WVAPPeer wrote:For those who watch Soccer - (I watch the World Cup, Olympics, America's Cup - not MLS) - can anyone fill me in on why I always hear how good Michael Bradley is and in the aforementioned competitions I have seen him do nothing ??? - thanks ---
I know I'm weeks late on this but I figured I'd fill you in my opinion on this. I've been a huge MB fan for years, but I'm even struggling to continue to support him. But when he was in his early 20s he was honestly looking like one of the best young MF prospects in all of Europe. He was an amazing box-to-box midfielder there for a while in the Eredivisie and Bundesliga. He also had some very, very good games in the Serie A. There for awhile he looked as if he had the potential to be one of the 3 best MF the US has ever produced, maybe the best.
But, I think a few things happened. Well for starters we have an awful coach that has played him out of position some, but even in the Copa America this summer he was playing in more of his natural role and still wasn't good except against Costa Rica. 1) I seriously kinda believe he's played so much for both the USA and his clubs obviously he's already got a ton of mileage on his legs, especially for a position that is so physically demanding. But this shouldn't be all of it. Pirlo is almost 40 and still has some dominant games for NYCFC. MB is still only like 29. I think one of the main causes of his downfall was coming back to the MLS. I don't think it's a coincidence his performance with the USA started getting worse almost as soon as he transferred to Toronto FC and he hasn't gotten much better since. He showed he was clearly good enough to play in some of the top leagues in Europe, but he came home. He didn't want to keep challenging himself.
I get why Dempsey came back to the MLS, he was no longer in his prime and wanted to end his career at home. But MB came back to the MLS in his prime. American players enjoy playing in the MLS because there's no pressure on them. First, there's no promotion/relegation so even in a down season it's not like teams have to play for their lives. They can just sit back and wait on next year. Also, MLS is like, what? FIfth most popular sports league in the USA? The players are NEVER under media scrutiny for a bad performance in the MLS. When have you ever woke up, turned on ESPN, and heard analysts talking about how awful Michael Bradley was for Toronto FC the night before? Never. But if Cam Newton, or LeBron James, or Tom Brady has a bad game and makes a big mistake in a bad moment, they'll never hear the end of it. That's why so many of our players LIKE the MLS.
Now in Europe, soccer is their life. When a player has a bad game, like a great football, basketball, or baseball player here; they'll get shredded for it. When Michael Bradley played bad for AC Roma (one of the most famous clubs in the world) you can imagine he would catch heat from the fans and media. It's not like that playing in the MLS, and this mindset of complacency has probably led to a huge decline in his national team play. He was ready to stop challenging himself as a player, and so many more of our important NT are doing the same. Thankfully we do have some young players over in Europe, I was thrilled to see DeAndre Yedlin decide to challenge himself at Tottenham instead of staying with Seattle Sounders. I hope Jordan Morris makes a similar decision soon.
So many of USMNT players come from suburban backgrounds, and they simply haven't had to work for that much. I mean let's be real. Michael Bradley's dad was the American coach for a few years. So many of these guys grow up wealthy and privileged, they don't have to work for it like boys in countries such as Colombia, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, etc have to. Kids in countries like that... soccer is their only hope. Clint Dempsey is a rare occasion. He grew up poor, and had to scrape and claw and work for every opportunity he's gotten. Any coincidence he's our second best player ever and one of the most fearless players we have?
/Rant over, I think
