When Donkeys Fly: Michael Bradley at Chievo, pt 1 [R]

Reyna??

 

Active I meant.

 

I wonder what Aston Villa fans will say if (more likely when) Bradley moves to a bigger club.

 

"Michael Bradley? Who's that?"

 

"We always knew he had it in him. The crappy management should've never let him go. If only we were in control this at club we would've won the Premier League by now..."

 

Knowing English fans as I do they'll probably claim he "found his level". Even after the recent performances of Italian teams in the CL most English fans are dismissive of Italian clubs. I remember reading a comment previous to the Arsenal match which characterized Milan as a "small time club", I keed you not. I know Italy has regressed from the glory days of the 80's and 90's, I witnessed that period with my own eyes, but come on, it's still Milan.

I hope Bradley gets a look from a big club like Milan, Inter or Juve. Even though I dislike the last two listed it would be great to have an American at those clubs. I said it before but I'd take him as a replacement for Simplicio and Greco. Based on his performances this season and our last match against Lazio there's no reason why he couldn't get time. He could have easily been on the field for the Rome derby. Simplicio gave away the ball more then he has all season.

 

Translated from the March 5th edition of L'Arena:


Bradley warns Inter: "We're not stopping here"

Captain America does not want to wake up: his Italian dream continues. For Michael Bradley it was a perfect week. A historic win over the Azzurri wearing the U.S. national team jersey. And a golden point earned in Juve’s house. A double mocking of Buffon and the Italian champions. And the Verona-based midfielder continues to be regarded more each day.

The American explained. "We played a fantastic game because we did it with our heads and our hearts. We never lost our unity. And when we gave up a goal to Juve we didn’t lose heart. We had to play very hard and we pulled it off. The point was well deserved." Emblematic of this was Mike’s tackle on Vucinic. A 40-yard chase and a tough but clean challenge on the Montenegrin who was ready to enter the box. "But as I ran just like the entire team ran. We’re together and now we want to take points from Inter."

The return of Rigoni has pushed the American to the left in midfield. Playing together, however, feels good to him. "Luca is a great player," says Bradley. "And playing beside him turns out to be easy. Now we’re going through a great period and we want to take advantage of it in the best possible way." The celebrations in Turin, however, already seem a distant memory. "Celebrating is important. Being happy helps. Thirty-four points are a lot but we want to get to 40 as soon as possible. I feel good here. I’m not dreaming. I like everything about Verona."

Finally, history. The U.S. had never managed to beat Italy. It happened at the Marassi. And Michael was on the field. A hero in stars and stripes. With ample room for confirmation. He recalls. "For us it was a big game despite the fact that it was only a friendly. Playing against big teams in Europe represents a great opportunity for us Americans to put ourselves on display. The result has gone down in history. Now we have to keep growing."

http://www.larena.it/stories/Sport/339577_bradley_avvisa_linter_non_ci_fermiamo_qui/?refresh_ce

 

A certain section of English fans seem to think that AC Milan and Juventus would be relegation candidates in the premier league. (Let's see how Messi would do on a rainy afternoon in Stoke? )


They'll probably just do what socalyid said, dismiss it and think how great Fabian Delph is going to be.

 

"Hurrr duuurrrr Mcleish out" would sum it up well for Villa.

 

I think a lot of Villa fans wanted to sign Bradley, it seemed the club was ready to until McLeish came on board. Now that we see how well that's going, not to mention the clubs recent financial statements, I'm even happier Bradley "found his level" in Serie A.

PS - reading back into some of the Bradley posts here and in the Nats forum is quite entertaining. I do say there should be a fair bit more eating of crow by some prominent BS posters.

 

It's also fun to go back in time and read the threads from his time at Heereenveen or Gladbach. There was a post by sfs during the Heerenveen time that predicted Mike would be a starter for a top Bundesliga team in a few years. That really surprised me.

 

Great article! Thanks for the link. Sorry to say, I am out of rep...

 

what's funny is a huge reason for the fall (aside from the economy, poor stadiums, and match fixing scandals) is that Italians really overestimated their own players (much like Liverpool has done). I've seen a lot of players go to bigger Italian teams just because they are Italian and then people wonder why they don't produce. That and it really seems like Italian teams are more hesitant to let their older players go due to past accomplishments.

But Serie A has started to take an upward turn in quality because of clubs looking at bargain buys from Columbia, Uruguay, Argentina, and Chile.

 

i got him. it was a good article.

 

See Sig. And rep Scotty.

 

My favorite threads are when Mikey was moving from 'veen to BMG - the number of posters who thought he was badly over reaching, not even good enough for Monaco etc.

Oh well - hindsight is always 20-20. Which is why I walk backward!

 

I was in the opposite camp - I was expecting a much flashier and bigger team than BMG since Bradley was coming off his monster season. But it worked out great for him.

 

by luck or design, save the AV loan, the moves have played out pretty well.

 

Yeah,I'll point out the Villa loan again...,maybe other things were ocurring,or Frontzeck had just soured on Mike...

but seriously Frontzeck was gone two weels later!It's very possible that MB would've gotten back into rhe 11 with a new coach,if he'd been patient and worked to get his place back.

It's just an example of the sort of player-forced move that I hate.

 

how do u know (or why would u assume) that the move was player-forced? just curious

 

Bradley and the Donkeys are on FSC today at 2:30 EST as they host Inter Milan.

 

Because Mike is on record stating that he requested a loan/transfer when Frontzeck told him that he was losing his place in the lineup.

No I won't do the research for you. So don't ask for a link.

 

Not sure if this has been posted already, but another nice nice piece on Mikey, this one w some background on the club

http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/...ational-team-chievo-italy-performances-030812

 

I'm liking the juxtaposition between him and Pirlo. Perhaps there is no direct comparison, but Bradley could certainly aspire to have that level of reading of the game. He only rarely shows his full passing skill, yet it is a reserve that he will tap more and more as he gets more settled in Serie A. To be able to orchestrate play from a deep position, that would make him a true field general.

 

Chievo have a good chance to take some points today - Inter hasn't won a game since January 22, and just drew with Catania last weekend. If Chievo play like they did against Juventus, we could see a nice little upset. A win for Chievo would actually draw them level with Inter on points.


The game is also live on ESPN3.