Bradley over Klinsmann makes sense
By Luke Cyphers and Doug McIntyre
Though nobody at U.S. Soccer wants to talk much about "the process" that led to Bob Bradley's re-upping as national team coach for the next four years, president Sunil Gulati suddenly made Bradley's signature a priority over the weekend. Did Juergen Klinsmann's interst in the job waver after we reported Gulati had met with the former German manager? Did Bradley throw down an ultimatum?
We don't know for sure, at least not yet.
Whatever the reasons, Gulati did decide to call Bradley in the wee hours of Monday morning and offer to keep him in the job. Bradley was never the sexiest candidate, and keeping him will no doubt set off new rounds of grumbling among a contingent of American fans. But hiring the dynamic Klinsmann would have created its own issues for U.S. Soccer:
<OFFER>A shock to the system: Klinsmann likes to shake things up, as he did in Germany. With him in charge, everything from tactical formations to national team workout routines to player development would have been subject to change. Unpredictability doesn't necessarily mean instability, but the American players always know what they're getting from the meticulous Bradley -- and Gulati acknowledged that coaching stability has helped the U.S. achieve as much as it has over the past 20 years.
A loss of control: Yes, it has big dreams, but U.S. Soccer is a relatively small operation, just a few years removed from having to beg for national attention and international respect. It's still run more like a family than a big business, as indicated by Gulati's salary: $0.
Things are still fairly simple. Klinsmann, accustomed to the European club system and a product of soccer-mad Germany, would be the beginning of the end of all that. For one, he would have likely needed a bigger staff, with a possibly expensive No. 2 "tactical" coach to play the same role as Jogi Low did in Germany in 2006.
A media circus: Klinsmann would have brought a whole new level of coverage, especially from the sometimes snarling German media machine. Thanks to his superstar playing career, even in places such as Guatemala, the Yanks would have been deluged by the foreign media, and the surrounding control issues that brings.
A family circus: Michael Bradley's World Cup performance put to rest all notions that he's a product of nepotism, and he was outwardly more at ease than he's ever been after the Brazil friendly earlier this month, even (gasp!) smiling with the media. The kid is a professional who's coped with coaching changes before, including his dad's firing at the hands of the MetroStars (now the Red Bulls). But would U.S. Soccer really want the possibility of its best young player being ticked off over how his father was treated in contract negotiations?
The CONCACAF gap: Gaudy as Klinsmann's resume is, the goofy-yet-demanding CONCACAF World Cup qualifying process -- with its questionable officiating, surly gamesmanship and the urine-hurling fans -- is like nothing he's ever seen. Young players freak the first time they go through it. As Gulati pointed out, Bradley has coached more than 70 international matches now. That's double Klinsmann's total. Many of those have been in the cauldrons of Central America, with a World Cup spot on the line. The fact that Bradley has navigated those shoals is a huge advantage.
In the end, Gulati's wandering eye may have settled on Bradley for a time-tested reason: Better the devil you know than the one you don't.
By Luke Cyphers and Doug McIntyre
Though nobody at U.S. Soccer wants to talk much about "the process" that led to Bob Bradley's re-upping as national team coach for the next four years, president Sunil Gulati suddenly made Bradley's signature a priority over the weekend. Did Juergen Klinsmann's interst in the job waver after we reported Gulati had met with the former German manager? Did Bradley throw down an ultimatum?
We don't know for sure, at least not yet.
Whatever the reasons, Gulati did decide to call Bradley in the wee hours of Monday morning and offer to keep him in the job. Bradley was never the sexiest candidate, and keeping him will no doubt set off new rounds of grumbling among a contingent of American fans. But hiring the dynamic Klinsmann would have created its own issues for U.S. Soccer:
<OFFER>A shock to the system: Klinsmann likes to shake things up, as he did in Germany. With him in charge, everything from tactical formations to national team workout routines to player development would have been subject to change. Unpredictability doesn't necessarily mean instability, but the American players always know what they're getting from the meticulous Bradley -- and Gulati acknowledged that coaching stability has helped the U.S. achieve as much as it has over the past 20 years.
A loss of control: Yes, it has big dreams, but U.S. Soccer is a relatively small operation, just a few years removed from having to beg for national attention and international respect. It's still run more like a family than a big business, as indicated by Gulati's salary: $0.
Things are still fairly simple. Klinsmann, accustomed to the European club system and a product of soccer-mad Germany, would be the beginning of the end of all that. For one, he would have likely needed a bigger staff, with a possibly expensive No. 2 "tactical" coach to play the same role as Jogi Low did in Germany in 2006.
A media circus: Klinsmann would have brought a whole new level of coverage, especially from the sometimes snarling German media machine. Thanks to his superstar playing career, even in places such as Guatemala, the Yanks would have been deluged by the foreign media, and the surrounding control issues that brings.
A family circus: Michael Bradley's World Cup performance put to rest all notions that he's a product of nepotism, and he was outwardly more at ease than he's ever been after the Brazil friendly earlier this month, even (gasp!) smiling with the media. The kid is a professional who's coped with coaching changes before, including his dad's firing at the hands of the MetroStars (now the Red Bulls). But would U.S. Soccer really want the possibility of its best young player being ticked off over how his father was treated in contract negotiations?
The CONCACAF gap: Gaudy as Klinsmann's resume is, the goofy-yet-demanding CONCACAF World Cup qualifying process -- with its questionable officiating, surly gamesmanship and the urine-hurling fans -- is like nothing he's ever seen. Young players freak the first time they go through it. As Gulati pointed out, Bradley has coached more than 70 international matches now. That's double Klinsmann's total. Many of those have been in the cauldrons of Central America, with a World Cup spot on the line. The fact that Bradley has navigated those shoals is a huge advantage.
In the end, Gulati's wandering eye may have settled on Bradley for a time-tested reason: Better the devil you know than the one you don't.
