Assessing Bob Bradley; it was always about South Africa

PRETORIA, South Africa – Symptomatic of soccer’s rise in the country is that the United States has joined other parts of the world in its vast legion of national team managers.

Oh, I know there can’t possibly be as many here as other places. If you counted every person from sea to shining sea who swears they know more than Bob Bradley himself about how best to manage the national team, then triple it, you still wouldn’t achieve anywhere near the number of similar armchair gaffers in Brazil. A few other countries, too.

But the fact is, the number of people out there who feel qualified to critically analyze the national team’s selections has reached a certain critical mass. And that doesn’t make Bob Bradley’s job any easier.

When I’ve mentioned this to Bradley in the past, he seems a little sensitive to it. Not so much that critics are out there. He’s a big boy and he knows the drill. He seems irritated sometimes that journalists ask him about it. He’s not sure there are as many Bradley Bashers out there as some of us seem to think. He could be right, too. One person screaming loud can be heard, after all, over 10 people silent in their blessed content. It’s the vocal minority effect.

Well, whatever you think of the man, I wrote today at SI.com that you should wipe the slate clean. All previous analysis is now pretty much moot. Why? Because all along, assessing his performance was always about the three games now at hand. Enjoy.