"You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore." -- Richard Nixon
That was the first thought in the unexpected Thursday midway news that U.S. Soccer boss Sunil Gulati had "relieved" Bob Bradley of his coaching duties. It's been a fun ride, starting with this post in January 2007 and until today.
Naturally, with the end of the statement from the USSF adding a cryptic, "U.S. Soccer will have a further announcement on Friday," it only leads to more questions and speculation.
Namely the first thing pops into mind is why this happened in July 2011 as opposed to July 2010?
And who, if not Jürgen Klinsmann, will Gulati hire?
And did Gulati finally cow to the simmering anti-Bradley forces to take some of the pressure off of him and the rest of the people at the Soccer House in Chicago?
This certainly seems like Gulati throwing the angry mob some raw meat -- slapping Bradley's head on a pike as it were -- because nothing really changed with Bradley in the last 11 1/2 months. Bradley was still the same coach, with the same tendencies and blind spots for players -- (cough cough, Jonny Bornstein). He was boring and vanilla, yet a little savvier than he tended to let on in the media. You don't coach 43-25-12 as a coach, even in a cupcake region like CONCACAF, if you're incompetent.
Bradley Mach 2.0 did at least try to be different. He tried to creep away from the 4-4-2 into a more modern 4-5-1 formation. (Is it his fault the U.S. striking pool is virtually non-existent?)
Hell, Bradley even brought Freddy Adu(*) out from the European hinterlands for a run-out in the Gold Cup.
(*) Maybe this did more harm than good, as in the games Adu played he was the best U.S. player. Perhaps some at the USSF wondered why he was frozen out of the 2010 World Cup?
What did change, however, was a lingering stagnation that crept into the U.S. senior team. In losing the 2011 Gold Cup to Mexico, the old guard of Landon Donovan, Carlos Bocanegra and Steve Cherundolo seemed old and tired compared to the fast and exciting Mexican team. The bridge of new players -- Juan Agudelo, et al -- seemed far away and the gap generation -- Jozy Altidore, Tim Ream, (insert MLS guy of the month) -- a little out of their element in international play.
The same players Bradley went to war with, lodging a famous 2-0 win over Spain in the 2009 Confederations Cup were the same who ended up coughing up leads in that tournament to Brazil and to Mexico two years later at the Rose Bowl. Wherever you stand on Bradley, pro or anti, the team's dual Achilles Heels of a) giving up early goals and b) inability to hold leads in big games is a tough pill to swallow.
Missing out on the 2013 Confederations Cup was the biggest black mark for Bradley, aside from the horrific Ricardo Clark decision in the 2010 World Cup Round of 16 against Ghana. Watching Mexico -- on U.S. soil no less -- ascend to the thrown of CONCACAF couldn't have gone down well, especially with his pseudo adopted son, Bornstein, was fileted by the El Tri attack.
Maybe this is retroactive history, but Bradley did what he could with the hand he was dealt. No more, no less. He still got the U.S. into the 2009 Confederations Cup final and won the 2010 World Cup group -- albeit from a minor 93rd minute miracle from Donovan. Again, is it Bradley's fault that on the eve of the 2011-12 UEFA Champions League the only American in the competition proper at this point is Bayer Leverkausen backup keeper David Yedell -- a naturalized German-American. At some point someone at the USSF has to give a hard look in the mirror why an industrialized nation with 300+ million people cannot produce international players consistently.
Bradley, it might prove, was an easy scapegoat. What with his emotionless bald head and track suit, he was an easy target in our mean-spirited Internets culture. For whatever reason, it was fun to mock Bob for all his warts, real or imaginary.
The problem is, Bradley might be Gulati's pound of flesh ... but it's only going to be temporary.
The U.S. soccer fan base, almost universally, loath FIFA dictator Sepp Blatter and its corrupt way of business. In the wake of losing out on the 2022 World Cup, Gulati has looked nothing short of a Blatter -- and to another extent New England Revolution owner Bob Kraft -- sycophant. People are fed up with FIFA ... whether they pursue actual change remains to be seen.
There's a chance Gulati has smelled the winds of change and realized he had to change the conversation. To distance himself from Bradley. To change the conversation away from why the USSF has failed fundamentally in both player development and securing a World Cup?
Yet firing Bradley today is basically sawing off the arm of a body infected by gangrene. The problem goes deeper than the national team coach playing a 4-4-2. It's more about how soccer is played, taught and most importantly THOUGHT in America. The changes the U.S. needs to make to move from the World Cup chaff to World Cup cream start at the lowest levels.
This might be a bit of a stretch, but think of that goal Neymar scored last night. Do American players even think about a goal like that in their dreams? A national team coach, in the dozen or so times he gets to work with players in a year, can't shape all that much. It has to start at the ground floor. It's not about little kids getting participation trophies. Or finding some guy with an English accent, throwing money at him for a "travel" team and think the rest will work itself out.
Does Klinsman or Marcelo Lippi or some other European savior riding in on a white horse change this? Look no further than England, which suffers the same pratfalls and institutional memory under Italian Fabio Capello as it did under any English coach.
Changing coaches isn't hard ... well, unless you're Gulati then it takes about a year after the fact.
Changing a flawed system ... well, that takes time, effort and patience.
Not exactly the core values of 2011 America, are they?
Either way, via con dios, Coach Sweats.
Labels: bob bradley, Soccer, sunil gulati, USMNT
Good points.
Also kind of makes the case for Klinsi too - He's the one that was turned down twice because of control issues so if he's actually the guy this time, it's because Gulati/Flynn have caved on his demands.
We can be skeptical of his coaching abilities and everything but how many coaches with his profile are willing to take on the task of re-organizing the federation and its various levels? Obviously this is all speculation at this point but I'm in favor of Klinsmann as a replacement because of his desire to revamp our system, not necessarily for his coaching abilities alone.
Per @grantwahl:
Source: Bradley was blindsided by dismissal. His staff was notifying players yesterday of call-ups for USA-Mexico friendly.
Fair to say there's been no sea change at the USSF? Coaching opinions aside, BB didn't deserve that, nor the past year of being strung along. Although I'm shocked, shocked, that they're making a change, I'm pretty confident that it hasn't gone deep enough.
I'll save my "Torpedo FIFA" screed for another time, but I think you hit the nail wrt Bradley. It hurt to watch the Gold Cup final. Hell, it hurt to watch the group games. It was almost as bad as early round FA Cup games with a League 1 side against a Conference side, except with less mud and better grass. What is really painful is that it might have to get worse before it gets any better.
It seems the Klinsi Fail Part Duex last summer convinced them they had no choice but to go to their second alternative safe (cheap) plan as a holding pattern - so they gave Bob another shot at it. Why the hell not - give him the Gold Cup to redeem himself. Had he won, he'd probably still be around.
I think we will find out tomorrow who the USSF has been talking to in obviously lengthy negotiation since the Gold Cup final. My hunch is that it is a manager from another national team (Gus Hiddink, Frank Rijkaard) and that is why it took so long. The announcement was PR timed perfectly - a day after MLS All Stars vs. Man U, and swallowed by loads of NFL coverage. Gulati knows what he is doing. The discussion of Bob's shortcomings is going to last a day at best. Bob ain't a bad guy - you just don't tenure a national team manager. He has a job in MLS for life, which is better than leading Princeton.
If their choice ends up not being a proven international, the collective groan will eventually scream for Suni's head.
@Smock - I agree that in PR 101 the timing makes a lot of sense. However, I think if they did it on Superbowl Sunday or the the day after the MLB All-star game (slowest day in sports)it would get the same reaction nationally. Unless its in an international Cup month, the USMNT just isn't going to trend or grab huge page views.
Bradley was the best domestic coaching option after Bruce Arena and I think he did a good job in his 4 years. He caught Mexico in a down-cycle and pounced. There were the obvious faults: his-guys, formation cainotophobia, and minor talent evaluation issues. His tenure would look a lot better if there had been a true forward in the system.
The biggest problem I had with the last 13 months was it a wasted year. The writing was clearly on the wall that the team had advanced as far as it would under Bob. Grant Wahl used the word "stale". It would have been an easy press conference for Sunil last July....
-We really respected what Bob gave the program these last fours years, highlighted by the summer of 2009, and we, like most teams around the world, want to start the next cycle fresh-Sunil. -
So what's gnawing at me today is the idea that teams can just waste a year after the WC. Some teams, Mexico, change coaches three times in a WC cycle and it works fine. Some teams bring a "Gus Hiddnik" right at the end to just coach the WC itself. The position of when the Gold Cup is played makes me wonder if the year after the WC is more important the the second year after for the USMNT. ?
It's time for a foreign coach. There isn't a strong cultural system in America, no matter how many times Sunil says that there is. Sven didn't work in Mexico because there is a cultural element, same with some of the world powers. The MLS is not strong or important enough to sacrifice the USMNT because a foreign coach doesn't understand how NCAA players feed into the MLS and then should get caps. A fresh eye will hopefully pluck the best players out of wherever.
Is it still Klinny? I'm not sure - but I'll move forward as if it is.
Maybe I missed this but are SURE that Sunil and the USSF is who caved? I hope so, because I'm ready for someone, anyone else besides the USSF to be in charge of the development system for youth players. Who knows if Klinsman will make the right decisions there or if he will be around long enough for the changes he might make re under 15 training/selection to show themselves on the full USMNT side. At this point it is worth a shot.
Mike makes good points about the need for change being deeper than who starts up front or who gives the HT motivational talk. The US (like Ingerrland, but in a different way) seems to have a slightly dysfunctional soccer culture - and a new guy writing the line-up cards for 2011-late summer 2014 will not fix that. Club teams that have a lot of change over at manager or a lack of overall vision (hello RM and Chelsea) seem to suffer - despite them getting excellent coaches to stand on he sidelines.
People upset about the whys and wherefores of how Elder got fired can just go take a nap. These things are always painful and uncomfortable. There is no 'good' way to get the axe. Elder gave good service to the USMNT and deserves our thanks, but it is (has been?) time to move on.
One immediate benefit I can imagine is that if some of the 'first name on the team sheet' guys like Younger, Deuce, Timmay and even (gasp) Lando now feel they must win their spots on the field. Competing again for their roster slots might be a good thing. Though if the new coach is Klinsman, he seems to have a soft spot for Landon.
I think what you wrote about Adu and his possible 'freeze out' in South Africa is interesting. Does Elder get credit for playing Adu in the recent Gold Cup - or criticism for not playing him before? And was keeping Adu on the bench STILL the right thing because of Elder's expressed 'rule' about players needing to be getting burn with their clubs to be considered for the national team?
The biggest issue facing US soccer going forward is that our players are not skillful enough. If the Brazil coach sits/plays Neymar - he still has a wealth of creativity and attacking verve to choose from. If the USMNT coach doesn't play Adu (like say because he is a pompous little brat at times), our supply of ingenuity and try-something-osity gets cut in half. Should a coach judge that 'do I play this guy who doesn't have the team spirit I want' decision differently based on how much leaving the talented guy on the bench will hurt his team? Elder always played it like an college hoops coach from the 1950s - if you don't follow the rules, you don't play. Maybe Klinsman (or whomever) makes the call differently or (GASP!) realizes there are more than two paths.