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Fox Soccer Interview: Bradley talks Chievo and move to Serie A

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  1. The last five years or so Bradley has played about 143 games, most of those as a starter, for teams in the top divisions in Holland, Germany and Italy.He is still only 24.

    Holden is two years older and has played 28 games for Bolton. He is injury prone and it remains to be seen if he will ever be as good again. Plus he has yet to prove he can play as well for the US as he has for Bolton.

    Jones has had a wonderful career in the Bundesliga but, by the time, he was eligble for us, he was coming off a long term injury and has never been able to reproduce his best club form for the US. Now that he is back at Schalke and playing again maybe he will be able show us what all the fuss was about.

    Edu plays for a team that spends most of its tiem beating up on teams that are arguably as good or worse than the best MLS has to offer. Every year they get into Europe and then usually get knocked out early by the first good team they meet. Mo has no competition for his place because Rangers have no money to buy anyone so he is stagnating. This shows in his play for the USMNT. When he is not injured, he is inconsistent often following a good outing with an invisible one.

    Daniel Williams has played a total of 21 games for Freiburg and Hoffenheim. He has
    yet to prove himself as a regular starter.

    Donovan is our best midfielder followed closely by Dempsey. Based on what he has done for the US Bradley is third. At this point the rest of the pack are all about even, an inexperienced or inconsistent bunch of spare parts, the most promising of them being two guys (Johnson and Williams) who have played about 4 games between them.

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  2. KA,

    “I think the main job of the USA captain, as far as I can tell, is to hand over the banner to the opposing captain, to read anti-racism statements, and to do interviews with Studio 90.”

    At least half the players in the USMNT pool could do a great job with that so that probably isn’t the defining criteria.

    “all figured out”?

    Not really but I do know that in Europe and England being named Captain is a very big deal. Probably bigger than it is over here. Reyna, hardly a media darling, was 24 when he was named Captain of Wolfsburg, pretty young for any player let alone an American, especially then. It tells you something about what a special player he was.

    Just go on any British website (the Guardian, the Independent, the Telegraph, etc.) and follow all the controversy over Terry being the England captain. Boca’s captaincy hasn’t gotten 1% of the scrutiny Terry’s has. Yet as far as I know Capello is still sticking with him. That tells you that the captain is more about what the players and the manager need, not the media and the public. That refers to the behind the scenes stuff that, as you said, we probably will never know about.

    The point is, if MB never captains the USMNT it will probably have more to do with how the manager and his teammates see him rather than how the media sees him.

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  3. JK, like all new managers is installing a new system.

    MB, regardless of how good or bad a player he may be, may not fit that system.

    Also, JK’s first few games coincided with MB getting a new club and needing to settle in with them. Now that MB has done that it seems he may have a role going forward.

    MB’s situation with JK has no bearing on the nepotism discussion. After all Donovan, also omnipresent under BB, has played even fewer minutes for JK than MB.

    Just for the record I thought MB’s competition for PT was by and large,so pathetic it rendered the nepotism stuff moot.

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  4. if anything Vic, MB’s absence in there early on with Klinsmann, and then MB’s and the team’s performance once MB was played, vindicated his repeated 90 minute deployments from before

    must really bug you and the other MB haters to have been so wrong, and now either admit it (which most cannot it seems) or be forced into this sad little hater hole of perspective on him

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  5. He is playing at a mid table European team. Similar to Holden, Jones, Edu and Williams. When he is starting for a top European team then your argument will be more valid.

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  6. Bradley starts on an average team in Serie A. That may not be AC Milan or Inter or Juventus but it’s quite an achievement. Considering he’s only the 3rd American to play for an Italian. 4th if you consider you know who.

    Bradley at age 18 left MLS for Europe. He found success in Holland and was a terrific player on a relegation fodder Bundesliga team for 3 years. And now he’s in Italy. Show him some respect. Out of all of our midfielders- Holden, Edu, Jones, Torres, Beckerman, Kljestan. He is clearly the best

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  7. MB shows great professionalism and an good attitude. I think he’s definitely going to make the most out of his talent. It’s interesting to wonder what Landon Donovan could have achieved if had a similar attitude from an early age.

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  8. No, they didn’t. He is clearly the best midfielder in our pool right now, and he should be playing more. That he hasn’t been playing under Klinsmann is not so much a vindication of BB’s critics so much as it is an inexplicable decision on the part of our new coach.

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  9. He’s playing alot less under a new coach (Klinnsmann). So his critics had a legitimate argument about his playing time under his dad.

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  10. possibly one of the worst posts that i have seen..show a total lack of soccer knowledge and nothing more than juvenile stupidity. your post is dated at 10.35 pm i am surprised your mommy let you stay up so late.

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  11. It must suck for Bradley in the aspect that he could have been signed on a permanent deal with AV were it not for the manager there feeling he wasn’t ready. Though AV sucks big time now, so not the worse thing. Had AV actually been doing well at the time, I feel Bradley would have had more than 3 matches. And with BMG in a CL spot, must suck. But Bradley will have success with Chievo I’m sure. He’s now played in 4 of the top 8 European leagues. Very impressive at age 24

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  12. I definitely feel the next captain should be Tim Howard and eventually Bradley. I don’t feel either Dempsey or Donovan should be the NO 1 choices to be captains. heck even Goodson is a nice pick to be skipper, though his experiences pales in comparision to the others.

    Basically for me when Bocanegra retires, it should be Howard and then Bradley

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  13. There’s no doubt the captain does a lot behind the scenes. We don’t know what exactly that entails. Well, I don’t know everything. You sound like you’ve got it all figured out.

    “handling” the officials during games seems to be the job of every player on the field if what I see every weekend is accurate. Who was “handling” Coulibaly? Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore and Landon Donovan. I don’t remember Bocanegra getting in there. Of course, I could be wrong.

    I think the main job of the USA captain, as far as I can tell, is to hand over the banner to the opposing captain, to read anti-racism statements, and to do interviews with Studio 90. Also, whatever behind the scenes stuff we don’t see.

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  14. If you believe the primary role of the captain is to address the media then yes, your objections to MB make sense.

    However, if the captain’s job is to serve as the team’s main leader, serve as the liason between the players and the manager, set an example for everyone else in terms of work ethic and professionalism,handle the officials during games, etc.,etc., then
    your criteria aren’t quite so vital.

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  15. Thanks Dad, because of your nepotism, favoritism and outright corruption (bordering on criminality), I, Lil Mikey, became only the 2nd American to ever play in the Serie A (Lalas being the other).

    This, because of your decision to play me every minute of every USMNT game (unless we had no chance of winning, like the Copa America or the Spain friendly), has left the USMNT with a huge void in the middle of the park, with nobody coming on that can replace me, Timmy, or any of your other favs, leaving the USMNT coach with no other decision but to keep playing us.

    This is really fab. Thanks again, Dad.

    Yours,

    Lil Mikey

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  16. While it is not unheard of keepers are not usually captains.

    Captains usually have to be available all over the field in a way that is hard for keepers to do.

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  17. MB seems to be playing a very conservative/defensive role at Chievo – I’m thinking the coach has told him defense is his job, and leave the offense to the more creative mids & forwards. That said, he does get forward maybe 2-3 times a game, and occasionally has a shot – like his near miss volley today vs Milan. He rarely makes a mistake and his passing is good, but I’d like to see him get a goal or two. Chievo needs it.

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  18. I love Michael Bradley. Probably my favorite player on the national team, and I used to think that he would be an excellent captain once Bocanegra went his merry way.

    I don’t think that anymore. In my view, he doesn’t quite have the personality that I think a US captain needs. We need someone that is kind of more open to the media, more honest, a little more charismatic. MB is always so measured in what he says.

    Of course, captain isn’t really THAT big a deal here in the US is it?

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  19. Lamest comment of the week.

    The guy is playing in Serie A. Even if his team sucks the level of competition is very high. His game will improve greatly with regular playing time in Italy. Go get ’em, MB.

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  20. No, all the soccer fans in Verona cheer for some lower division team that shares the stadium with Chievo. Promotion/relegation is soo awesome.

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  21. Probably not the “Biggest mistake of his career” considering he became a first team regular almost instantly and is getting 90 minutes every week in a top 4(or 5) league. That being said, I do think MB is at the very LEAST Europa League material. Glad he’s playing, but hope to see him on a team that’s playing Europa/CL football.

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  22. BUT REMEMBER, HE’S ONLY PLAYING BECAUSE HE’S THE COACH’S KID oh wait…
    Seriously though, I’ve been impressed with what I’ve seen of him and I’m glad he’s flourishing.

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