Personally I think Bruce is pretty much on cue...however, Jurgen Klinnsman knows the American mentality, so he woulda been a good fit.. Bradley shoulda had Bring Ching on the World cup roster! It was a shame Gooch and Davies were injured,, we might had advanced further on.

Big, straight-talkin' Bruce walks into the saloon and lets the critics have it. Yesssireeee. You disagree with Big Bruce, you're talkin' crap and you should just shut up or you ain't leavin' this bar alive. He's such a man, isn't he?

What utter self-serving garbage out of the mouth of a coach that I FORMERLY held in the highest esteem. Just exactly why is the US soccer scene so unique? Oh that's right it's because the US Soccer and college coaching fraternity have turned us into a backwater of 1970's style soccer -- all athleticism and no skill. Arena is so bent on defending his fraternity that he can't even see the paradox of him using Fabio Capello as an example --- Capello is a FOREIGN coach in the hallowed halls of English football. In following up on the travesty of Bradley's resigning, I have taken the time to research the governance structure of US Soccer and believe me it isn't a pretty sight. Blaming Gulati alone is somewhat unfair since he is only following the direction of a phalanx of gray faceless bureaucrats, Dan Flynn et al. What I did find interesting is that listed on the Board of Directors are William Clinton, Drew Carey, Arnold Schwartzenegger, and Brad Pitt. I wonder if these public personalities would be so ready to lend their prestige to US Soccer if they really understood that the financial basis of this organization,"pay to play", has effectively frozen out inner city and ethnic youth for decades. Maybe THAT's what Bruce was talking about when he said that US soccer is truly unique !!!!!

Great post James...funny how people forget the relationship between Bradley and Arena. Are we surprised that Arena supported his most trusted amigo? By re-signing Bradley to another 4 years, by default we're getting a total of 16 years under the same type of futbol system/philosophy (Arena 1998-2006; Bradley 2006-2014). No, of course it's not an "old boys" soccer network. Ha...ha...and then we wonder why we never improve as a soccer nation.

Thanks Felix -- good point on the Arena -Bradley connection. Unfortunately that's how all of US Soccer is run.

JF...you couldn't be more correct on the "pay for play" aspect of youth soccer. Until that tragedy is fixed, it will be the same old...same old. For a competitive (select) team, there is a fee for the coach, a fee for the assistants, the travel costs, the overnight and meal costs plus the fees to belong to the state association, uniforms, etc. All these fees to get the kid a ride at State U.♠

and it seems we can't quite move forward, away from the snobbery. I guess most of you will never be happy until all of American soccer is no longer even attempting to be just that, American. WE ARE NOT EUROPE, WE ARE THE UNITED STATES, WE WILL NEVER BE THE ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE OR LA LIGA, BUDESLIGA OR ANY EUROPEAN LEAGUE OR NATIONAL TEAM, Not being a Euro carbon copy in terms of structure, development, etc. should be something to be proud of for US soccer...and I, for one, will drink to that. The USMNT is leading us toward having our own identity and style which could have only spawned from having back to back American coaches that truly understand the American soccer mentality including the hurdles this country poses for young soccer players. Bradley made some mistakes that quickly had the critics questioning his future(Gulati leading the pack). The only thing that Arena is trying to say here is that if they are going to go ahead and sign Bradley to another multi-year contract then they should back him up through thick and thin and not publicly question their employee's future, thus leaving him to the vultures. Bradley is given a shot at redemption, he will learn from his mistakes and will be looking to correct them. How many head coaches at SA 2010 can say they were as lucky as Bradley and Capello ?

AC -- I don't want to rain on your 4th of July parade or burn the American flag but in case you haven't noticed soccer in the US is played and coached at a 3rd world level and playing the xenophobic, patriotic card doesn't change that. Even Bruce A admitted that we were very lucky with the weak draw at the WC. For 30 years I have watched the level of soccer played in the US remain absolutely static. Sure we periodically get lucky and a player pops up with high level skills, Ramos, Reyna, Dempsey, Donovan. Then all of the US Soccer experts and coaches pat themselves on the back about how we are steadily progressing. Then the one-off player grows old and we are back to where we started. When questions are asked, "Why?" and someone says we should bring in a foreign coach or coaches, the US Soccer chorus and its patriotic fans all respond with, "NOOOOOO we can't do that because we are UNIQUE!!!" What utter nonsense. We have one of the largest youth soccer populations in the world and the best we can do is turn out 30 to 50 players that have barely sufficient skills to play on the world stage. Then the canned response comes back -- but US soccer loses the best athletes to the big three sports and MLS doesn't pay enough. More bunk -- the real problems are: (1) that US Soccer has for decades ignored the fact that their "pay to play" structure totally ignores the inner city and ethnic (Hispanic) communities. Just go to a Hispanic soccer game and ask what they think of US Soccer!! (2) our xenophobic outlook on utilizing the expertise of the foreign coaching community has resulted in a coaching structure that is 30 years behind the rest of the world. In the US, everything can be globalized except soccer. (3) Finally soccer in the US is governed by an organization for whom the development of skilled world class players is nowhere on their agenda. The coaching segment is perfectly happy to make money off of their "camps" and through the college heirarchy. Why change when the money keeps rolling in? The youth soccer segment is only interested in having every child play in a safe competitive emvironment and oh by the way, having alll those fees keep rolling in. WHY would any of these groups want to shake up a good thing by bringing in a Klinsmann who might force them to --- OMG --- change. SOOO, my advice is forget the USMNT and support MLS, la Liga, EPL, etc. You'll save time and money and and enjoy real soccer.

I will not attend a USMNT game. I will not purchase USMNT gear. I will not watch USMNT games on TV. They can't keep peddling that product and expect me to keep paying for it. I will not support the US World Cup bid either. I wil work in whatever capacity I can to eliminate Dan Flynn, Sunil Gulati, and Bob Bradley from ANY leadership role in American soccer. I don't know what I can accomplish, but I would rather light a candle against the darkness than continue in blind allegiance to the blight on US Soccer.

Wow. What venom from the soccer elitists! I guess I should say futbol elitists. By all means, broaden the youth system to include poor kids wherever they're found, and certainly emphasize skills. But there's no reason to clone the sleepy Spanish style. Skillful but athletic Germany will surpass them shortly. Mr. Bradley must coach the players available to him. Let's give him some athletic, powerful and skillful American players -- and watch what happens.

I apologize for the late response but some comments like the above cry out for a followup! First of all what do you mean by an elitist? If you mean someone who is adamant that the US be the best soccer country that it can. Yes I am! If you mean someone who is sick and tired of how the bureaucracy of US Soccer has refused to allow a foreign influence to help us to improve our play. That's me all right!! If you mean someone who is sick and tired of the arrogance of the US coaching fraternity. That's me again!! If you mean someone who thinks he has all the answers---not me, but I sure am looking which is more than I can say for US Soccer. BTW your comment about the "sleepy Spanish style" does tell me that compared to you I am an elitist. And also, I am a big fan of Germany and how it has changed itself which was why I supported Klinsmann -- you know, that FOREIGN coach !!!