Photo by ISIPhotos.com
By DAN KARELL
On Wednesday afternoon, after a closed practice, several players on the U.S. Men’s National Team spoke to the media about, among other things, their thoughts on the Sporting News article from Tuesday.
Though many players did not comment on the situation, forward Herculez Gomez, midfielder Michael Bradley, and defender Geoff Cameron all spoke on the recent media fuss about the chemistry within the national team.
Bradley, a long-time member of the U.S. team, pulled no punches, saying he was disappointed in those who criticized coach Jurgen Klinsmann to the media, instead of keeping everything in the locker room.
“You cross a line when you take those thoughts and you take your disappointments outside of the team and outside of the inner circle,” Bradley said to Reuters. “So for me, it doesn’t help anybody, it doesn’t help anything that we are trying to do this week.”
However, not all of the reactions to the report have been negative. Gomez, who has seen his place in the side stay from the Bob Bradley era to the Klinsmann era, actually welcomed the news, believing that it’s good for American soccer for stories like this to become mainstream.
“It’s funny, they’re making a bit of a hoopla about it right now. It’s almost, in a sense, cute, you know?” Gomez said to MLSSoccer.com. “It’s about damn time you guys took some interest and you guys started asking some tough questions. I think that shows us growing as a footballing nation, I really do.”
Cameron went a different route than Gomez and Bradley, plainly praising Klinsmann for showing the 27-year-old the confidence that every player needs to grow.
“All of us support Jurgen,” Cameron said to the Sporting News. “He’s brought a lot of things to this team and he’s helped me get to where I am today, helped me raise my game to the next level.”
What do you make of this news? What do you think of the players reactions?
Share your thoughts below.