The US National team gets their man...sort of

So with little fan fare, the US National Soccer team announces that "interim" coach Bob Bradley will have that tag removed and he will simply be the US National Team Coach. So what does this mean? Will the US National team vault into favorites for the 2010 world cup? Will this allow the US to at least win the Gold Cup?

Before the press gets all excited about this let us take a big swig from the reality water fountain.

• First of all the US Soccer President, Gulati, went hard and heavy after the German exPat Jurgen Klinsmann after the former Monaco striker stepped down from the Germany National side. It was widely believed that Klinsmann could just name his price and the US federation would give him the keys to the castle. In a move that is not to surprising, Jurgen said thanks but no thanks.
  
• Second, the expectations for the US National team was completely misaligned with the reality of the talent on the pitch. After a 1/4 final run in South Korea/Japan the US press set the expectations for the 2006 world cup so high as to guarantee failure...which is exactly what happened after 3 games in Germany.
  
• Finally the mountain the US will have to climb remains so steep as to be too daunting for the majority of top notch coaches to even want to tackle. Any coach that takes over the reigns will have unachievable expectations. When Bora Milunitovic led the US team to the second round of the 1994 world cup, that was seen as a huge step forward. Arena took the team to levels otherwise unheard of - the 1/4 finals of the 2002 world cup (I know that in 1930 the US made it to the 1/2 finals and ended up finishing 3rd...however that was the first tournament where most European nations did not participate). The next manager is expected to do what? Win the World Cup? That is a burden few decorated managers want to tackle.

So Mr Bradley is the lucky person to take on these challenges. I think that he could be a good manager for the squad, he comes in without the fanfare a Klinsmann would have had. He knows the US player as well as the US system better than any manager Gulati could have poached from Europe. He is a no nonsense type manager...I think this is necessary with a team that rested a little to much on its undeserved laurels from the 2002 world cup...he will need his discipline to ensure that underachievers such as Landon Dungavan try to live up to their over hyped potential or sit on the pine. He knows the US system and players, which is where the core of the team will have to come if they are to find success. The US will need to turn to MLS type players for their core and leverage the ex Pats for the talent and skills to take them to the next level.

Will Bradley bring back the Rimet trophy from South Africa? I don't think so. But he will add some stability to a team that needs discipline and direction. The US team is a bit lost post world cup, Bradley can bring them the direction necessary to put that train back on the tracks. Too bad Gulati took so long to realize this....and might sack him if a more sexy manager makes himself available. Maybe he should offer Fort Knox to Mourinho...now that would be funny.