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Bradley scores twice in Moenchengladbach win

Michael Bradley 3 (ISIphotos.com)   

                                                                                     Photo by ISIphotos.com

Michael Bradley's evolution as a soccer player continues in Germany and Saturday offered even more evidence that he is blossoming into a true standout.

Bradley scored two goals on Saturday to help Borussia Moenchengladbach defeat FC Cologne, 4-2, on Saturday. The victory helped push Moenchengladbach move a step closer to escaping the Bundesliga relegation zone. Bradley scored from close range in the first half, then converted a penalty kick in the final minutes to seal the victory.

Check out the goals:

The two goals increased Bradley's season total to five. It also continues his personal hot streak which began on Feb. 11 in the U.S. men's national team's 2-0 victory against Mexico. Bradley scored both goals in that victory.

What do you think of Bradley's performance? Are you pleasantly surprised that he has regained the scoring touch he showed off in the Dutch League? Anxious to see him get back on the field for the U.S. national team later this month?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. LOL @ the fools still hating on this kid, hes center mid that can go forward or be a very good holding mid, who cares what type of goals they are, there is no 3 pt line or anything. The kid keeps improving and at a much higher rate than his peirs.

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  2. There are so many incorrect assumptions in these comments it’s scary.

    1) Bradley has been a consistent starter since he arrived at BMG. Check the stats.
    2) Bradley plays as a D-Mid next to Galasek. He does not play on the wing or as a CAM.
    3) The coach did not designate a PK taker. Bradley was feeling confident so he stepped up to take it and his teammates deferred to him. Yes, even Marko Marin and Alexander Baumjohann.
    4) Bradley COULD have gone to the EPL. You can’t say he isn’t good enough to play in a top 3 league.
    5) Borussia Moenchengladbach is not the worst team in the Bundesliga. In fact, there’s a very good chance that they will avoid relegation this year.

    And who cares if Bradley isn’t an offensive midfielder? Bradley never claimed to be some great offensive hope for the USMNT. For now, just be happy that Bradley is a rising star as a defensive midfielder in Europe. He was the man of the match against Cologne (just like Mexico, it was for more than just the 2 goals), and is quickly becoming a fan favorite. And that’s not because the BMG fans have deluded themselves into thinking he’s Ronaldinho.

    If you want better offensive midfielders, go complain to someone about Freddy Adu.

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  3. who cares hdtv. just sit back and respect a player who is doing well! stop trying to be another run of the mill pissy analysts

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  4. Bradley plays on the wing for Borussia and played an attacking role in Holland. Only his father plays MB in a defensive position because of his love for the dreaded bucket.

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  5. Bradley to UTD??? Are u kidding, UTD are sooo stacked, if anything he’ll end up in Arsenal, cuz of Arsene’s lust for young talent, or Everton, or Fulham, i can also see him at Roma, or any other team, but i still think he shuld stay at M’Gladbach for atleast 2 more seasons, IFFFF they dont get relegated, and then move on, just another thing too, really random, but i’d like for his rating to go up in FIFA, because i dont understand how Mexico is a 4 star in a half while we are a 3 star and a half????????????? EA better recognize!!! LOL

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  6. I think people are being a bit hard on hdtv. He makes some good points about Bradley. To me Bradley is in the same mold of Frank Lampard, Michael Essien, or even Michael Ballack. Central mids who’s main job is to disrupt the flow of play for the opposing team, but who also have some offensive skills, but aren’t offensive players. Their offensive skills are just a bonus.

    I think if we’re going to depend on Bradley as our main offensive threat than we’re in trouble. Bradley is a good guy to have as a backup if our attacking mids or strikers aren’t performing well, like the last game against Mexico. But to have Bradley carry the offensive load would be a mistake because he doesn’t have the necessary skill-set to do that game in game out.

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  7. my point wasnt that bradley progress isn’t great for the US or for bradley as an individual. my point also was not that toe poke goals are bad. my point WAS that bradley’s progression isn’t huge for the US because he’s a defensive mid, no matter what his goals last year and his goals this year (2 of which were not from the run of play) may lead some to believe, and we need some attacking/possession game in the midfield. im not a US basher, i was as excited as anyone when bradley scored against mexico, but there’s nothing wrong with hoping for more from your team and being satisfied with beating easy CONCACAF teams and getting excited when we squeak by Sweden, which i think the fans of other countries and teams of other sports would agree with…finally ronaldo is a horrible comparison – he made his living off making smart cuts and putting himself in 1v1 situations, an art that’s pretty much gone now. he didnt make his living toe poking in a corner that had been bouncing around for a few minutes.
    bradley is a growing player and his goals are a credit to his hustle and tenacity, my point again was simply that id be more excited to see freddy or benny or someone like that progressing well because i think itll do more for the national team.

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  8. “A good season in Germany will get him a chance to either go to a better team in Germany, or to a better league, like Italy, Spain, or England.”

    Brett, no Spanish or Italian mid-table club has the financial means to price away a regular from Gladbach anymore. And I doubt that a Spanish or Italian top club would look for players from Gladbach as reinforcemnt. Realistically, Bradley’s future lies within the Bundesliga and/or the Premier League. And I told the guys on Bigsoccer that he will leave Heerenveen for the Bundesliga when everybody else on that board was still convinced that he will go to Everton or Middlesbourough. You just need to look at the clients of his European agent Kon Schramm in order to make such an assessment.

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  9. congrats bradley!!! i haven’t gotten to you yet however. I go down the line one player at a time with news. right now I am enjoying Dempsey, so a little info:
    Dempsey is so effing bad ass he taught himself how to be primarily left flipping footed so he could start on the left wing for Fulham…
    Not effing bad for an American badass. Just another day in the life of Cllint Dempsey.

    Now, I can’t wait to read this article about Bradley!!!
    I’m loving it.

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  10. bradley is a legitimate goal getter. scoring that many goals in the role that he plays is very good. a central midfield of he and freddy adu is the future of the national team. adu never plays but in my opinion he is still potentially the best offensive player we have.

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  11. Any time an American does well abroad, I say, good show, keep it up and leave it at that. MB can only get better, despite the comments from the amateur pundits round here.

    To echo Tomasz’ thoughts, Serie A these days ain’t as good as it was in the 80’s, when players like Shevchenko was in his prime at AC Milan.

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  12. Oh yeah, and one more thing. That first goal wasn’t “toe poke” – well at least not if that phrase is meant as an insult. It was a near clinical finish in heavy traffic of a gorgeous pass. That’s certainly not a sought after skill from a “defensive” player…

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  13. The worse part about being an American soccer fan is being an AMERICAN soccer fan. Whatever happened to being happy for the success of one of our guys without tossing cold water on his accomplishments. Anyone who watches the game of soccer knows that not anyone can score. Until the last week how many times did Eboue of Arsenal get open opportunities and not put the ball in the back of the net. I don’t care whether MB is an attacking or defensive midfielder. he has shown an ability to score. Every team needs nonforwards who are contributing to the scoreline. Bradley definitely does that for his team. Let’s just pause for a moment, celebrate that and not use these posts as an excuse to launch more selfhating, MNT player hating rants. They’re pretty tiresome, especially coming from folks who never played the international game.

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  14. Why do I have the feeling that Bradley could save a baby from a burning building and there would be people saying he should have put the fire out too? Or that his Dad probably set the fire to make his son famous?

    What Bradley is doing at 21 is flat out fantastic. He is scoring boatload of “toetaps and PK’s” in good competition – in Holland, in Bundesliga, and most importantly against Mexico. Even better, he is playing box to box with skill and tenacity.

    Is he an attacking midfielder? Nope. He’s beginning to look like something even more valuable – a CM/destroyer who has a tremendous knack for getting into the right place and converting opportunities. Having a destroyer who frequently puts the ball into the back of the net may just be the most valuable thing outside of a keeper a team can have. To some extent, it is like free goals…

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  15. curious to know what position or role MB actually plays in BM – he seems to get in very forward positions than just an attacking mid field? Can any of our European contributors comment? Just thinking here about best combination with Donavon and Dempsey, one of whom cud perhaps best meet a strict forward role. Indeed their European experience puts them in pole position.

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  16. anyone remember the king of garbage goals? That Ronaldo fellow, picked up a golden boot, two world cups and a couple balloon d’ors, as I recall.

    He’s a defensive mid. It’s not his job to create goals, but when opportunities come by, being able to take them well helps everyone.

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  17. Actually tom v, garbage goals are the ones you can most count on.

    Better teams rarely allow those screamer shots from outside the area, and top notch defenses are rarely caught outnumbered at the back for passing exchanges leading to open goals. Those are the types of goals good teams score against bad teams.

    One good season rarely gets you to a top club. His season in Holland grabbed him a step up to a much better league. A good season in Germany will get him a chance to either go to a better team in Germany, or to a better league, like Italy, Spain, or England.

    Mikey is developing at a fine rate and he knows how to follow plays and score.

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  18. im with hdtv on the idea that garbage goals might win you a game or might help you qualify for the world cup out of the horrendous CONCACAF, but it won’t help you do well against top notch teams consistently, because you can’t rely on those goals to work consistently. hd is right about england here, and the fact that bradley should be a holding midfielder to a more creative midfielder like benny, etc.
    finally, he’s scored 5 goals in a whole season, has only been starting the past couple games, and the team is about to be relegated and there is little to no transfer talk for him (though i do know he has a clause to get out). while hd might be overreacting, i think he was right to point out that everyone else is overreacting. you think when ives made similar posts last year about bradley racking up goals in Holland everyone was thinking “awesome, hopefully he’ll be able to get transfer to gladbach!” – no we were all hoping higher, and it didnt come. if bradley can’t get a better transfer after a 20 goal season, then it looks like most coaches dont rate as highly as everyone here does.

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  19. and it is possible that MB made the move to M’Bach b/c he thought that would be his best chance at PT… which is accurate… he’s started a good number of games and gotten loads of PT… he’s making a name for himself in a stronger league and is improving his abilities…

    personally id rather see him work his way up rather then ride pine hoping to get 10 min here and 5 min there on a bigger team in a larger league….he’s 21 so he’s got time to move up…

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  20. hdtv- you are looking too much into my point about the goals being the same….

    whats the difference between MB’s corner kick goal against Mexico and LD’s 18 yrd shot/goal against Ecuador??

    absolutely nothing… they both resulted in goals and both counted as 1 point…

    Bradley is an offensive threat for the US when paired up with another attack minded player.. he did very well when paired up with Feilhaber, and is doing very well paired up with Kljestan…. he does poorly when paired with defensive minded players… he did poorly with Edu and also with Clark….

    emotion has nothing to do with this… its recognizing that a goal is a goal regardless of how it comes…. if the US is solid on free kicks and corner kicks, then that is something the other team has to fear…. why do people make this out to be a bigger deal then what it is?? if our defense and midfield is so solid at finishing set pieces then all we really have to focus on is getting decent strikers… sometimes people expect too much too quickly

    MB isnt an offensive player… some claim it but not me… im merely saying he is an offensive threat… he is a box to box midfielder…

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  21. mig. totally understand what you’re saying and you make a good point. personally i dont know that i can think of a player who went from a defensive role to blossoming at an offensive role. the point of my post was that bradley is progressing and that’s awesome, but i dont think his progression should be a sign of better things to come for the US team. our midfield needs something better in terms of offensive distribution and an ability to hold possession, which i dont think bradley has and i would argue most top level coaches dont see in his skill set. frank lampard is an interesting comparison in terms of skill set because you are right that isn’t the most athletic or anything. so there definitely is a chance bradley will be blossom into an attacking player, but there’s nothing wrong with making a career as a strong tackling hustle d mid, which is what i forsee. the former (lampard type offensive mid) would be better for america, but both are good for bradley… and lets not forgot that at age 21 lampard was a starter for west ham and was sold to chelsea for about $20.

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