Bob Bradley Gets Sacked For The German Guy

Bob Bradley was "relieved" from his position as the Head Coach of the US Men's National Team. This comes as a bit of a surprise considering the case for Bradley making the most of his resources seems plausible. But Sunil Gulati's made his pursuit of Juergen Klinsmann no secret. He just needed the signing to look "respectable." Granted the past year has been nothing to write home about for the USMNT and with US football seemingly in the doldrums, the timing of this decision seems as appropriate as it's going to be.

Seemingly forgotten is:

• The rediscovery of Freddy Adu.
• The 2010 World Cup and its inspirational group stage comebacks.
• The 2009 Confederations Cup run where a defiant US squad shocked the world - snapping Spain's record win streak in ruthless fashion. They then rode that momentum into the finals, pushing the Brazil powerhouse to the brink of foreclosure.
• The 2007 Gold Cup win.
• The discovery of Charlie Davies.

Because what we are left with is:

• 2011 & 2009 Gold Cup embarrassment, 
• A thrashing from Spain in the "rematch friendly"
• 2010 World Cup knockout stage disappointment (Yeah, from Ghana... again),
• No apparent back 4 and a streak of rice-paper displays.
• An absence of world class striking talent.
• A youth system that doesn't promote dynamic play or sufficiently develop Footballing IQ.
• A watered down domestic league, drunk on its business model and expansion "success."

I have always admired Bob Bradley's approach and competitive mind. He has shown the ability to adjust and make lemonade. These traits make him a desirable coach and leader. The "figure it out" mentality seems undervalued in these days of posturing and system dependency.

The real burden of recent results falls on the USSF. Its brand will suffer with this run of form considering the USMNT isn't getting results and seems to be moving backward while the MLS has certainly taken 5 steps back in terms of its level of play. This is illustrated by the shellacking its teams took during the World Football Challenge friendlies and All-Star game vs. Man Utd. These are games where mid-season form MLS clubs are supposed to be outworking big European clubs - making matches interesting and compelling teams to loan their fringe players out for worthwhile experience. It ain't hap'nin this year.

And where are our stars? Landon Donovan hasn't been 100% healthy since his loan to Everton. Tim Howard can't save us from every poorly defended attack. Clint Dempsey's great when he isn't being keyed on and hacked all game. Juan Agudelo is promising and it will be interesting to see just how far the Freddy Adu comeback story goes (not that his national team value has ever dropped to me). But after that...

...

With that said, I'm not sure Bob Bradley's departure hurts or helps US Football because Juergen Klinsmann is walking in on the recession.