Quote:
Originally Posted by mlyons
I'm not sure where all the criticism of Bob Bradley comes from. It's not really his fault that the US doesn't generate more talented players. Look at the rosters of yesterday's match; is there any American (outside of Giuseppe Rossi  ) who would take a spot on Italy's squad? Personally, I think the fact that the US had a chance to win (don't forget, they were winning at the hour mark) even after Clark's moment of idiocy says pretty good things about Bradley's ability as a manager. Italy's a really, really good team, and they put their best squad on the field. There isn't much shame in finally running out of gas after being down a man for the majority of the match (and playing at altitude).
Really, apart from not convincing Rossi to play for the US, what has Bob Bradley (as opposed to the USSF) done wrong with the national team? Until America starts producing genuinely world-class players (at the level of De Rossi, Buffon, and Pirlo), it's asking quite a bit for the US to go out and outplay teams like Italy, Spain, or Brazil. Hell, the fact that we consistently play well against Mexico is impressive; there are no American players of comparable quality to Andrés Guardado, Rafa Marquez, or Carlos Vela. |
I think that's the inherent problem with US Soccer. There's tons and tons of rugrats that are running around playing soccer when they are little, but the development programs are awful compared to the rest of the world.
Granted, a good number of athletes are lost to Football/Basketball/Baseball, but the ones who stay and continue with footy are the ones who truly love the game and, IMO, their country has failed them by not developing them into world class players.
Does that fall on Bob Bradley? No.
Also "Clark's moment of idocy" is probably a bit much. It was a dumb tackle attempt, but was in no way deserving of a sendoff.