Bradley as US soccer coach

Looks like US soccer is going with Bob Bradley for the long haul. I think he's the right man for the job. Don't get me wrong, it would be really nice to get a big international name as our coach, like Gerard Houllier. It'd feel really good and make it look like US soccer is reaching the big time. But what are we trying to accomplish here? This isn't the MLS: international recognition isn't worth anything. We just need to win. In his four games at the helm, Bradley has done that. He's made a poor team into a winner at Chivas USA, and won a title with the Chicago Fire.

The MLS remains the key to our success. Most of our current international stars got their start in the MLS. And our future stars are almost all playing in the MLS now. Logically, a former MLS coach is the right man to tap that pipeline.

I still think Juergen Klinsmann would have been an outstanding selection as well. He's a winner, he lives in the US, and he believes in US soccer. But he's unique in that combination. After him, I think we were right to go with an American.

Is Bradley just another Arena? I hope so. US soccer got better under Arena. The reason it was time for him to go wasn't because he was the wrong man for the job. He was the right man for a long time, but his leadership had grown stale. I hope Bradley is like Arena, I just hope he doesn't use the same gameplans as Bruce (like Steve McClaren seems to be doing in England, following Sven Goran Erikson's tactics).

Most of all, I like Bradley's menacing bald look. He just looks like an son of a bitch, and all the best soccer coaches are sons of bitches: Sir Alex Fergusen, Jose Mourinho, Arsene Wenger, even Bruce Arena.