I must admit, I was not 100 percent behind Bob Bradley as coach when he was hired. It was not entirely his fault, actually not his fault at all. I think Bob is an excellent coach and I think he puts 100 percent of his mind, body and soul into his work.
But I felt that a clean break from Bruce Arena was needed. For as different as Bradley is to Arena personally, philosophically they are similar. I felt someone from the outside, whether it was Jurgen Klinsmann or Gerard Houllier or my personal favorite Luiz Felipe Scolari needed to come in and take the national team in a different direction.
But after beating Mexico the way they did and after the month-plus of work the players have put in, this team seems headed in the right direction. Well, it is headed in the right direction.
Had the U.S. fielded a full-strength lineup (Beasley, Cherundolo, Gooch) and won, maybe it wouldn't have struck me as hard. But Bob sent young guys like Jonny B and Rico Clark into the fire and those guys responded. He has put his trust into Landon and has forced him to take more of a leadership role and Landon has responded. He incorporated veterans who have played with him before (Tim Howard, Carlos Bocanegra) and guys who hadn't (Bobby Convey, Clint Dempsey) and they responded.
To put it in a way that Bob would, the work has been good and the work will pay off greatly down the road. I can't imagine Bob not having his team mentally, emotionally or physically prepared for a big tournament or a big match. Won't happen.
It's time to rip up whatever deal Bob has and hire him permanently.
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