In a development that seemed improbable just a month ago, Michael Bradley's Borussia Moenchengladbach avoided relegation from the German Bundesliga thanks to a 1-1 tie vs. Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.
A 57th minute goal from Dante held up for Moenchengladbach, which finished one point ahead of Energie Cottbus and two points ahead of Karlsruhe, which both were relegated along with Arminia Bielefeld. Wolfsburg claimed its first Bundesliga title, beating out reigning champions Bayern Munich.
Bradley played all 90 minutes for Moenchengladbach, finishing off a tremendous first season in the Bundesliga.
While Moenchengladbach's draw keeps them up, it doesn't mean Bradley will be back next season. The 21-year-old's season has surely caught the eye of interested clubs that saw him adapt well after moving over from Dutch club Heerenveen.
What do think of Moenchengladbach staying up? Happy for Bradley? Hoping he stays put, or do you think he could benefit from moving on to a better club?
Share your thoughts below.
Great for Bradley! Even if he does leave, doing it on these terms is a good addition to his resume.
I just have to say I love the Bundesliga more and more every year. I realize a big part of this may have been going to the world cup in 2006, but the way the league is run, the competitiveness of the league, etc. are all big pluses in my book.
If Bradley does stay, I hope they go after an American forward for him to link with.
White, Davies, Lando, Cooper, Jozy, Freddy…Any of them would be upgrades for BM over Friend and whoever else they plugged up there.
STAY.
Be the Dempsey of the Bundesliga.
I’ve said it before on this site, Bradley is a good player, who has made it in the Bundesliga (as opposed to Donovan, who gloriously failed three times…) and he will stay. If there were any offer from the Premier League, first of all Borussia wouldn’t let him go (as Jan has argued convincingly), and second of all he would be ill-advised to go now. Claw your way through one more tough year in Germany, kid!
What is more, he has said on several occasions how impressed he is with the atmoshpere in the Bundesliga and particularly in the Borussia-Park.
BUT: if I had to name one key player for avoiding relegation then it wouldn’t be Marin nor Bradley, but oldie Gálasek. He’s been a great organizer in the important matches.
by the way: celebrated Marin will play the U21 Euro in Sweden if that is any help for your discussion on Adu…
I just want it to be shown that I called it back in February. I said Bradley and Marin would be key in Gladbach’s imminent survival, and they were… in February and March. They dipped a bit in April, and I’ll admit that the team’s performance before the last three matches had me wondering.
While I like the Borussia Moenchengladbach, the club isn’t very well run. The owner makes mistake after mistake, and Hans Meyer (the coach) will either leave at the end of the year, be forced out, or will have bad results like this year.
They were lucky to have Marin, and I don’t see any players near that kind of caliber (who would also be a good fit) willing to come. Of course, once in a while a team gets lucky. They struck gold getting Fossell on loan a few years ago. Other than that, they’ve just been scraping by.
I think HSV would be a great fit. Dortmund as well. Even Koeln would be a step up. All three teams have great coaches.
On a side note, doesn’t it make sense to show at least a bit of respect to the person whose site your visiting.
I seem to recall MB saying he would stay IF THEY WENT DOWN, so I’d assume he’s staying now that they stayed up (of course, he could have just said that for morale).
Still, the German league is a fairly mobile one. Look, virtually the entire top 15 has made a Euro appearance fairly recently, and we’ve had variety at the top (Wolfsburg, BM, Stuttgart, Werder Bremen, Shalke). Hertha, Dortmund, Levekusen, & Hamburg have all been around the top too. Even Hoffenheim as a promoted side had the lead at the break.
Point being, this isn’t England, and Monchengladbach have a proud tradition. I’d look for some moves (sure up the defense with the $$ they get) and maybe one offensive players, and I think they could easily be mid-table.
Stay.
Maybe I can help clear up the situation in Gladbach regarding contracts and potential player transfers.
Alexander Baumjohann’s contract ended this season and he’ll join Bayern on a free transfer.
Marko Marin has one year left on his contract and if he leaves this summer, he’ll sell for around €10m. Money which can be reinvested. If spent wisely Gladbach will end up with a better balanced and thus overall better and more competitive squad.
Michael Bradley has three years left on his contract and Gladbach have the last word, no pressure and no need to sell him. Especially when his market value could easily rise further after another season + world cup.
Gladbach’s coach has a contract for next season as well, but he might chose to call it a day. They talked him out of retirement for this job and he may chose to live the quiet life again.
A little schadenfreude: with the tie, Dortmund is out of UEFA for next year, and if Athetico get a result next week Villarreal drop from CL.
I love when ives gets his hands dirty with the rest of us plebs in the comments section.. good show!
Ich rate dir zu bleiben Herr Bradley
Ives,
Please tell us the reason why Adu went out on loan? Oh, was it because of a certain fellow named Flores that came from Spain to take over Benfica and prefer to bring in his soldiers from La Liga? I am surprised that Adu lasted the whole season with 3 different coaches. And he was a fan favorite, and still is.
The U20 this fall will do nothing for him in terms of opening some eyes, as you’ve suggested in your ESPN podcast with Chang. By now, the world already know who he is and decided to pass on him for whatever reasons. Another U20 tournament will not change that fact. I am not suggesting that Adu is too good for the U20, as you said that would be ‘laughable’; however, it is not the most beneficial event for him to commit his time to.
His priority over this summer is to fight for a spot on the Benfica roster, which is very possible with a new coach coming in. Yes, Adu won’t start this summer for the USMNT, but he’ll be in camp and train with the senior team. And he’ll get get plenty of minutes, at least in one of the tournaments.
Yes, Pato was officially signed with Milan two weeks after the U20 concluded, but everyone knows he’s was already on Milan’s book before the tournament.
I think Bradley will get a few offers, probably one from Everton, but I agree that the best plan would be to settle in for another season leading up to the WC2010. However, as Ives may have eluded to, the team may sell him in order to bring in more funds.
As for some of the nit-wits that post on this blog, all I can say is that Ives just owned you! Hilarious. Keep ’em on the run Ives, and great job with this blog. I check it everyday.
He should stay. He’s a regular starter for a club in a top flight league. He’d be foolish to go anywhere and risk riding pine leading up to the World Cup. As well, I think the Bundesliga offers a great mix of skill and physical play, versus leagues like La Liga and the EPL that are all about finesse and speed. I don’t think Bradley would fit well into those types of clubs.
Ives just slayed Smokarz….
He’s also right that there is an equal chance of him going or staying. He’s perfect for a relegation battle because he’s the kind of player who a team can go to when the pressure is on. For example, USA is just off a poor performance against South Korea in the U-20 tournament, and then Bradley comes out and has a monster performance against Poland, and follows that up with an even more important one against Brazil. Then he’s able to pop up with a goal when the U.S. need him against Uruguay. Like arisrules said, he steps up when the pressure is on.
I don’t see why a transfer can’t happen either. I see him going to a club somewhat like Fulham and with the experience he has in the relegation battle, he could take them past relegation battle worries, and have them thinking UEFA Cup again.
Nice, Ives, thank guys a deutsche and needs to actually play it…I’ll throw it our right now that I guarantee I’m better than him……OUT
wow Ives just beautiful! meow indeed.
Ives, I am SO DISGUSTED with how little you know about soccer, I am not gonna come back . . . AT LEAST . . . for 5 or 6 minutes.
I just don’t see MB moving. Robert has stated my opinion to stay put until the WC. But what the heck, if a club comes, definitely take a look. The good thing with BMG and Mikey is that he was starting, and for now, no coaching change is foreseen which would bring uncertainty. Solidify, continue KNOWING you have a starter spot (essentially) and impress even more next year. Barely hitting your prime. Build.
Bradley should stay, avoid possible sitting on the bench for some other team, especially with the World Cup around the corner.
Folks, I was simply pointing out that it should not be assumed that he will stay (Nobody said Bradley wants to leave). While the comment was meant to provoke some thought and conversation, what people who read SBI should know by now is that speculative comments don’t necessarily come out of thin air.
And speaking of Moenchengladbach, they’re already losing Baumjohann as well as Marin. If a bigger European club comes calling with a sizeable offer for Bradley why wouldn’t they sell to fill more slots and why wouldn’t Bradley want the move if a bigger club wants him? His year at BM was great, but you don’t pass up opportunities to move to bigger clubs or leagues to play it safe. AltiCooper is right on the money with his comment.
And Denny, you’re way off base my friend. Bradley impressed and European clubs HAVE taken notice.
And Smokarz, you need to grow up. Just because you THINK you know what goes on hardly means you do. A quick look at your history of posts uncovered the gem from a year ago where you stated that Freddy Adu wouldn’t leave Benfica under any circumstances because he was a fan favorite and blah, blah. Funny how Benfica shipped Freddy to Monaco on loan despite your assertions.
Lastly, I find it funny that people really don’t think the U-20 World Cup is a possibility for Adu. Unless Benfica has big plans for him, and there’s nothing to suggest that they do, it wouldn’t exactly be a bad thing for him to play in the tournament. He’s eligible and nothing would prevent him from playing in the event. The notion that the Under-20 World Cup is beneath Adu is laughable. Sergio Aguero and Alexandre Pato BOTH played in the last U-20 World Cup and both them were more highly rated and more valuable to their clubs then than Adu is now (Pato’s mega move to AC Milan came AFTER the tournament). I also don’t buy the “He’s already too busy his summer” argument. He’s busy? Even if he attends Confed Cup and Gold Cup he won’t play much of a role at Confed Cup, nor will he be a factor in qualifiers (unless we’re talking Fall qualifiers IF the USA has clinched). A Gold Cup of starts does not an overloaded schedule make. If anything, people are tending to lose sight of the fact that Adu didn’t play AT ALL for Monaco in 2009. The kid needs games, PERIOD.
Here endeth the lesson.
Stay at ‘gladbach.
Similar to what’s been said, Bradley becomes one of their top players next campaign, develops leadership, go-to-guy attitude, and will probably be fighting to stay up again next year. Quality players rise (and develop) when the pressure is on. Stay. Then listen to offers after the success at ‘gladbach.
The thing with Mike is that unlike most top American soccer plyaers (Donovan) he plays his best games when the pressure is on. He was a bit inconsistent. I think he can have a 10 goal season in Bundesliga next year leading to the world cup which would be massive.
Unless a top 10 team tries to pick him up, he would be stupid to leave.
Stalteri has no business on the field for Gladbach. He had a ridiculous howler that led to Dortmund’s goal
Gladbach is a poor squad. They have little attack, and two attackers are leaving, Marin and Baum…… If Bradley stays he’ll be slotted deep in the defensive end again, with another relegation battle looming. Time to move on Michael, somewhere where you can play both ways.
Take it easy Katatonia! Don’t talk about the Godfather of the SBI mafia that way- you’ll get your kneecaps busted talking like that. You obviously don’t understand this website…Ives likes to generate comments and speculate about soccer with us.
Ives knows futbol like a fat kid knows candy. Don’t forget that.
Agreed. He should stay put, raise his stock, have a good World Cup and then we can start talking about bigger teams snatching him up.
Stay. Good logical comments going on here! So, they may not be the best team, but Bradley is becoming a better player week in an week out here. Way better than Adu, Altidore, or Beasley’s situations….
Have to agree with denny. It was impressive from the standpoint that he is only 21 and it was his first season in the bundesliga. His performances were hot and cold all year. He showed his potential though in those first 2 months after the winter break but then seemed to crash a bit. Having said that he was massive for them in the pressure packed last game of the season.
Denny-
Are you an idiot or do you just like to stir things up? while he got off to a slow start with Gladbach, much of that had to do with the coaching situation and the club struggling. Once he established himself as a starter, he never looked back. He was one of their best players game in and game out. He was even given the honor of being their designated PK taker- a big deal for a 21 year-old American. This kid is the best field player the US has and I can’t believe the lack of respect he still gets from under-informed morons here in the US.
Smokarz…
your a dick, shut up… The article was throwing out the possibility of him moving or staying… That’s what journalists do, they report the facts pertaining to a situation, then bring up possible resolutions to said situation. And considering this is a messageboard/blog, idea’s are thrown out for discussion all the time… YOU ARE STUPID FOR NOT KNOWING THIS
and by load, i mean loan*
Stay put, young man (or come back to New York on load :D).
He should stay; particularly if they can keep their core of young players. BM can continue to move up the table if they make a few smart purchases (which they seem to have done with the new manager who came in midseason). It would be great for them to keep Marin, but he seems set for a big move. Maybe Gooch comes over and gives them defensive help!
Bradley will learn more playing for M’Gladbach then learning from Arsene.
MB is not a big name either. Some of you are dreamers.
Bradley will stay at BMG. He’s been decent, not impressive but quite decent. His goals and assists and strong play showcased him. Another season of this and with a good World Cup should surely put him in eyesight of a bigger move. But let’s be honest i’d only see him head to an Everton or AV or a Borussia Dortmund or Schalke. Which is still good.
He’ll be a big idiot if he wants to move, unless BM decides to sell him. Ives is STUPID to even suggest such a thing, just like he was suggesting Adu plays in the U20 WC (again) to showcase his talents, as if the world doesn’t already know him and that he doesn’t already have enough things on his plate (Gold Cup, qualifier, Confed, and not to mention trying to get a spot at Benfica).
MB has a solid season for BM as a rookie in the BL. He’s probably had a great season for a yank, but nothing special to attract attentions from bigger clubs (yet). He’s in prime position to have a much better season in 09/10. And along with a decent/solid performance at the WC, he would have many opportunities to move to a bigger club.
So, NO, MB is not going anywhere this season. Does Ives even know soccer?
Based on what Denny? He played almost constantly on a low financed team that unexpectedly managed to stay up and contributed to them on both ends of the pitch. You really don’t think a 21 year old doing that in his first year in one of the best leagues in Europe didn’t catch a few eyes?
if a mega-club (like big four england, real or barca, or the milans or juve, thats it) want him, then he has to go for it. id love to see him at arsenal learning under wenger, for example, and im saying that as a spurs supporter. that would be an opportunity that he could not pass up. other than that, he should stay at gladbach, where he is obviously needed and will receive a lot of playing time. gladbach is an up and coming club, and there is much more parity in the bundesliga than the other big euro leagues. it would be big for american soccer if he can help lead gladbach to a europa league spot next year, which is certainly possible.
Bradley played fairly well, very well at times, for BM. Still, there’s no reason for another Bundesliga side to offer top dollar to pry him away, so he’ll probably stay put. If he improves this year and plays well in next year’s WC, then he’ll move. But he’s in a good spot right now, where he can develop under the radar but in a top league.
I agree he should stay for personal reasons, but I’m fairly optimistic that BM will get profoundly better next year.
I am glad that we have an American who was a mainstay in the starting 11 for a club in a significant European league. I know Italy, Spain, and England are the best, but Germany is a good league with many great internationals. I think the style of the league fits him well. I hope he either stays at Gladbach and they try to get better, or he goes to a team higher in the Bundesliga. I think that would be the best for him right now.
It makes sense from Bradley’s perspective to stay.. But Moenchengladbach is a team in severe need at other positions. It might be better for them to sell Bradley, get 4 or 5 mil for him and then use that money to patch up other parts of the team. And if I remember correctly Marin is also leaving on a free transfer so there is another hole to fill… Just a thought.
i definitely do not think bradley will be moving to a better club, and i’m surprised Ives seems to think it’s possible.
I don’t think Bradley impressed that much since moving to Germany.
stay
If he stays and is a big part of the club, then has a good WC, he’d catch a ton of attention and be in perfect position to move next summer. Stay one more year.
I don’t see him moving.
I 110% agree with Tom.
No need to move for next season. Give it at least one more. In my opinion a player really shouldn’t consider a move unless he knows he can make an impact at the next level.
He better stay… the world cup is now one club season away, he can’t afford to try a new team and wind up riding pine at a bigger club. he’s in a great position for a 21 year old… consistent starter in a top league.