We Want a More Viable Peace Partner In Charge of the USMNT

Four More Years!

Well, B.B. has solidified his hold on the U.S. men's national team. Frankly, I didn't even know he was involved, but I think at some point, we need to have a U.S. citizen running the U.S. program. Plus, he's going to be awfully busy running Israel for the foreseeable future and those up-coming peace negotiations are going to be so time consuming that I just don't know that he'll have enough time to dedicate to our blossoming program. Also, I wasn't a fan of his book, Fighting Terrorism - I thought it was largely political posturing.

What? "Who am . . . ? " Well, Benjamin Netanyahu, of course. You know, "B.B." Who did you think I . . .

Oh. Ooooooh. "Bob Bradley," you say. Well, at least he and Landon Donovan can commiserate about their inability to get a job in England.

Great. Israeli political jokes in a soccer blog. Honestly, why didn't I just go with the more obvious 1984 references? Because I respect your intelligence and worldliness, that's why.

Ow! My Toe!

Do we really think that Bob Bradley is even possibly the biggest stumbling block in front of the the U.S. soccer program? Honestly, I think talent and pedigree are still the greatest impediments. Yes, that is a stumbling block/stubbed toe reference in the section header. This is why I shouldn't be allowed to blog in the morning.

Did anyone read the news about Bob's contract extension and honestly think, "Well, that's it: we're not taking the World Cup home in Brazil"? If so, I salute your optimism and faith in the players to think that he's the one holding them back, but I think you should probably be locked up.

Bob Bradley has plenty of detractors, but it's tough to argue that he hasn't been pretty good for this program. The U.S. program has reached new heights under his leadership, he is complimented by many other coaches - including the Swiss coach who credited Bradley with showing the world how to beat Spain, and the players all seem to like and respect Bradley. Bradley's critics tend to argue that Bradley has had a lot of luck: England was weak this year, as was our group; the U.S. victory over Spain was due to poor Spanish play; Mexico had a bad qualifying run. Maybe, but as the list gets longer it really seems like the team is making their luck. I would also argue that Bradley has helped soccer in the U.S. as a whole; with a team of moderately talented players, he has made them competitive against some of the top sides in the world. That may help "sell" soccer: Few Americans are really looking for the opportunity to see their country thrashed by Brazil, but plenty of sports fans love an underdog story - especially an underdog who makes victory look possible. Lots of fans and pundits like to criticize some of his decisions (I know I do) ranging from tactics to player selection, but in the end, I think his results this far have been pretty good.

The Emmanuel Goldstein Perspective

There's your Orwell joke. Happy? I do view Bob Bradley's contract extension as a missed opportunity for both the USSF and for Bradley himself. Bob Bradley is still reasonably young and, frankly, he is still quite inexperienced. He's coached in the U.S. and . . . that's it. That's great for his familiarity with the U.S. game and players, but if he is going to move on as a coach, he's going to need at least passing knowledge how the game is played, and coached, in the other parts of the world.
As for the USMNT, Bradley has done an excellent job making the U.S. competitive with teams better than the U.S., but has floundered when faced with teams that were weaker or more even with the U.S. team. The vibrant and often-lethal counter-attacking culture that Bradley has instilled in the U.S. team is not effective when opponents are content to draw at zero or refuse to commit too many players forward, fearing the U.S. attack. A new coach brings in fresh ideas and can perhaps teach a team that consistently defeats Mexico to dominate games the way that Mexico does. Such tactics are going to become more necessary as the U.S. talent pool is expanding at what appears to be nearly a geometric-rate. The U.S. isn't going to start thrashing the likes of Argentina or Germany any time soon, but more teams are going to start playing conservatively against the U.S. and that will weaken Bradley's tactics. All that aside, at some point, simply having a fresh perspective is necessary to advance the quality of the team.

Don't Blame Fabio Capello

The coach matters. Somewhat. Let's not exaggerate the impact of these guys though. Fabio Capello simply did not affect the English national team enough to make them play that poorly. The managers get to coach their players a couple of weeks per year. Yes, there can be poor substitutions and poor line-ups, but let us not forget that arguing that different player selection would have been better is counter-factual and should be viewed with healthy skepticism. Ultimately, a coach can be a multiplier at the end of the equation, but the quality of the players and their ability to play together is far more important than the coach, his substitutions, and tactical predispositions. Right now, the rising level of quality in the U.S. player pool is more important than the coach. Re-hiring Bradley is not an aggressive move, but it is a relatively stable one. While the U.S. is still trying to get it's soccer program organized and capable of fully harnessing advantageous demographic shifts and the rise of a domestic division-1 soccer league, a little stability in some part of the program isn't the worst idea. Really, it's a bigger shame that Bradley couldn't find a better job somewhere else.

Adios, Onalfo.

Everything looks dismal for DC United.

Bottom of the table with only three wins isn't bad enough. More and more, it looks like DC United will become CSKA Baltimore or Maryland Wednesday or perhaps the DC-MD-NoVA Wanderers; there has been zero progress on a local stadium, while the Maryland Stadium Authority looks increasingly like it will come back positive on a new stadium near or in Baltimore. The sole ray of sunshine has been DC's 7-0-0 non-league record, including a (thus far) semi-final run in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Of course, if Seattle progresses as well as DC, I think it's pretty clear that the final will not be at RFK this year. Either way, DC looks a lot like the Pompey team that it just beat and that's not just because Portsmouth were wearing DC's jerseys.

So amidst all this murk and gloom was the clamor that "something must be done!"

After all, we signed a Montenegrin few outside of central Europe had heard of as our DP, while Seattle and New York just added guys who played for their national team in the World Cup. Chicago grabbed a promising, if temperamental and mouthy, Mexican and combined him with a big-name, if temperamental and worthless, Swede. Now, finally something has been done: Curt Onalfo was fired this morning; Ben Olsen has now been thrust into command.

Was this fair to Onalfo?

Not in the least. He was brought in late, after several key roster decisions had been made. His defense has been decimated by injuries, including the seeming career-ending injury to Bryan Namoff, the defensive captain. The loss of the services of Olsen, Gomez, and Emilio (degraded as they may have been) ripped the heart out of the DC offense and it has been unable to recover. Of the "big" signings that were made, Castillo is now gone and Allsopp spent most of his time on the bench. Onalfo inherited a disaster and was asked to heal this roadkill of a team while it was being dragged by a tractor-trailer. Moreover, the transfer window isn't even closed and the new signings haven't had a chance to make an impact.

Is this the worst decision ever made?

Hardly; Operation Barbarossa, the Great Leap Forward and the Native Americans trusting us to keep our word top the list of the "worst decisions ever made." This isn't that bad of a decision. Onalfo's team has been dreadful - it may not have been good when he got it, but we're worse than expansion Philadelphia now. Onalfo, given time, may have been able to build a competitive team, but there was certainly no sign of that. By firing Onalfo now, it sends a message to the players that their slate is now clean, for better or worse, and they need to start playing for their spots and contracts next year. Hopefully, DC will not dally in finding a new head coach (and hopefully, no one is stupid enough to give Olsen the position permanently, yet) and he (it's a sexist industry, sorry ladies) can start to shape DC into what he wants it to be and can actually see what he needs for next season.

Adios, Onalfo.

Despite being thrown under the bus and being clearly upset about it, Onalfo's reaction has been restrained and fairly classy, up to this point. I wish him luck in his future endeavors and believe that he deserves and will get another chance.

Bob Bradley?

I'm inclined to say "dream on," but who knows? For DC, I don't think it would be a bad decision. Bob Bradley tends not to coach teams with the attacking flair and style with which DC United has been associated. Not working right now though? DC's style. I am also aware that Bradley is known as "Cheatin' Bob" around these parts for his use of the former "fourth substitute" rule in the playoffs against us. I, however, say that this team and its fans need to stop living in the past. Yes, I'd like to see attractive attacking football too, but the first task is to collect the jetsam currently wearing the Red-and-Black and form them into a team. Then maybe we could ask Bob to make it prettier. I'm sorry Bob Bradley didn't obey the spirit of rules in the past, but DC United desperately needs some new thinking and Bradley might not be a bad place to start.

That said, Bradley is going to be expensive and I'm not sure DC would shell out the money for him, given the team and it's "horrible hemorrhaging of all things monetary."