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Bob Bradley

Read of the Day: The End of the Affair

Of all the intimacies of life, the intimacy of fanhood is perhaps the falsest, exposed for USMNT fans during this past World Cup by a single scene of authentic tenderness: Bob Bradley embracing Ricardo Clark after taking him out of the game that might define his career. “I allowed this game to be pressed to my face for a month, and this hug is finally something true and personal, the sweetest and realest glimpse into the lives of two people on my team. All those magazine interviews and Twitter feeds, the piles of second- and third-hand information, become suddenly foolish.” (Casey Wiley/This is American Soccer)

(Image credit: g55/Flickr through a Creative Commons license.)

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What if Bob Bradley Had Never Been Born?

Resolved: That Bob Bradley shaved at least two years off the timeline for the United States to become legitimate World Cup title contenders. Consider the case of Ricardo Clark…and how advanced his career would be had Bradley been applying his philosophy of youth cultivation and instigating player movement for eight years instead of four. Bradley’s legacy seems humdrum, but he actually “moved the US from being a regional power…to the cusp of an international power helping scatter players throughout the world.” (Jason Kuenle/Match Fit USA)

The Bradley Foundation

The hash tag #FireBobBradley shot up Twitter’s top 10 list 20 minutes before the game with Ghana ended on Saturday — even though his stated Objective Knockout Phase was accomplished. Aquarium Drinker says Bradley’s four-year plan for 2010 was masterly, but there’s no one coaching on American soil right now who can take the team further. SoccerAmerica’s Paul Gardner tells Sunil Gulati to keep Bradley, but realize the team is stuck in the rut of “the properties and the mentality of suburban youth soccer and college soccer” and needs to diversify. And Franklin Foer at The Goal Post simply mourns how the USMNT missed capitalizing on the sport’s “Barack Obama moment.”

The Curiously Celebrated Bob Bradley

Bob Bradley, U.S. National Coach of the Year? The U.S. Olympic Committee thinks so…but it’s hard to see why: Despite the thrills against Spain and Brazil in South Africa, the USMNT had a pretty mediocre year. And the award just sets Americans up for another World Cup disappointment. (Mark Zeigler/San Diego Union-Tribune; HT du Nord)