Bradley Gets Contract Extension Through 2014

Bob Bradley gets four more years as US manager. (Getty Images)

Four more years! That’s the cry, or yell depending on which camp you sit in today. U.S. Soccer has agreed to a contract extension with U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Bob Bradley today. The news broke this evening to a flurry of comments across the net from Bradley haters and supporters.

Could US Soccer have done better with this? Sure but name one coach that would have been a good fit for the system right now? Yes Juregen Klinsmann was the attractive candidate out there that would have probably been the next coach had Bradley actually have taken a job in Europe this summer.

I know the haters will say its four more years of bad lineup choices, Jonathan Bornstein-like players, and questionable tactics. Most of Bradley’s losses in the last four years come against top level countries like Brazil, Italy, Argentina and Holland.

On the flip side you can’t deny what Bradley did for the US in the last four years by expanding the talent pool and bringing solid results. Winning CONCACAF qualifying, placing second in the Confederation’s Cup, winning their World Cup group. Those are results to be proud of and know that the US game has improved in the last four years.

There still is a lot of room to grow with Bradley and the next round has to be getting the team ready for winning another Gold Cup next summer. Bradley has a few friendlies this fall to begin that process. Hopefully he takes the time to once again give a chance to some new faces in the system. Its a lot of trial and error with Bradley but its for the best to do it like this.

I’m a bit of a fan of the extension for Bradley. While I have some issues with how he does things I don’t see a better coach for the US team than him right now. He knows the system better than anyone out there and he knows what it takes to win with the mix of players from MLS and abroad.

Getting to do another World Cup cycle is not easy and it typically does not yield great success but saying that I’d take stability over constant change any day.