Bob Bradley throws some shade at Jurgen Klinsmann and U.S. Soccer
Bob Bradley has made a point of not speaking about the United States national team and Jurgen Klinsmann since he was fired as the Americans' boss in 2011. But when he was asked about the team and its current manager during his first press conference at Swansea City, where he was just hired, Bradley finally addressed Klinsmann.
"I'm glad that Jurgen says some nice things now, but he did commentary on the 2010 World Cup and he was already jockeying for the job," Bradley said.
Klinsmann worked for ESPN during the 2010 World Cup and was not shy about his criticism of the U.S. team, even as the Bradley-led team became the first American side since 1930 to win their group at a World Cup. The day after their extra time loss to Ghana in the round of 16, Klinsmann spoke at length about what he thought went wrong for the team.
"I think that's going to be a major discussion point for U.S. Soccer. 'What is the quality of our players really?' Looking at the game yesterday you had three really quality players that actually didn't live up to their expectations: Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey and Tim Howard," Klinsmann said on ESPN in 2010. "They were not there. It was not their game last night. If they don't step up to the World Cup stage, you can't expect Michael Bradley and the other ones to pull it all off.
"I think it's really important that they lay out a philosophy for U.S. Soccer and say 'where do we want to go?'"
Klinsmann wasn't just any person saying this either. U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati had famously tried to hire Klinsmann before turning to Bradley and there was chatter that Gulati would make another run at Klinsmann after the World Cup. So Klinsmann wasn't just speaking as a pundit -- he was speaking as the man that everyone knew U.S. Soccer wanted to run the national team.
Unsurprisingly, now we know for a fact that Bradley was unhappy with those comments. He saw them the way a lot of other people did -- as Klinsmann making his case for a job that, at the time, was already filled by another manager. By Bradley.
Bradley kept his job after the World Cup, but was ousted a year later after losing to Mexico in the 2011 Gold Cup final. Klinsmann was hired soon after.
Bradley still isn't happy about the way U.S. Soccer handled his sacking either.
"I don't appreciate the way it was done," Bradley said in the Swansea press conference. "I think they made a mistake."
U.S. Soccer never seemed to completely believe in Bradley. He was originally hired in 2006, but only as an interim manager. He was given the job on a permanent basis only after he ran off a string of wins. Following the 2010 World Cup, U.S. Soccer and Bradley took some time to agree on a new contract, with both sides reportedly looking at other options. Finally, they let him go in 2011, ending a five-year relationship that always felt as if U.S. Soccer thought it could do better than.
This was all despite Bradley being on of the most successful managers in national team history. He won the 2007 Gold Cup, finished second at the 2009 Confederations Cup, topped CONCACAF World Cup qualifying and won the group at the 2010 World Cup.
Bradley still supports the national team, though. Whether it's because his son, Michael, plays on the team or he is simply an American who wants to see his country succeed, he's behind them.
Speaking about his silence on the team and Klinsmann to this point, he said: "I've shut my mouth and continued to support the team [USA], of course I want to see the team do well."
That doesn't mean he appreciated Klinsmann in 2010, or the way he was treated by U.S. Soccer. Not that it's a problem now. After all, he's the Swansea boss and in the Premier League, making American soccer history.
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