2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup: Bob Bradley Must Be Sacked

I have been waiting months to finally write this one. I've been waiting too long to get this off my chest, and now, I have my chance. And so I seize the opportunity in the style of Giovani dos Santos, who made Tim Howard curse the day Pasadena became his manager's Waterloo.

Mr. Robert Bradley. You have made a most admirable, gallant effort in defending what little reputation you had left in this, you Waterloo, your Little Bighorn, your last stand in the Queen City: Pasadena, California. But all good things must come to and end. You realize that, right? Right.

Mr. Bradley, it is time for you to officially get the sack.

I, along, with millions of football fans here in the United States of America, have lost patience with whatever you had in trying to restore your name and notoriety. Instead, your career as our manager ends at the hands of our eternal rival, Jose Manuel de la Torre's Mexico, to the tune of 4-2.

I had lost my vote of confidence in you ever since the States were eliminated by Ghana in the FIFA 2010 World Cup Round of 16. This was your chance to gain my trust, my vote. Instead, the vote of no confidence remains as a result of a campaign that was no better than the last few times in international competition.

In the 2009 Confederations Cup, we surrender a 2-0 lead to Brazil and fall 3-2. In the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup, we get flattened by Mexico 5-0. And in extra time, we lose to Ghana 2-1 thanks to that lout known as Asamoah Gyan in extra time.

For a few fleeting moments, it seemed that you would indeed regain my vote, after leading 2-0 off of goals by Michael Bradley and Landon Donovan. But your men made the criminal decision of checking out after that, and Mexico, the tournament favorites (credit to them for playing their game; I called for them to do so, anyway), proceeded to score four straight unanswered goal, capped by a Pablo Barrera brace.

When you fail to let the concepts of sound defending permeate through the minds of small-timers like Jonathan Bornstein, it really puts a stain on your reputation. It really does.

These are the types of matches that put your job on the line. I am still stunned that Sunil Gulati kept you after the Ghana match. I will hold him in the same regard as the chavs of the corrupt Executive Committee that run FIFA if he stil decides to keep you. If Gulati knows what's best for him, he has to let you go.

And to be honest with you, it's been a great ride. We've had our share of success, highlighted by out 2007 Gold Cup victory. However, that really was the only accomplishment you have delivered fo0r this country, Mr. Bradley.

You could have had a second Gold Cup and even a Confed Cup to your records if your team learned to hold on to the lead against big-name opponents.

The world must give credit to Mexico for bothering to meet the expectations set. They were tabbed to win this tournament, and they had all the firepower they needed to get the job done.

However, that bears little consolation to me and to everyone who are fed up with you failing to deliver when it matters most.

Again, as I have said many, many times to everyone I know, all good things must come to an end.

I hope the US Soccer Federation investigates what went wrong from this and does some head-rolling while they are at it. They are due to make some changes on the fly after this disastrous performance.

So, Mr. Robert Bradley, I want to personally thank you for your commitment to US Soccer, but it's time for you to officially be...sacked. You'll always have Paris...and the Chicago Fire job. I hear they're hiring.

Right, Frank Klopas?

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/748581-2011-concacaf-gold-cup-bob-bradley-must-be-sacked

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