Bradley set up for more criticism
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Bob Bradley didn't just sign a contract extension Monday. He set himself up for another four years of criticism and doubt.
Whatever Bradley does between now and the next World Cup, it will never be enough for those who love to bash the United States head coach, his methods, his philosophy and his decisions.
And it needs to stop.
So much of the vitriol directed at Bradley, who took the USA to the round of 16 at the World Cup, came from frustration that former Germany boss Juergen Klinsmann was not appointed four years ago.
That sentiment likely will fester again, after it emerged that U.S. Soccer met with Klinsmann at some point between the USA's World Cup elimination and Monday's contract announcement.
Bradley is not the world's greatest coach but, he has done a strong and solid job with a tenacious yet limited group of players since taking over in 2006. A second-round defeat to Ghana was not the ideal way for the summer's soccer fun to end, yet the effort of topping a group that also contained England should not be underestimated.
He deserves better than the ludicrous current situation whereby Bradley bears the critical brunt for any defeat and his players reap the credit from victories.
It is not Bradley's fault that U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati opted for him four years ago and has done so again now. Therefore, any criticism directed at Bradley should not come as a result of who he was appointed instead of, but on the actual job he has performed.
On those grounds, he deserves a measure of respect. The summer in South Africa did not end in glory, but there can be no doubt it was a drastic improvement upon the pitiful showing in Germany four years earlier.
There will be plenty of armchair experts who don't like it, but Bradley's extension, which takes him past the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, makes sense. The 52-year-old is not the sort of figure who ever will be adored by his public yet his vision, intensity and work ethic have earned another crack at international success.
The best part of all this is that the sorry sideshow is now over. You know, the one where Bradley postured and made glowing statements admitting his interest in the vacant manager's job at English Premier League side Aston Villa, a position for which he never was in serious contention.
And the one where Gulati tried to match those hardball tactics – unless of course a "leak" that U.S. Soccer had met Klinsmann was unearthed, in a remarkable coincidence of timing, just when negotiations were heating up.
Now the USA can look forward. Unlike European and South American sides, there is no high-profile continental tournament to target – unless you count the CONCACAF Gold Cup, and we won't – and the length of the wait between now and Brazil is equal parts blessing and curse.
There is rebuilding to be done, with a backline that surely will need to be thoroughly renovated over the next few years and the increasing worry that precious few American forwards are getting goals, or even games, anywhere.
In that sense, time comes with value and provides the chance for young talents to rise through the ranks and blossom. Yet for Bradley it is also his enemy, as nothing he can do until the group stage of the 2014 World Cup will be enough to appease those determined to pour scorn on him.
For any nation, a period such as this should be one of optimism and the beginning of a long road that, if traveled correctly, can lead to a pot of gold. As it embarks down that path, the USA can at least be safe in the knowledge that it does so steered by a man who has taken the journey before, and will surely have learned to avoid some familiar pitfalls.
For those who simply can't bear the fact that Bradley remains in charge, ponder this: Perhaps your ire should be directed not at the man, but at the federation that decided to hand him the keys not once, but twice.
