Firing Bob Bradley could be the worst move US Soccer could ever make

Only eight more month until the World Cup kicks off in South Africa. And if all goes according to plan only two more qualifying matches and the Americans will secure the nation's sixth straight bid to Soccer's (Football's) biggest stage. While optimism runs high for the Americans chances to qualify for the cup, and even some optimism about the Yanks prospects in the tournament. There is still some unease with the US Men's National Team among supporters of the Red, White, and Blue. That unease is for position of manager, as dissidents in Sam's Army are calling for the firing of Head Coach Bob Bradley.

Now let me get this point off as elegantly as possible: FIRING BOB BRADLEY WILL BE THE DUMBEST MOVE IN THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN SPORT. OK, now that is settled allow me to educate the mis-informed who want to replace the manager of the national team only three quarters of a year away from the World Cup.

The first criticism from the soccer peanut gallery, is that Bob Bradley's team has not been the all powerful force in CONCACAF. This is a true statement, but not a good excuse to fire Bradley. This is a true statement currently the Americans do sit first in the region, but a 5-2-1 record is certainly not a characteristic of the 'Giants of CONCACAF'.The Americans only have 16 points and a top three spot is not guaranteed yet. However, does dominance in qualifying equal world cup success? In the 2006 World Cup Qualifying campaign the Americans finished first in the group with 22 points, 9 points clear of Trinidad and Tobago for fourth place. However, as just about every American Soccer fan would know, the 2006 World Cup did not go all to well. In 2002 the American finished in third in CONCACAF, just qualifying for the World Cup by edging out Honduras by three points. The 2002 World Cup was a huge success as the Americans were the surprise of the tournament advancing to the quarterfinals. Point being, easy qualification does not equal a successful World Cup, and a difficult Qualifying campaign does not mean an early exit. So leave the US qualifying effort alone, you just need to get in the tournament, nobody really cares where you finish, just get in the tournament.

The next biggest complain I hear from Bob Bradley is that he does not put the best line-up on the field at all times. OK, reality check, this is not Brazil, Spain, or England, an endless pool of world class talent does not exist in the American System, yet. Therefore American managers, whether it is Bradley or anybody else will have to be creative and improvise a line-up. The hardest part of job for the head of a National Team is to decide which players are in form, who is healthy, and who is competing at the highest level. These factors go into determining the roster for International fixtures. The struggle for Bradley how do you balance a player being at top form versus a player playing at a higher league. When most of the players play in the MLS, but a good majority playing in Europe it is easy to put the European based players ahead of the MLS based. However is that the most effective. DeMarcus Beasley, has not played for Rangers since who knows when, should he get a spot over Sacha Kljestan of Chivas USA, who while in the MLS, is on good form. Where does sitting on the bench being inactive for a European club no longer trump playing regularly, and on good form for an MLS club overlap. These are the situations that plague Bradley, sometimes he hit the line-up straight on. Other times he does not, but that is what substitutions are for.

Finally the biggest criticism is the lack consistent results the Americans have posted. Yes, the Americans have most definitely let some points slip through in qualifying, and they NEED to fix this nasty habit of letting early goals in to inferior opponents. Even in the Confederation's Cup, the highlight of US Soccer's summer the Americans only went 2-3 in South Africa. Had it not been for a Brazilian thrashing of Italy, the Americans would finish a disappointing third in the group. Also in the final the Yanks has a 2-0 lead with 45 minutes left to secure the nations first FIFA title, what do they do? The Brazilians put 3 goals on the Starts and Stripes and the US settles for Silver.

Put aside that sour Confederation's Cup, which I know is hard to do. And just look at what Bradley has done for US Soccer, the US won the 2007 Gold Cup in Bradley's first year (2009 Gold Cup not worth noticing since it is just redundant to have a regional championship, DURING regional qualifying, CONCACAF please fix this). The American have scheduled more difficult opponents: such as that 3 match run of England, Spain, and Argentina in 2 weeks. Most importantly the Americans have seen success with Bradley, a second at the Confederations Cup, where the Americans looked dangerous against world-class competition. Finally I will leave the nay sayers with this final statement. Bob Bradley has lead the Americans to first place in World Cup Qualifying with only 2 rounds left.....WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT.