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| Photo: AP |
By: Matt Carlson
As you may know, “burying the hatchet” means to make peace with someone. The phrase arose from a tradition followed by several tribes of indigenous people in North America, most notably the Iroquois, Mohawk and Shawnee, who would bury a hatchet in the ground when entering a peace treaty. To some tribes, burying the hatchet was not meant as a surrender, rather, it was merely a signal that the hostilities had ended. In the wake of his appointment as manager of Egypt, I think it is time for some U.S. fans to bury the hatchet when it comes to Bob Bradley.
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Bob Bradley has always had his critics. They started in as soon as he was named interim manager of the USMNT in 2006 and kept it up throughout his tenure. Since the news broke that Bob Bradley was being considered to lead the Egyptian National Team, there has been a contingent of U.S. soccer fans who have seen this as another opportunity to bang on about Bradley’s faults. In between personal attacks and the tired Jonathan Bornstein citizenship jokes, some of these people are openly hoping for the failure of Bob Bradley in Egypt. While it may be futile, I am going to lay out four good reasons why it is time for these fans to bury the hatchet.
First, if you did not want him as USMNT coach, you have your wish. He is gone now. He is no longer your problem. Frankly, you’re starting to sound like the guy at the party who can’t stop talking about how terrible his ex was. We get it. You don’t like Bob Bradley. Let it go.
Second, Bradley is an American. I know, I know, cue Lee Greenwood and the falling balloons, but it is true. He’s one of us. He’s a guy who has spent a large part of his life developing soccer in the U.S. and has advocated for the sport we love in a country that does not respect it. As USMNT manager, he stood in the breach for a group of people that never wanted him and did his job. This deserves some respect.
Third, the criticism of Bob Bradley is disproportionate to his results. If you want to blame Bradley for every bad thing that happened while he was coach, then it is only fair to give him credit for every good thing that happened, too. By any objective standard, Bob Bradley’s tenure as coach of the USMNT was successful. He posted the best record of any USMNT coach ever, at 43-25-12. With Bradley at the helm, the USMNT got a win over #1 Spain and got to the Finals of the Confederations Cup. The USMNT finished first in CONCACAF World Cup 2010 qualification and, for the first time ever, won its group at the World Cup. The amount of people packed into bars across America to watch the USMNT in the World Cup last summer is undeniable evidence that the profile of U.S. soccer was raised during his tenure. The way some people criticize Bradley, you would think the USMNT was a top five side that failed to win the World Cup. The reality is, he had an average team and he got above average results. Most importantly, perhaps, Bradley brought in a ton of new players and left a solid base upon which we all hope Klinsmann can continue to build. You may not believe that Bradley was the guy to take the USMNT to the next level – an opinion I happen to share – but, you have to concede he did some good while he was here.
Fourth, if Bob Bradley is successful as coach of Egypt, it will benefit U.S. soccer. If Bradley can get the Pharaohs back to their former glory, some of the limelight shining on him will reflect onto U.S. soccer. More importantly, it could pave the way for other American coaches to move abroad. Granted, Egypt is not a world power, but Bradley’s move is big. I previously wrote an article which contained a brief synopsis of how rare it is for an American to coach on foreign soil, so I won’t go into the details again here. Here’s the link if you want a little history. (http://watchsocceronline.blogspot.com/2010/08/my-dads-smartphone-and-next-frontier.html ). Suffice it to say that Ian Mork, who led Belize’s national team for two months, makes the list of “Top Ten Greatest American Coaches of Foreign Teams of All Time.” Never heard of Ian Mork or knew Belize had a national team? You are not alone, and that illustrates the significance of Bradley’s hire by Egypt, a team that has won the African Cup of Nations multiple times and is currently ranked #36 in the world by FIFA. I continue to assert that the U.S. needs more American coaches to go abroad if U.S. soccer is going to keep improving and I applaud Bradley for having the stones to go for it. Don’t forget, managing Egypt is not going to be a cake walk. There is work to do as Egypt has not been to the World Cup Finals since 1992 and recently missed out on the African Cup of Nations for the first time in nearly thirty years. Plus, road trips to places like Libya and Sudan can’t be too awesome. Remember the attack on Togo’s national team in Angola that left three dead last year? It would have been far easier for Bradley to have stayed in America and coached an MLS team, but he didn’t. I hope other American coaches follow his lead and seek jobs s abroad. If they do, I think some day in the future, we may be pointing back to this time as one of the key moments in U.S. soccer’s development.
Unfortunately, all of this is likely to be unpersuasive to those who still wish to attack Bradley. I think these people are in the group of fans out there for whom it is more important that they be “right” about something than it is for American soccer to be successful. To put it another way, they’d rather Bob Bradley fail in Egypt than be wrong about him. To those people, I would ask this question: If Bob Bradley fails in Egypt, what is the upside for U.S. Soccer? I’ll answer that -- there is none. In fact, it will be detrimental to U.S. soccer if he fails. However, this is how some fans would have it end up for Bradley, just so they can say, “I told you so.” This, my friends, is idiocy. It is the same mentality that has had some fans ridiculing Freddy Adu, excoriating Bornstein and lambasting Ricardo Clark. I agree that criticism is part of the job description for a national team player. If a player is not doing what he is capable of, then that is fair game to me. On the other hand, there is no sin in a player just not being good enough for the USMNT and I don’t think a fan should personally attack a player for that. Some people seem to take joy in the failure of American players, which makes no sense. Again, how does it help if an American player is not successful? The fact is that if the U.S. is ever going to win a World Cup, it is going to need every player’s help. Even players who never get to the USMNT can advance the cause. Every player abroad has the chance to make a good impression on someone which may create an opportunity for another American at another time. Howard and Dempsey weren’t the first Americans in England. Bocanegra and Edu were not the first Americans in Scotland. Someone laid the groundwork before them. Bornstein might open a door for someone else in Mexico. Michael Bradley may create a chance for someone in Italy. Maybe an American’s performance abroad will cause a foreign player or coach to come to MLS. You never know. As a result, U.S. fans ought to be rooting for any American who laces them up and gives it his all. In the same way, all U.S. soccer fans ought to be rooting for Bob Bradley now.
So, there it is. That’s my case. I hope you can see that it’s time to bury the hatchet with Bob Bradley. If it makes you feel any better, you can say you are not surrendering, you are just ending hostilities. Does that work for you? Good. Now let the healing begin!
