For a USMNT manager one constant always seems to be that there will always be people on the Internet calling for your head at all times. People need to start facing facts about Bob Bradley. He's earned his shot with the US team for next year's World Cup. Bradley led the US back from the grave earlier this summer to the Confederations Cup final where they came close to beating a Brazil team featuring some of the world's best players. Right now the U.S. is on top of their World Cup group. Though people often cite CONCAF as a weak region, the U.S. has done what it needs to so far to make it to the World Cup. Look at world powers Argentina and Portugal struggling to get to South Africa. World Cup Qualifying isn't easy no matter where you play.

Does that mean I agree with everything Bradley has done as a coach? No. He's not perfect. His Gold Cup squad selections puzzled me with the exclusion of players with a lot of potential like Zak Whitebread, Jemal Johnson, Chris Rolfe, and Brad Davis to name a few. Bradley included a number of players who in my opinion never really had a shot at making it to South Africa like MLSers Jay Heaps, Sam Cronin, Brad Evans, and Logan Pause. 

The US did well to make it to the Gold Cup final against Mexico only to get pounced 5-0. The terrible loss in New York City gave Mexico confidence going into the World Cup Qualifier in Azteca on August 12th. A revitalized El Tri defeated the US 2-1.  Prior to the Gold Cup final the US was on top of the world coming off the Confederations Cup, but two consective losses to bitter rival Mexico derailed some of that precious momentum.

To Bradley's credit the US responded following the disappointment in Azteca with two hard fought wins against El Salvador and Trinidad & Tobago earlier this month.

The location of the US's October 10th match is yet to be decided as the political unrest in Honduras may force the game out of the country to another Central American country or even the U.S.. If the game is moved out of Honduras that would be a huge advantage to Bradley & Co. as playing in Estadio Olmpicio in San Pedro Sula would be quite a test for the Americans.

The US will qualify and Bradley will be their coach in South Africa. At the very least the US should advance out of the group stages next summer as another early group stage exit is unacceptable as was the case in Germany in 2006.

Firing your national team manager (who's been pretty successful) with less than a year to the World Cup would be idiotic. All the "Fire Bob" nonsense needs to end.  All that matters is the result he gets in South Africa. The reality of the situation is that Bob Bradley's real judgement will take place next summer.[ad#Adsense1][ad#Google Adsense-1][ad#HTML-1]

In a new segment, soccer writer Sean Heffernan takes the pulse of the American soccer landscape. Today's installment touches on the MLS All Star Game, the U.S.'s failure in the Gold Cup Final against heated rival Mexico, Manchester United's hopes for another EPL title, Jozy Altidore and Freddy Adu's loan possibilites, and the upcoming L.A. Galaxy/Barcelona friendly. Enjoy! ...

1.       MLS All-Star Game: The Most Entertaining All Star Game in Sports

Last night the best players in Major League Soccer squared off against English Premier League club Everton in Rio Tinto Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah. Instead of the typical interleague East vs. West format other American sports use, MLS chooses one squad of All Stars and plays a club from overseas. American soccer fans get to see the best players in their domestic league (MLS) as well as stars they normally would never see play.

In terms of quality of the actual game the MLS is ahead of the rest of the country’s professional sports leagues. The MLB All Star game is bound in controversy over the World Series home field advantage rule and more people seem to enjoy the Home Run Derby than the actual game. The NHL All Star game is a watered down version of hockey with very little checking.  Five minutes into the NBA All Star Game you realize that every play ends in a dunk. No one watches the Pro Bowl. I don’t know what it is about soccer, but last night you could tell that both squads were going full speed. Seeing stars like Landon Donovan, Cuauhtémoc Blanco, and Freddy Ljungberg putting in a whole hearted performance is much more entertaining to me then watching Kobe, Lebron,and Shaq playing at 70%. Inside Rio Tinto Stadium (brand new soccer specific home of MLS side Real Salt Lake) the crowd of over 20,000 got their money’s worth on the field.  

After 90 plus minutes the game was tied thanks to a clinic put on in both nets by current and former U.S. National Team goalies Tim Howard (Everton) and Kasey Keller (Seattle Sounders FC). In the penalty shootout, both goalies continued to display their brilliance in net blocking numerous free kicks (most goalies can only muster a save or two in penalty kicks if their lucky) In the end Tim Howard made one more save then fellow countrymen Kasey giving the victory to Everton.

2.       The Golden Disappointment: Mexico’s Thrashing of US in Gold Cup

I was at Soldier Field for the Gold Cup semifinal doubleheader between U.S. vs. Honduras and Mexico vs. Costa Rica. Towards the end of the U.S. game it was really noticeable how tired the U.S. squad was. A late game injection of Kenny Cooper galvanized the American squad for a second goal, but I felt Bob Bradley would have to mix up the lineup for the final as to put the freshest team on the pitch in New York against Mexico. Instead U.S. coach Bradley put the same starting 11 out against Mexico leaving hungry players like Kenny Cooper, Sam Cronin, and Santino Quaranta on the bench. The US played Mexico to tie at half, but Mexico made early subs whereas Bradley held off aiding his tired squad until it was too late and the Mexican onslaught ended in a embarrassing score line of 5-0. Bradley simply mismanaged the U.S. squad’s fitness going into the final. Our boys simply ran out of legs. Hopefully, we’ll get some revenge in the massive World Cup Qualifier against Mexico in Azteca coming up in a few weeks.

3.       Man United Looks Pedestrian Without Ronaldo and Tevez

Despite selling Cristiano Ronaldo for a fortune, Manchester United has yet to buy a big name this offseason as they prepare to defend their English Premier League title for the second year in a row. Manager Sir Alex Ferguson signed Englishmen Michael Owen even though the former Newcastle striker hasn’t been in form for a few years. However, I did watch a classic match on FSC when Owen played for Liverpool and in the early part of this decade he was one of the best forwards in the world. Still, without the creative spark of a Cristiano Ronaldo or Carlos Tevez I would not be surprised to see the Red Devils fall behind the likes of Chelsea or Liverpool this year in the EPL.

4.       Americans Abroad Transfer Talk: Altidore and Adu Up in the Air

Last season was a lesson for both U.S. youngsters Jozy Altidore and Freddy Adu. Altidore and Adu spent last season on unsuccessful loan deals from their respective clubs. Altidore looked promising earlier in the year earning a few appearances for Villarreal in Spain, but was loaned to Segundo club Xerez where he never saw the field. Former child prodigy Freddy Adu was loaned from his Portugese club Benfica to Ligue One side Monaco, but the 20-year old never really figured into the team’s plans while in the south of France. Now back with their original clubs both Americans are looking for more playing time. Rumors had been swirling around Altidore going to Greece and playing for Olympiakos, but no deal ever materialized. The latest news on Altidore is that Spanish club Malaga CF is back in the hunt for the striker according to goal.com and radio reports out of Spain. As for Freddy Adu there was reported interest from an unnamed Dutch club a few days ago, but he is now currently training with Benfica.

5.       David Beckham and the Galaxy Face Barcelona in the Rose Bowl  

This month European clubs such as Chelsea, AC Milan, and Inter Milan have drawn huge crowds across America hinting at a growing fan base for “The Beautiful Game” stateside. This coming Saturday’s match between David Beckham’s L.A. Galaxy and Champions League winners, Barcelona, should  add to what has been a great summer for soccer in this country. There should be a great atmosphere inside Pasadena’s massive Rose Bowl. Barcelona has two of the biggest names in world football on roster in Thierry Henry and Lionel Messi along with a slew of other world class stars. Messi has to have the inside track for FIFA’s Player of the Year award after leading Barcelona past Manchester United in the Champions League Final earlier this year in Rome. Saturday’s game should be competitive as the Galaxy are currently playing wonderfully in MLS while Barcelona’s squad is out of form with the La Liga season kicking off at the end of August. Regardless, this David vs. Goliath match should make for good television (Saturday, 8 P.M. EST, Fox Soccer Channel).

Feel free to comment below!

Since Bob Bradley’s boys shocked the world in South Africa taking down Spain this past Wednesday US Soccer has forced itself into the American sports mainstream media machine. It’s been nice seeing the Men’s National Team talked about on every radio and television show for once. No matter what anyone says the victory over the number one team in the world changes things for the US. ... You can check out my story about the game itself at theloveofsports.com (the article was quoted on Sportscenter's Blog Buzz feature). I’ve had number of things on my mind since the victory that I’d like to express generally related to US Soccer.

Attention, those still calling for Coach Bob Bradley’s head please just go back to your mother’s basements. Though some US fans would rather have a flashy name for a head coach, I’ve always liked Bradley as a coach. All that you hear from players past and present is love for the guy. On the pitch he has a Clint Eastwood-like stoneface demeanor completely focused at the task at hand. He hasn’t been perfect in his few years on the job, but in this tournament I think he has found a core group of players that can give us a good shot at next year’s World Cup. His son Michael Bradley who starts on the squad at center midfield is even fierier than the old man calling out the media in the states for not appreciating the Egypt win getting the squad to the semifinal. And for Christ’s sake they just beat the best team in the world 2-0.

Bradley’s strategy of not over committing on defense and taking advantage of the Spanish on the counterattack worked beautifully against La Roja. He needed his men to leave everything they had out on the field for his game plan to work and that’s exactly what they did. It reminded me of how Chelsea played Barcelona in the Champions League semifinal minus the brilliance of Iniesta spoiling the title for the London club (Thank God he wasn’t available for Spain in our match). There’s something about how the US squad just dug in and went to war in the trenches that’s completely American. Bradley has earned his chance to take our team to the World Cup next year so all the crazy talk about his job needs to end.

It was a mixed bag for US Soccer’s spin around the American mainstream media circuit after the colossal win. When the supposed “sports experts” on television are forced to talk about soccer instead of doing the research and keeping up with the team they resort typically negativity about how soccer doesn’t matter in this country and we’re barely mediocre at the international level. However, with such a historic win the majority of the coverage was pretty positive. Dan Patrick interviewed Landon Donovan on his radio show and convinced him to save his game jersey for the station’s studio. On Mike & Mike in the Morning, Mike Greenberg who talked extensively about how much he enjoyed watching the game even though he wasn’t a big soccer fan. When Dempsey scored the second goal he found himself alone on his Stairmaster screaming at the top of his lungs. On PTI, Wilbon and Kornhesier apologized for not being prepared when they questioned the Americans’ validity in advancing to semifinal after the Egypt game adopting the US Men’s Soccer as their new favorite team.

Not surprisingly Jim Rome first claimed he wouldn’t be negative about the US’s win, but then went on another dumb ass tangent about how soccer doesn’t matter in America and no one cares about it. Instead of showing clips of the game he mainly used images of soccer hooligans burning things. I’m amazed that someone as close minded, arrogant, and stupid has his own nationally syndicated show. Rome is an ass clown with a bad tan. But everyone already knew that. If anyone deserves to be out of work in this economy it’s him and his creepy goatee.

Those people like Rome who would love nothing more than soccer to fail in this country, who point to how the Women’s team winning the World Cup and David Beckham didn’t instantly turn America into a soccer nation don’t understand that soccer won’t become top sport overnight, but is a process that will take time. In recent years the sport has seen tremendous growth in the US. Say what you want about Beckham, but his worldwide exposure gave MLS some much needed publicity and won the league a lot of new soccer fans. The product MLS puts out on the field gets better every year as the teams are alluring better talent than it has in the past. Clubs like Toronto FC and the Seattle Sounders are selling out of season tickets without ever playing a game before. More and more the best American players are playing over in Europe’s top leagues. Did I mention the US just beat Spain? I still can’t get over it.

This past February’s US vs. Mexico game set TV ratings records for viewers. A pro-American crowd sold out Crew Stadium in Columbus as Michael Bradley scored two goals to defeat El Tri in the World Cup Qualifier. Viewership of the Champions League Final on ESPN was up some 30% from last year. ESPN has made serious strides in their soccer coverage with their MLS game of the week and national team coverage. Fox Soccer Channel has turned into a one-stop-shop in this country for soccer fans airing tons of European league games as well as producing nightly reports and the popular talk show “Fox Football Fone In”. FSC really needs to start televising their games in HD. It’s hard to watch game that’s not in HD anymore.

I’m a former shoulder pad toting soccer hater. But I went to Europe for a summer and realized that soccer really was the biggest game on earth and thought wouldn’t it be great if the US were the best in the world at it. Soccer is on the rise in America people. Can you dig it!?!