I honestly never thought this day would come. Bob Bradley has finally been fired as the coach of the US Men's National Team. Don't get me wrong, I respect Bradley and believe that he has a great soccer mind and he gave everything he had to the US program. I just felt that the the US team had become stale and for the our National Team to continue to grow and progress, we needed this change to be made. Even after a solid 2010 World Cup run, I decided then it was time for a change. Bradley got us as far as he possibly could. Looking back, I can see what US Soccer President Sunil Gulati was thinking when he decided to keep Bradley on board last year. There was only a short year before we were to compete in the important CONCACAF Gold Cup. Forcing the team through a transition in that year might have compromised our chances of winning the tournament and booking a ticket to the 2013 Confederations Cup. Luckily for me(and the legion of US fans who wanted Bradley out), the US blew a 2 goal lead against Mexico and Gulati finally realized there was a problem. If the US would have won the tournament we would undoubtedly have been stuck with Bradley through the 2014 World Cup. Now, the timing is perfect for a new coach. The next coach will have 3 years to set up his team for the World Cup and will really be able to change the culture. Hopefully young players will get a chance instead of Bradley always relying on "his guys". There have been way too many instances of players being picked by Bradley who were not in form or worthy of selection. Why a player like Jonathan Bornstein continued to get picked for the US team is something I will never be able to understand. The only time that guy should put on a USA shirt again is if he is in the stands rooting for the Yanks with everyone else.
The name that has always been mentioned as the person to take this team to the next level has been Jurgen Klinsmann. It is ridiculous how perfect of a fit that would be for the USMNT. Klinsmann lives in California full time with his American wife. He also happens to be one of the greatest German players of his generation and managed the German National Team to the World Cup Semi Final in 2006. He understands Americans and the US National Team and would have a plethora of fresh ideas to bring to the table. There is talent in America and we need to hand the keys over to someone who will get the best out of players now and oversee the development of our youth players for the future. Klinsmann is the guy to take us in the right direction. My worst fear is that we will see a current MLS coach picked for this position. We need as Alexi Lalas put it, "a rock star". Someone who is known throughout the football universe to pump life back into this program. US Soccer mentioned there will be an announcement today so I am guessing we will know shortly who the next coach is. I would like thank Bob Bradley for his service to our National Team but I welcome the dawn of a new era in US Soccer.
Soccer Magazine
