Top Stories

Bradley nets brace, ups goal total to 15

Michael_bradley_isi_photos

                                                  Photo by ISI Photos

Michael Bradley did it again.

The U.S. national team midfielder and Heerenveen star scored in his fourth straight game, netting a brace to help Heerenveen record a 3-0 victory against DeGraafschap on Saturday.

Bradley delivered a sliding finish from close range in the 20th minute and capped the scoring with an 80th-minute header to help Heerenveen move into a tie for second place in the Dutch Eredivisie.

For those counting at home, that brings Bradley’s total to 11 league goals and 15 in all competitions, a record for an American-BORN player playing in a European first division.

I will post video of the goal as soon as possible (readers are more than welcome to find clips and post them).

What do you think of Bradley’s incredible hot streak? Are you anxious to see Bradley against Mexico in two weeks? Are you already thinking of the teams he could transfer to? Share your thoughts on Bradley below.

Comments

  1. I really hope he doesn’t go to England. It won’t help him develop as a young player. He can go when he’s a bit older.

    Reply
  2. If picking up loose balls in the box for goals were so easy, everyone would do it. The skill Bradley has in creating these goals is breaking at the right time to beat his defender to the cross or pass and finishing low and to a corner when he gets there. He isn’t all alone on top of a loose ball 8 yards from goal by sheer luck.

    Reply
  3. Not to be a total downer, but most of Bradley’s goals have been simple finishes in front of goal. He didn’t create most of his own chances that he finished, and many of them were just picking up loose balls in front of goals. Don’t get me wrong, the USMNT has needed people that have a habit of being in the right place at the right time who can actually finish for a long time, but just because he can play box to box and can put the ball in the back of the net doesn’t mean he’s going to playing behind the forwards in an playmaker role. He is definitely going to be a big part of the USMNT though.

    On to the formation debate, I see no reason why we can’t play a 4-4-2 in the future. Saying that the central midfielders cannot be effective going forward in that formation is just not true. See Arsenal for example. It’s more dependent on player talent, player tendencies, and coaching than formation. If Bob plays Edu and Clark together against Mexico, sure, they’re probably not going to be very involved in the attack. But if he pairs one of them with Mike and says “get forward to help out when appropriate”, I see no reason MB can’t play the same role he’s been playing for ‘Veen. If for no other reason, I doubt we switch out of the 4-4-2 for the simple reason that most of our players play it at the club level. Just my .02

    Reply
  4. It’s a good thing that there seems to be a second wave of European yank success on the horizon with the possibility of Bocanegra, Dempsey, EJ and Demerit all plying their trade in the Championship next year.

    My line up, right now, 1/27/08:

    ————Howard—————
    -Dolo—Demerit—Boca–Bornstein-
    ———————————
    ——–Bradley–Edu————-
    ———————————
    –Donovan—Dempsey—–Beasley–
    ————Twellman————-

    Bench:

    GKs:
    Guzan, Hahneman

    DEF:
    Spector, Parkhurst, Onyewu

    C-MID:
    Feilhaber, R. Clark

    A-MID:
    Szetela, Adu (to take over for one of Dempsey, Donovan, or Beasley once he progresses), Convey

    ST:
    Altidore, EJ (one of these two to step up and take over for Twellman)

    Reply
  5. I forgot to mention the Guzan thing too. Just as a heads up, the rumors aren’t actually from the BBC, they’re just from that days’ papers. Most of them are 100% garbage.

    Reply
  6. I was just reading through those transfer rumors Cardinal posted a link to and noticed this, “Aston Villa have beaten Celtic to the signature of Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan. (News of the World)”. How credible is this BBC site? With the Bradley rumor where they stating that Everton was trying to sign Bradley or that they have?

    Reply
  7. the article said that Bradley’s 11 goals was a record for an american-born playing the in a top flight league in europe. On ussoccer.com is said Earnie Stewart holds the record with 17 goals for Williem II in the 1990/91 season. Was Earnie not born in the U.S.?

    Reply
  8. Re: Mike

    Don’t you think a move to Hamburg SV would be among one of the best spots for Bradley too though? It’s a US-friendly team in a US-friendly league that is a little bit of a step up in competition level from the Eredivisie. Frankly I don’t think France is much better a place for Bradley than Hereenveen. And I worry that if he moves to Spain or Italy and doesn’t adjust quickly, he’ll could fall out of favor very quickly.

    Reply
  9. Wow PATRICK C, cool information on Donovan, thanks for sharing the event. Finally, people need to relax on the blog. I don’t know if anyone has ever read Jamie Trecker’s blog, but people just insult each other. And he’s an idiot. So let’s just keep our arguments non personal and in such angry tones. I didn’t know that Verbeek has stated that they want to sell Bradley. I’m telling you guys, I don’t think England would be a wise choice. i think he needs to continue to develop his game. i’m thinking Italy, France, or Spain. The premiership is really hard for players.

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Cardinal Cancel reply