World Cup 2010: Consensus Points to Bob Bradley Departing as U.S. Coach
By Ty Duffy
The caveat “nothing against Bradley, but…” is beginning to sound obligatory, but there’s some merit. If U.S. Soccer had perfect knowledge in 2006 that Bradley would make the Confederations Cup Final, qualify for the World Cup and win a group containing England before going out in the knockout round, they might have accepted that. Bradley did a decent job, just not as good as he could have done.
Certain failures in South Africa must be directed at him. Substituting at halftime means there was a mistake. Doing so in three of four matches, often making the same changes, is a sign of endemic failure in match preparation. The U.S. hurdled large obstacles, but unnecessary obstacles of their own creation. They led for roughly two minutes combined in their three group matches. If Landon does not score that goal against Algeria, the U.S. was out.
As Jurgen Klinsmann points out, the World Cup campaign died with the Algeria win. The U.S. got caught up in the moment. It affected their focus moving forward. That falls on Bradley.
The U.S. is not deciding whether to fire Bradley. They are deciding whether to rehire him. His contract is expiring. The issue is not whether he was the right man for the U.S. team the last four years, but whether he will be the right man four years from now. Most often you look for a change after four years at international level anyway. The South African performance only hardens that sentiment.
Replacement lists will be littered with sexy European names. The U.S. job is not an unattractive position. The decisive factors will be how much money U.S. Soccer is willing to spend and how much autonomy the coach will receive. If they are willing to triple or quadruple Bradley’s salary and cede control, Klinsmann and other top names may be in play. If not, you’re more likely to see someone like Sigi Schmid from the Seattle Sounders.
Off the top of my head, I would look at Lars Lagerback. His Sweden teams always outperformed their talent level. He took over Nigeria just before the World Cup and, though their results disappointed, they were competitive, organized and impressive, especially given the scant preparation time and dearth of ball ability.
We discussed overhauling and improving the youth system in the United States in the late 1990s, the Germans did so and it’s now paying off. That is the path to long-term success. For 2014, however, a seasoned coach with a successful track record would certainly help. That man is probably European.
[Photo via Getty]