photo by ISIphotos.com
By FRANCO PANIZO
Bob Bradley's long-term future as head coach of the U.S. national team might be uncertain, but what is known is that he'll coach at least one more game.
Bradley will coach the United States in the team's first post-World Cup friendly against Brazil on Aug. 10, USSF confirmed to SBI. The match at the new Meadowlands Stadium will mark the fourth time Bradley coaches against the Selecao.
Bradley is expected to announce his roster for the match sometime next week.
Here are more stories from Thursday:
Ronaldinho sidelined a month
Ronaldinho will miss a month of action after picking up a muscle injury in training on Wednesday. Ronaldino will undergo medical tests to determine the extent of the injury, but the knock is believed to be severe enough to force him to miss AC Milan's season opener against Lecce on Aug. 29.
Maradona hits out at AFA
You just knew Diego Maradona would not go away quietly.
Maradona hit out at the Argentina Football Association, with federation president Julio Grondona and director of national teams Carlos Bilardo the main culprits.
Maradona said he was told by Grondona that he had done a good job at the World Cup following the elimination loss to Germany, but that the federation president's tone changed in their meeting earlier this week. In the meeting Grondona told Maradona he would need to let go of some of his assistants if he wanted to remain as coach, something Maradona was not willing to do.
U-17 D.C. United wins SUM Cup
D.C. United goalkeeper Dakota Niedermeier put forth a brilliant performance as the club won its third SUM U-17 Cup title in four years with a 5-4 shootout win over Real Salt Lake. After a scoreless draw, Niedermeier came up big during the shootout, stopping five straight penalty kicks before converting the game-winner in the ninth round.
——-
Happy to know Bradley will be coaching against Brazil? How badly will Ronaldinho be missed if he is out an extended period of time? Feel Maradona was betrayed by Grondona and Bilardo? Impressed by Niedermeier's performance?
Share your thoughts below.
He only injured for a month he will be fine. 🙂
If we had same team in Confed cup dude we could have beat Ghana. We should have been in the quarter or semi finals.
I think the US has a tremendous opportunity to build on the interest and excitement that surrounded the US team in the World Cup. Fortunately or unfortunately, I think that taking full advantage of that opportunity will require a coaching change and, let’s be clear, I’m not talking about Dominic Kinnear or any other MLS coach. For as frustrated as I was with Bob’s player selection throughout qualifying, I thought he did a good job in selecting the final squad (bypassing Kljestan (maybe next cycle?), Pearce or Johnson) and deploying (most) of those resources to good effect in SA. He does however own responsibility for selecting Clark in the final game and that fatal, instinctive lapse for me, fairly or unfairly, now seals his fate.
What are you taking about ? No one on the US national team is on a Danish Division three team ? If someone is that would indicate they are not good enough for the US national team.
Ronaldhino I guess will not play for the Galaxy, oh well.
Maradonna served his country well by being such a moron about his assistants.
Matt and Tony in Quakeland provide cogent analysis that’s worth reading. Having Bradley around for another cycle is not a bad thing.
His biggest problem is having faith in guys to play well, and he has been let down on more than one occasion in the Confed Cup and the World Cup. And I’m sure Bob would like nothing more than to have a flowing style of play where the US takes the game to it’s opponents and imposes it’s will on them. But with the players we have at our disposal, we’re a team that defends well and hits on the counter. If some of the youth players continue to progress perhaps we see a change in style, but until then, stop complaining about him putting the team in a position to win games with the style he does employ.
1. Well said. I sometimes quibble with BB’s roster and tactical decisions. But we don’t have the sophistication and talent pool to go from plow-horses to show-horses in one cycle.
2. On the DCU U-17 SUM cup win…that’s one of the few encouraging things for DCU this year. It’s kind of ironic–Neidemeier is clearly impressive, Hamid has looked good and the other GK with the DCU youth who was battling Hamid for youth is now with Porto. All in just 2 years. I don’t think that’s unique to DCU either–just a real statement about how critical it is for all MLS to really invest in their academies.
Bornstein isn’t at a new club. He doesn’t start in Mexico until AFTER the MLS season is over…
Calling Bob Bradley supporters, I give you one reason he is a questionable re-hire…Robbie Findley. RSL fans know that Robbie is a terrible starting forward, but the best super-sub you can ask for. His speed really catches tired defenders off-guard and causes major problems. You can even see his production numbers per min. as a starter vs. a sub are night and day different. If every casual RSL fan knows this, why didnt Bob and his staff? Start Buddle or Gomez and bring in findley at the 60th minute.
I agree. I love it when all of the soccer dorks start coming out of the woodwork to bash BB and clamor for obscure Euro-based players to come into the team, even though they can’t get off the bench for their 3rd division Danish teams.
While we’re at it, I know he’s hurt, but we should call up Kenny Cooper…
This post reads like copy-and-pasted random snippets of comments from last year’s World Cup qualifier threads.
Didn’t even know about the SUM Cup, congrats to the goalie though.
Hahaha yes. Brazil didn’t like Dunga, and they would hate Bradley coaching their team, if that ever happened.
Exactly. And Deuce seems to take everything extremely personal when you read his interviews.
Nice to know that Ronaldinho still has muscles to tear.
Are we already back to the pick-random-young-guy-that-I’ve-never-seen-play time? I so enjoyed having a solidified roster.
Question:
Anyone know who took the third place game in the SUM Cup? The Tamay Sanchez kid was impressive. Wondering if he scored today.
his player selection leaves a lot to be desired and he has made that mistake a number of times, a couple times in the world cup.
Jon-Paul Pittman just scored a hattrick in 4 minutes against Chelsea. TBF the Chelsea squad was young but thats 7 goals in 6 pre-season games.
Did anyone else read to quickly and think that Bob Bradley was to Coach for Brazil? LOL
With Bradley coaching but still in limbo on his contract, and the team only having one day to practice, I would think it highly unlikely he mixes things up very much in terms of personnel. Perhaps he brings in Chad Marshall or Clarence Goodson and lets Gooch stay in Italy, but it seems unlikely he would bring in a player who didn’t train with them in Princeton. At most, he might bring in someone from the January camp such as Gonzalez, but the reality is that if he is not yet certain that he is going to be the coach for the next 4 year circle, his interest in calling in a youth/prospects lineup is quite limited. It would be unfair for US Soccer to determine his fate based on a meaningless post-WC friendly, but he will be on display for any other potential suitors should the USMNT gig end so he won’t want to be embarassed like he was in the Gold Cup final. Plus, this whole game always seemed designed to make money and provide the team with a de facto victory lap for their showing in South Africa. Both of those objectives are consistent with bringing in as many of the WC regulars as possible.
So, I would not be surprised to see Bedoya included as an up-and-comer who just missed the final cut, but I would be surprised to see someone like Ream or Opara who have never even practiced with Bradley and the USMNT as far as I know. To put it another way, if you do see a roster heavy with newbies, that is a sign that Bradley and US Soccer are close to a deal to keep him on, at least through the Gold Cup.
case closed on what for doing everything that was asked of him.
1. he won the gold cup
2. came first in concacaf qualifying
3. made it to the r16 and nearly made it to the quaters. on top of finifhing first in the group for the first time ever.
besides all the reasons to keep bob i dont really see the usa getting a better coach. if klinsmann or the like really wanted the job we probably would have heard somthing about it by now
I understand what you’re saying, and it’s fine to be upset with decisions BB made. But when you hate on Bob Bradley, you’re basically saying that we’re a team that SHOULD be in the quarters/semis/final. In reality, the stars need to align for that to happen, and you’re upset that Bob couldn’t make the stars align. It took us (unfairly, mind you) until injury time in the last group game just to advance from one of the weakest groups.
If you believe we’re simply one of the top 4-8 teams in the world, you’re going to be disappointed with the next coach and the one after that. We can be in that elite group on a single day, but not every day yet.
Same here; very reasonable. Bradley has made his mistakes no doubt, but it was down to his belief in a system that had gotten this team places rather than just a plain old bad coaching system, hence Rico Clark over Edu. Plus he felt Mo needed rest.
and not* bringing along Ching to SA, just to be clear.
Hah, I was quite disappointed with Bob for not playing Beasley more and bringing along Brian Ching. Ironic, no?
Ricardo Clark & Robbie Findley out by halftime. Case closed.
the smartest comment ive seen td
He’s back to playing with the reserves and should be ready for the U-20 qualifying
I think he means that Clint doesn’t take crap from anyone and Bellamy could start a fight in an empty room.
I’m so tired of the Bradley haters. I love our team, but you have to accept that our players are not yet world class. We have ZERO strikers starting in leagues in England, Spain, or Italy. You can count on your hand the number of Americans who have ever played in a Champions League game. We’re a fine team, but unless you’re a bald, American goalkeeper, you’re not world class. We will get there, but it will take time.
Bradley can’t turn very good players into world class players, and he can’t come up with schemes to beat every team that has better players than we do. We’re on a long road to the top, and we have to develop quality youth players who will turn into stars on European teams (or Latin American teams).
Lletget is still too sick with mono to have been called up for the Milk Cup. We won’t see him on the seniors for years.
Sounds like the USSF is gonna take their time to decide on the next coach. Think Bradley’s contract runs thru the end of the year… Hopefully the few big names that may be an improvement will be explored and if that doesn’t work, Bob returns for another cycle.
I’m not crazy about the timing of this friendly either, with respect to a majority of our 1st teamers battling for positions overseas. Maybe a good time to blood some newbies. In particular, we seem to have some promising young defenders in MLS. I’m curious as to how good a team we could field if we didn’t call in the European-based guys.
Not happy at all with BB coaching this game. Oh well…
I’ll be very interested in who he calls. As someone before pointed out most our players with the A team have issues with either middle of the season or fighting for PT.
That being said I’d like to see mostly young guys…MB/Jozy/Holden/Torres/Spector/Guzan/etc. Fill in with some guys like Lletget/lichaj/Grella perhaps???
yea i really dont know where youre headed with that
I worry about whatever happens in this game people will overreact. Lets say we randomly win, just imagine all of the Bradley Homers… yuk.
This game means nothing
+69
Let’s give Robobob a good send-off game folks!
+1 well said. I’ll add taht I’m more than ok with it. I want that to happen. In Bob I Trust….
Boring.
Dakota Niedermeier is simply a fantastic name. Hopefully he starts dating Dakota Fanning.
Any reason for that sentiment?
who can USMNT call up that’s not 1) fighting for a roster spot in Europe at a new or existing club 2) getting burned out by MLS season?…Edu, Clark, Holden, Davies and Onyewu were injured most of last season and I imagine that they’ll have to fight for a starting spot…Spector didn’t play that well, I imagine that his spot is not secure.. Donovan has been playing a boatload of games lately.. Dempsey is playing for a new coach…Boca, Goodson, Kljestan, cough, Bornstein just got to new clubs…Beasley? is he still around? Where are Jozy, Adu and Beasley going?
Looks like Bradley Jr. is the only one with some stability (ex-transfer rumors)
+1 to your +1-ing of Tony.
Hope we lose. and lose badly the team needs a change. They need a coach with a differnt mentality. One that can actually get them to play a difinite style of futbol. we need a south american coach or euro one That can get the best out of these guys and one that will put the best players out there. Something Bob rarley does.
…to Tony in Quakeland…
+1.
I increasingly feel like Bradley will be around for another cycle. And I’m okay with that…
I think most of the complaints against Bradley will be answered by having a deeper, stronger pool. I think many of them would have been non-issues if we were a little luckier with injuries, too.
Saw that if Hughes goes to Fulham he may try and get Bellamy from Man City. For some reason I don’t see him and Deuce being very cordial in the same lockerroom.