones was very good. Bradley...I dunno. Great work rate, it seemed to me like he had a ton of giveaways. He needs to play simpler. And his set pieces were not good.
Maybe I have some sort of subconscious bias towards him, but I think Bradley has been pretty subpar overall. He just runs around like a headless chicken without making any real tackles or interceptions. Most of his passes seem very safe too. He looks a step slow and not as confident... Call me an idiot though if I'm wrong though because it may be the alcohol
He played fine today, IMO. In this system, it's hard for your 6 to necessarily be dynamic, though you'd definitely like to see more incisive passes than the Beckerman/Bradley 6 era has offered -- Beckerman's outstanding WC performance notwithstanding (and even that was mostly shielding). He's not the box-to-box guy he once was, and when sharing the field with Jones, that's fine. He's more likely to be disciplined and stay back. He does that. But to your general notion, yes, I'd like to see less quick trigger pulls on square or drop passes, and more of an eye for accepting space, looking for a switch or an advancing one-two. He does seem to be overly cautious. It's what I've come to expect from the 6 in Klinsmann's system.
He really has become a weak spot for the team. He almost never moves the ball forward and isn't a strong defender.
Bradley is not the answer in the midfield. He loses too many balls and gives away possession too easily. I'd rather see Trapp or Hyndman unseat Bradley before WC 2018. Unlikely.
It is unlikely. Those two pedestrian players who have proved little in their careers are unlikely to unseat Michael Bradley this cycle.
A lot can happen in two years. I don't remember the last time Bradley had a good game in a competition.
Our winning the group while conceding 0 goals from open play - including an entire half a man down - with him as the 6 and the captain.... But no, you're right. He should be replaced by some kid who played for Fulham once.
Hey!! Stop bringing logic into this Bradley Bash Fest!! We won and he must sit on the bench for this result!!
Are you really gonna act like Bradley is immune to being criticism because he's the captain? If that's the case, then what about the Gold Cup fiasco? the loss to Guatemala in WCQ? or the Confed Cup birth we lost to Mexico? I think he was the captain for all of those squads as well. Michael Bradley hasn't accomplished anything as a captain for club or country. Just because we're through to the next round doesn't mean he's the reason why. He's been extremely average for the majority of 2 years now and still gets a pass from pretty much everybody. He hasn't played well so far in this tournament either.... there's been an improvement since the Colombia game, but that's not saying much.
Well, yeah, probably the alcohol. As I posted elsewhere, the Opta stats and passing map show that he completed 37 of 41 passes or >90%. About 6 of those 37 completed passes were made forward into the final third, bettering everyone else on the team by 2. I really don't understand the level of MB complaints. Sure, his game against Colombia sucked and was an extreme outlier relative to his normal passing success rate (he had 14 bad passes in that game). And, yes, that was likely a, or even the, major factor contributing to the lack of US goals because without more from MB, the US attack fell short. But, for the same reasons he can be criticized for the Colombia game, he should be praised for the Paraguay performance. He kept possession and facilitated the attack. Moreover, his low turnover rate played a large role in reducing the number of chances Paraguay was able to create even when up a man.
Pretty much all of his passes were backwards or within 10 yards...I don't find that very impressive. He made 0 key passes and only made one tackle. That's not even factoring in his awful set pieces that pretty much give the other team possession right away. Those opta stats didn't really prove anything in my original post wrong. He made a couple nice longer passes and that's about it. I don't think he should be praised for his performance at all, he's doing what's expected of him and often times doing even less in my opinion. We can just agree to disagree though since I know I'm in the minority and I doubt we'll change eachothers minds lol.
I understand your disappointment with MB, he was going to be our "class" central midfielder for years, and he's fallen a little short of our hopes. But this last match he was fine, and more than I expected after Colombia.
What now? Here's Dundee: "I want to see one of two young players unseat MB before Russia. It probably won't happen." Then HH78: "Yeah, I agree, both those players have not shown to be especially good players thusfar." DD: "Two years is a long time for things to change, MB hasn't played well for us in tournaments." HH78: "He played well for us in this tournament, here are stats. Snark about how one guy is a young kid who played for Fulham (implying that he's extremely raw, and that he's not at a club that's particularly good)." You: "Oh so now we can never criticize MB? Because he's captain? He's TERRIBLE!" You see how your post doesn't seem to make sense when you look at the conversation in the thread? Nobody implied that MB was perfect, or immune from criticism. HH78 dismissed the thought of two potential replacement players for MB, partly by pointing out relative experience, partly MB's current play (which is in his opinion, good). You may think that MB not being replaced means everyone thinks he's exceptional. On the contrary, I think that the consensus here is somewhere along the line that MB is a flawed player, but one of our better midfielders, so he starts.
The point is the US doesn't have a viable option right now. If he's the worst US mid ever (which he is not), but no one else in the pool is any better, he plays. The problem too many have with Bradley is that they expect him to be game in, game out, exceptional. That is not now and never has been who he is as a player. He has the occasional great game, but for the most part he plays his role well, and that's better than the alternatives the US has right now.
You are right. Opta indicates the entire US team created 4 key passes and none of them came from MB. There were 1 each from Wood, Jones, Brooks and Zardes, plus Zardes' assist. Fault him all you wish.
I'd also like to add that one of the flaws of the team really since forever has been inability to settle the game down with the ball. Bradley has been doing that well in this role so that when we do go forward, the team has a bit more time and space to operate. And has a shape to it so we can better react to lost balls. Center mids who only look to play forward belong on teams that don't care about possession or rhythm and want to go directly at goal with every recovery of the ball. We did this under elder Bradley, and Michael was kind of the embodiment of that style. Head down, charge forward, give it to Landon, and get in the 18 yard box looking for scraps. It was fun, but we're supposed to be moving beyond that. I said before the build up to this tourney "ask less of Bradley, and you will get a lot more from him" and I think that is what we are seeing. We are getting forward in a more educated manner at the moment, as a unit, and his passing has plenty to do with that.
This is a great point. I think it's also key to understanding the Colombia match. Jones said after the game that he was assigned to the left side to provide cover for FJ against Cuadrado. Which meant asking more of Michael. In terms of full midfield against Paraguay, I thought we did well but tired at the end. I'm going to be nervous if Bradley and Jones are out there for the full 90 against Ecuador. There will likely be a few breakdowns in dangerous spots late in the game if that's the case. Hopefully Brooks and GCam can clean up.
I don't want to be insulting, but based on what you're saying, you don't seem to have the best understanding of what a d-mid is supposed to do. It seems like you would be most impressed by a daring run or dribble combination once or twice a game that would leave the backline without its protector and potentially open up counterattacks. Or maybe by a 40 yard Pirlo-style pass, which is not something that most d-mids produce on a regular basis, although Bradley is pretty adept at hitting switches. They are called defensive midfielders for a reason. It also should be pointed out that it was Bradley who saw the space and quickly executed a pass to find Zardes for what became the goal.
I think if you check the stat sheet he was 37 for 41, I do not think 4 missed passes is a ton of giveaways, also I missed who got the pass to Zardes to set up the goal. Who was that? Also I must have missed all the bad set pieces, I think the stat sheet stated that we had 2 corner kicks and I do not think mb took both of them. Most soccer people are saying that he plays to simple, I do not know who to believe.
I don't think you have a full grasp on what I said in the first place. You seemingly just cherry-picked one part of my argument in this thread. I said he is a step slow and runs around like a headless chicken without being very disruptive in the midfield. He doesn't make tackles and doesn't get interceptions, yet he easily gets dragged out of position. I know what a defensive midfielder is supposed to do, and I don't think he does it well. There's no need to try and be condescending.
Didn't mean to come off as insulting. Poor choice of words. I see where you're coming from partially. He doesn't get a lot of tackles, you're right, but tackles are often a sign of scrambling defensively, especially to stop counters, not that important a stat for Bradley to accumulate. And Bradley's has made some good plays in this tournament when the opponents were in position to attack after the US lost possession. I think he's done quite well in 50/50 situations in the Copa so far, hasn't been bossed physically like sometimes happens to him (and is frustrating to watch). He does make defensive plays and interceptions, and he has more skill and range as a passer than Beckerman or the other d-mid options have. I don't at all agree that he gets dragged out of position easily, but you're right that it's happened a time or two in the tournament.