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Counterattack: Should Bob Bradley Be Fired?
Mexico editor Luis Bueno is sick of frantic fans e-mailing him saying United States head coach Bob Bradley should be fired immediately. He decided to get his take on the issue out in the open by debating associate editor Zac Lee Rigg.
Sep 24, 2009 6:34:31 PM
Question: Should Bob Bradley be fired or be allowed to finish out the 2010 World Cup cycle?
Zac Lee Rigg: Here's the deal: the U.S. has a decent squad, one probably good enough to make it out of the group stages in the World Cup. The weak link is Bob Bradley's inability to change things successfully in the middle of a match that is going the wrong way. An easy fix is to swiftly switch out the coach before the World Cup to give the team a chance.
Luis Bueno: Now, before I get into it, I will say that if the United States does not qualify for South Africa, that Bradley's national team coaching career should be humanely destroyed. However, I don't see the U.S. not qualifying. Thus, sacking the man now or at any point before the World Cup starts next June would be akin to suicide. The U.S. has taken several steps forward since Bradley took over in 2006, but his ouster would hit the reset button on that progress.
Rigg: Perhaps you could further clarify how those steps would instantly vanish to more ignorant folk such as myself?
Bueno: First of all, you wouldn't fire Bradley and replace him with an MLS coach. That's six of one and half a dozen of another. Theoretically, a name manager would come in and take over the team, and who out there fits that description? Jurgen Klinsmann? Luiz Felipe Scolari? Sven-Goran Eriksson? You'd be willing to erase three-plus years of work and building a foundation and progress with a man who does not know the U.S. team, its players or the league and expect success in the World Cup?
Rigg: I think I see it slightly differently. When new coaches come in, especially ones not entirely familiar with a team, they usually stick to the base that the previous manager laid. I would expect a new manager to keep the same platform that Bob Bradley built his team on. That's one thing Bradley does well: he sets out his squad in a highly organized manner. Every player knows his role. The issue comes when, against good teams, that initial plan isn't the correct one. Bradley has shown an inability to properly shift things once his initial game-plan proves ineffective. That's where someone with more tactical nous comes in.
I also think the Confederations Cup has done a great deal to patch over those deficiencies he holds as a coach. But three of five matches in that competition were lost, largely to the U.S. looking handily tactically outmatched.
Bueno: There is thing called a cycle and a process that is supposed to get a team ready to qualify and play in the World Cup. Sacking Bradley now would open all sorts of doors the U.S. does not want to go down.
Who is to say the incoming manager would want to have certain players on this team? Who is to say that the new manager would not clean house and try to start anew?
I don't care who you get, if he doesn't come from MLS, he won't know the American talent pool well enough to make informed decisions on players. And if the team is in a transition period when the World Cup starts, it won't matter if he's a master tactician or not. The team will have no cohesiveness, little understanding of whatever system is in place and will do worse than the last World Cup, not better. That's not progress. That's a step back.
Rigg: I am either less pessimistic than you or more apprehensive of peaks and troughs – and probably cycles in general. I keep thinking that if an aware tactician is brought in he'll see the proper blend: staying with what has worked in CONCACAF while adding what's needed to bring the U.S. as far as it can go.
I would also like to mention the Brazil team of 2002. They lost a record number of games (for Brazil) in qualifying, went through something like three managers and a series of different personnel. But in the weeks leading up to the WC, Scolari shaped a squad out of the various personalities he had and won the whole thing. Different teams take different lengths to gel. The U.S. is not Brazil, but, at the same time, I don't think things that happen 3-4 years ago have much effect on the current team as its identity will have changed too much.
Bueno: You need only to look back to 1998 to see what massive changes can do to the U.S. Steve Sampson changed many things from the time the U.S. qualified in 1997 to the start of the World Cup. He changed the formation, brought in players who played little or not at all during qualifying and sat guys who were key parts of the team and the foundation during the entire process leading up to France 98.
And what happened? The U.S. took a step back from where they'd been in 1994. They lost all three games and were an embarrassment to their fans. If you want to go down that road again, by all means fire Bradley and bring in someone else, who like any other manager anywhere in the world will bring in his own style, his own system and forge the team to fit his vision.
Rigg: I was suggesting the U.S. hire a competent coach; I did not suggest it rehire Sampson.
Counterattack runs every Thursday on Goal.com
Visit the U.S. national team page on Goal.com for more!
Zac Lee Rigg: Here's the deal: the U.S. has a decent squad, one probably good enough to make it out of the group stages in the World Cup. The weak link is Bob Bradley's inability to change things successfully in the middle of a match that is going the wrong way. An easy fix is to swiftly switch out the coach before the World Cup to give the team a chance.
Luis Bueno: Now, before I get into it, I will say that if the United States does not qualify for South Africa, that Bradley's national team coaching career should be humanely destroyed. However, I don't see the U.S. not qualifying. Thus, sacking the man now or at any point before the World Cup starts next June would be akin to suicide. The U.S. has taken several steps forward since Bradley took over in 2006, but his ouster would hit the reset button on that progress.
Rigg: Perhaps you could further clarify how those steps would instantly vanish to more ignorant folk such as myself?
Bueno: First of all, you wouldn't fire Bradley and replace him with an MLS coach. That's six of one and half a dozen of another. Theoretically, a name manager would come in and take over the team, and who out there fits that description? Jurgen Klinsmann? Luiz Felipe Scolari? Sven-Goran Eriksson? You'd be willing to erase three-plus years of work and building a foundation and progress with a man who does not know the U.S. team, its players or the league and expect success in the World Cup?
Rigg: I think I see it slightly differently. When new coaches come in, especially ones not entirely familiar with a team, they usually stick to the base that the previous manager laid. I would expect a new manager to keep the same platform that Bob Bradley built his team on. That's one thing Bradley does well: he sets out his squad in a highly organized manner. Every player knows his role. The issue comes when, against good teams, that initial plan isn't the correct one. Bradley has shown an inability to properly shift things once his initial game-plan proves ineffective. That's where someone with more tactical nous comes in.
I also think the Confederations Cup has done a great deal to patch over those deficiencies he holds as a coach. But three of five matches in that competition were lost, largely to the U.S. looking handily tactically outmatched.
Bueno: There is thing called a cycle and a process that is supposed to get a team ready to qualify and play in the World Cup. Sacking Bradley now would open all sorts of doors the U.S. does not want to go down.
Who is to say the incoming manager would want to have certain players on this team? Who is to say that the new manager would not clean house and try to start anew?
I don't care who you get, if he doesn't come from MLS, he won't know the American talent pool well enough to make informed decisions on players. And if the team is in a transition period when the World Cup starts, it won't matter if he's a master tactician or not. The team will have no cohesiveness, little understanding of whatever system is in place and will do worse than the last World Cup, not better. That's not progress. That's a step back.
Rigg: I am either less pessimistic than you or more apprehensive of peaks and troughs – and probably cycles in general. I keep thinking that if an aware tactician is brought in he'll see the proper blend: staying with what has worked in CONCACAF while adding what's needed to bring the U.S. as far as it can go.
I would also like to mention the Brazil team of 2002. They lost a record number of games (for Brazil) in qualifying, went through something like three managers and a series of different personnel. But in the weeks leading up to the WC, Scolari shaped a squad out of the various personalities he had and won the whole thing. Different teams take different lengths to gel. The U.S. is not Brazil, but, at the same time, I don't think things that happen 3-4 years ago have much effect on the current team as its identity will have changed too much.
Bueno: You need only to look back to 1998 to see what massive changes can do to the U.S. Steve Sampson changed many things from the time the U.S. qualified in 1997 to the start of the World Cup. He changed the formation, brought in players who played little or not at all during qualifying and sat guys who were key parts of the team and the foundation during the entire process leading up to France 98.
And what happened? The U.S. took a step back from where they'd been in 1994. They lost all three games and were an embarrassment to their fans. If you want to go down that road again, by all means fire Bradley and bring in someone else, who like any other manager anywhere in the world will bring in his own style, his own system and forge the team to fit his vision.
Rigg: I was suggesting the U.S. hire a competent coach; I did not suggest it rehire Sampson.
Counterattack runs every Thursday on Goal.com
Visit the U.S. national team page on Goal.com for more!
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