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<DIV class=pagetitle><H1>Gulati mismanaged the hiring process</H1></DIV><DIV class=bylinebox style="MARGIN-TOP: 8px"><DIV class=bylinetext>Jeff Carlisle
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With the news that Bob Bradley has been named as the next head coach of the U.S. men's national team, I can conclude the following: This is a terrible development for both American soccer in general and U.S. Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati in particular. <DIV class=phinline>
<DIV style="WIDTH: 205px"><DIV class=photocred2>Essy Ghavameddini/WireImage</DIV><DIV class=photosubtext>L.A. Galaxy coach Frank Yallop would have been a better choice.</DIV></DIV></DIV>
This is in no way meant to be a knock on the coaching abilities of Bradley. Although his track record as a head coach in MLS has been mixed, it has had its share of successes, and among the pool of American coaches, he always has been one of the brighter lights. But to go from thinking that former German boss Juergen Klinsmann was going to take over to realizing that Bradley will assume the post -- on a temporary basis, no less -- amounts to a buzzkill of colossal proportions. It's like going to a concert expecting to see Luciano Pavarotti, only to watch Clay Aiken turn up instead. Both guys can sing, but given the choice, whom would you rather listen to?
It begs the question of why Gulati parted ways with former head coach Bruce Arena in the first place. My assumption -- and I don't think I was alone in thinking this -- was that Gulati would attempt to distance himself as much as possible from the Arena Era by hiring a big name, one who not only would present a kinder, gentler face to the public but who possessed a considerably richer coaching pedigree. Klinsmann certainly fit the bill, and although he would have inherited the same players Arena had, the possibility existed that he could have led them to better things. Instead, in Bradley, the U.S. is left with a coach who, despite his many talents, is a former assistant of Arena's and probably will squeeze no more out of his charges than his ex-boss did. This is not progress.
I also question whether this saga is less about ability and more about controlling the areas of player development that are under the USSF's purview. I'm guessing both Arena and Klinsmann wanted more say over things than Gulati was willing to tolerate. Bradley, it would seem, had no such demands.
I suppose on the one hand, Gulati could be praised for his patience and that he could be merely biding his time until his ideal candidate becomes available. But from what I can gather, the good folks at the USSF are no closer to finding that person than when they parted ways with Arena five months ago. This can only lead me to determine that the entire process has been completely mismanaged by Gulati.
Remember all the big names that supposedly were interested in the U.S. job? Former Argentina coach Jose Pekerman, ex-England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson and current Manchester United assistant Carlos Queiroz were just a few of the names on the list. It now looks as though Gulati used these coaches as a means of convincing Klinsmann that there was competition for the job when none existed. Once Klinsmann called Gulati's bluff, the USSF president was left drawing dead.
And when Gulati was left trying to pick up the piec
Archive </DIV><DIV style="FLOAT: left"></DIV></DIV><BR clear=all><DIV class=text11 style="BACKGROUND: rgb(255,255,255) 0% 50%; moz-background-clip: initial; moz-background-origin: initial; moz-background-inline-policy: initial"><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>
With the news that Bob Bradley has been named as the next head coach of the U.S. men's national team, I can conclude the following: This is a terrible development for both American soccer in general and U.S. Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati in particular. <DIV class=phinline>
<DIV style="WIDTH: 205px"><DIV class=photocred2>Essy Ghavameddini/WireImage</DIV><DIV class=photosubtext>L.A. Galaxy coach Frank Yallop would have been a better choice.</DIV></DIV></DIV>
This is in no way meant to be a knock on the coaching abilities of Bradley. Although his track record as a head coach in MLS has been mixed, it has had its share of successes, and among the pool of American coaches, he always has been one of the brighter lights. But to go from thinking that former German boss Juergen Klinsmann was going to take over to realizing that Bradley will assume the post -- on a temporary basis, no less -- amounts to a buzzkill of colossal proportions. It's like going to a concert expecting to see Luciano Pavarotti, only to watch Clay Aiken turn up instead. Both guys can sing, but given the choice, whom would you rather listen to?
It begs the question of why Gulati parted ways with former head coach Bruce Arena in the first place. My assumption -- and I don't think I was alone in thinking this -- was that Gulati would attempt to distance himself as much as possible from the Arena Era by hiring a big name, one who not only would present a kinder, gentler face to the public but who possessed a considerably richer coaching pedigree. Klinsmann certainly fit the bill, and although he would have inherited the same players Arena had, the possibility existed that he could have led them to better things. Instead, in Bradley, the U.S. is left with a coach who, despite his many talents, is a former assistant of Arena's and probably will squeeze no more out of his charges than his ex-boss did. This is not progress.
I also question whether this saga is less about ability and more about controlling the areas of player development that are under the USSF's purview. I'm guessing both Arena and Klinsmann wanted more say over things than Gulati was willing to tolerate. Bradley, it would seem, had no such demands.
I suppose on the one hand, Gulati could be praised for his patience and that he could be merely biding his time until his ideal candidate becomes available. But from what I can gather, the good folks at the USSF are no closer to finding that person than when they parted ways with Arena five months ago. This can only lead me to determine that the entire process has been completely mismanaged by Gulati.
Remember all the big names that supposedly were interested in the U.S. job? Former Argentina coach Jose Pekerman, ex-England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson and current Manchester United assistant Carlos Queiroz were just a few of the names on the list. It now looks as though Gulati used these coaches as a means of convincing Klinsmann that there was competition for the job when none existed. Once Klinsmann called Gulati's bluff, the USSF president was left drawing dead.
And when Gulati was left trying to pick up the piec
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