SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums College, Pro & International Soccer Bradley's Tenure as Head Coach of U.S. Men's National Team Ends

CHICAGO (July 28, 2011) — U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati announced today that Bob Bradley has been relieved of his duties as the head coach of the U.S. Men’s National Team.

“We want to thank Bob Bradley for his service and dedication to U.S. Soccer during the past five years,” said Gulati. “During his time as the head coach of our Men’s National Team he led the team to a number of accomplishments, but we felt now was the right time for us to make a change. It is always hard to make these decisions, especially when it involves someone we respect as much as Bob. We wish him the best in his future endeavors.”

This announcement comes after a meeting at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., between Gulati, Bradley and U.S. Soccer CEO Dan Flynn.

Bradley was named the head coach of the U.S. MNT in January of 2007 and during his five-year tenure compiled a 43-25-12 record. He led the team to a number of accomplishments, including winning the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup, finishing second in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, winning their World Cup qualifying group and advancing to the Round of 16 of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

U.S. Soccer will have a further announcement on Friday.

Wow....didn't he just get a multi-year contract extension in the past few months?

ok, so how are we gonna screw this up?

I'm sure there's a lot more to this than meets the eye. My sense during the Gold Cup was that Bradley had lost the team ... that Dempsey, Howard and Donovan had outgrown him, and that others followed the lead.
Some of this dates back to earlier in the year, when Bradley's name was bandied about for several club openings, including Villa, and he never once said, "I've got a great job." Instead, he parlayed that "interest" into a better deal for himself.

Jurgen Klinsmann has been appointed the new U.S. MNT coach

Well, he was 1 of the front-runners, so, not really a surprise. I'm kinda glad they didn't go with an MLS coach, I think we needed someone a little removed from the way things have been done here in the past. He certainly has experience with how things are done around the world but also how things are done here in the US. He lives here still, has an American wife and has trained and watched training in the US, so, he's familiar with us Yanks. And while he doesn't have much coaching experience, his time with the German National team showed he's not afraid to do things differently & shake things up. He brought nutrition, sports psychology, different training techniques and other "radical" things to the Germans and they ended up 3rd place in that world cup. So, overall, I'm OK with this.....until he screws up, then we can ride him out of town on a rail!!!!

This is an overdue move for the US. While Bob Bradley had a number of successes, Klinsmann has something Bradley doesn't have. He's had success as a West German player winning the 1990 World Cup and as a player on the German team which won the 1996 UEFA European Championship. Additionally, Klinsmann managed the German national team to a third place finish in the 2006 World Cup and he's managed Bayern Munich.

Klinsmann clearly has intimate knowledge of the international player invironment as well as the chemistry, talent and style of play required to generate results.

Such accomplishments and knowledge should give Klinsmann the international perspective required to get players to buy into his vision as a coach of what US Soccer (likely referred to as football by Klinsmann) must look like in order for it to be a top fixture on the world stage.

Time will of course tell, but I'd be surprised if he is not successful at the helm.

Good news!

Klinsmann says he's going to "work with and evaluate players as young as 18" - Klinsmann Press Conference

Does he really have the resources to pull that off on a consistent basis??

different is good. explore options, re-invent, nothing to lose.