Bob Bradley’s decision to manage in Europe paid off today as he was named manager of the Premier League Club Swansea City.
Neil W. Blackmon
Former US Men’s National team manager Bob Bradley agreed to terms to become the 47th manager of Swansea City Association Football Club Monday morning, replacing Italian Francesco Guidolin, according to a report from Grant Wahl at Sports Illustrated. The move makes Bradley the first American manager in the history of the English Premier League. Bradley, 58, was previously the manager of Le Havre, in the French second division. According to reports, the American manager was selected over Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs and Marcelino, most recently the manager of Villarreal.
Swansea City are under new ownership, with American co-managing owners Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan heavily involved in the decision to hire Bradley, according to Wahl. Landon Donovan, currently playing soccer again for the LA Galaxy, also joined Swansea City briefly this summer in an advisory role. Swansea are currently in 17th place through 7 Premier League matches in the 2016-17 campaign, and are bracing for a relegation battle. With only 4 points to date, Bradley will be immediately under the microscope.
In truth, the nervy parameters of a relegation fight likely distinguished Bradley from the other finalists for the position. Bradley has a proven track record of excelling in demanding and difficult conditions.
From 2011-2013, at the dawn of the political “Arab Spring” and the Egyptian political revolution, Bob Bradley managed the Egyptian national team.
Despite taxing and sometimes violent political strife within Egypt that forced the Pharaohs to play all qualifying matches either on the road or in empty stadiums, Bradley led the Egyptians to the precipice of World Cup qualification before falling in a final playoff to a star-studded Ghana side that had reached the quarterfinals of the 2010 World Cup. Bradley was relieved after the Ghana playoff defeat, but made a lasting impact and impression for his steely resolve and leadership in a difficult time. His experience in Egypt was chronicled in the fine documentary film, American Pharaoh.
Bradley left Egypt with a host of suitors in MLS, but opted instead to pursue his personal dream of managing at the highest levels in Europe. He found work at Stabæk, in Norway, where he again faced adversity, this time of the financial, not political, variety. With little cash to work with, Bradley rescued Stabæk from relegation and guided the team to a third place finish in the Tippeligaen, which resulted in qualification for the Europa League.
Bradley left Norway for Le Havre, in the French second division.
By any reasonable measure, the move was a calculated gamble. Why leave a team that will play in Europe for a team in the second division of France? But Bradley, a deliberate and methodical man who almost never answers even a simple question without a pause and moment of reflection, believed managing in France, and not in the footballing shadowlands of Scandanavia, would afford him more visibility to show his managerial chops to the rest of the continent. There was immense risk. Fail in France, and he would have left a side in Europe for a middling French side with little cash and no European prospects. A return to MLS would have been easily the best outcome.
But Bradley’s Le Havre thrived, moving from midtable when he was hired mid-season to the edge of promotion, finishing one goal short of reaching the French top flight.
Bradley’s calculated risk paid off.
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From 2006-2011, of course, Bradley managed the US Men’s National Team, first as the interim manager in the aftermath of Bruce Arena’s resignation and later, after contract negotiations with Jurgen Klinsmann failed in the spring of 2007, the permanent manager.
Bradley’s successes as US manager were nearly immediate, as the team defeated Mexico to win the Gold Cup in the summer of 2007.
Despite this victory and what by recent standards was a smooth World Cup qualifying campaign, Bradley was never fully embraced by US Men’s National team fans. A list of grievances with Bradley piled up almost in lockstep with the number of American victories. The US were “too negative” tactically, said many, resulting in the lamentable label “Bunker Ball” for the US style of play. The US should possess the ball more, be creative and play attacking soccer, was the refrain.
Others opined that the US would never establish itself as a global soccer power with an American manager. A foreign-born manager from a footballing power was needed to infuse American with a style suitable for competition on “the continent.” As Charles Boehm reminded Americans just last week, there’s no need to mention “which” continent. The Americans were footballing novices, unbelievers in need of an apostle to evangelize and proselytize the culture into smart football. This wouldn’t be possible with an American gaffer, or so was the refrain.
Somewhere in between these two interweaving narratives sat Jurgen Klinsmann, always the first choice of US Soccer Federation leader Sunil Gulati. The interim label may have been shaken loose by Bradley’s positive results and Klinsmann’s contractual demands, but the foundation of Bradley as second-choice or second-best remained.
Bob Bradley at the center of the US win over Spain in 2009.
The US, meanwhile, kept winning.
Blessed with one of the better counterattacking footballers of the last half-century in Landon Donovan, Bob Bradley designed a smart defensive system designed to cede harmless possession in deeper midfield zones, with US wide players tucking in quickly and launching frenetic counters when they won possession. The US were rarely static tactically from match to match, but the general system was privileged over constant tinkering in the name of pragmatism.
After a brutal start, the US rallied to beat Spain, at the onset of one of the more successful international periods in history, 2-0 at the 2009 Confederations Cup. The loss was one of two for Spain in competitive matches over a nearly 4 year span that included a World Cup and European championship. Bradley’s tactical acumen in that match– forcing Spain to counterattack and ushering the tiki-taka wide by pinching his fullbacks into the center– was the blueprint utilized in the other defeat suffered by La Roja in the period, 1-0 to Switzerland to open the 2010 World Cup.
Ottmar Hitzfeld conceded as much to me in 2012, noting “(Bradley) knew the only thing to do was to force the Spanish outside of their cherished zones. Usher them wide and make them play off the ground as much as possible. We felt we had a team that could replicate what the US had done.”
The US nearly won the Confederations Cup after the famous win over Spain as well, leading Brazil 2-0 before falling to a furious Brazilian comeback in the second half. That game remains the only men’s international final the US have ever participated in, and it featured perhaps the most tactically perfect goal the United States have ever scored.
Bunker ball, indeed.
The Americans won the CONCACAF qualifying HEX under Bradley as well, and entered World Cup 2010 with tremendous confidence. A gritty draw with England opened the tournament, and after a comeback secured another draw against Slovenia, the US defeated Algeria 1-0 to win their World Cup group for the first and only time in the modern era.
In keeping with tradition, Bradley was given very little credit at home, with most focusing on Landon Donovan’s heroism against Algeria and Bradley’s ill-fated decision to start Ricardo Clark in the round of 16 against Ghana, a decision that contributed to the US falling behind early when a Clark giveaway resulted in a goal by Ghana’s Kevin Prince-Boateng in the 4th minute. That Tim Howard was beaten near post, or that the US controlled the match for large swaths after falling behind, didn’t fit into the narrative. Neither did the ill-fated, rare communication error between Jay DeMerit and Carlos Bocanegra that resulted in Ghana’s extra time goal. Bradley was excoriated in the press for blowing a golden opportunity at guiding the US to a quarterfinal.
Always accountable, Bradley deflected blame from the players and shouldered the burden of defeat and disappointment. His ability to accept or at the least consider criticism is a character trait that will serve him well in the Premier League, particularly in the strained and confined box that surrounds clubs in relegation fights.
Bradley also has the rare ability to be self-referential and highly reflexive. His decisions to radically alter tactics halfway through both the Slovenia and Ghana matches at the 2010 World Cup were lifesavers, though he frequently received more criticism for what he got wrong to begin with than what he fixed. Moreover, Bradley understood the US needed to find ways to improve tempo and improve its athleticism and pace at the back, so he moved DaMarcus Beasley to fullback in qualifying to add pace to a defense lacking it and then spent the aftermath of the 2010 World Cup utilizing and capping a new crop of Americans who could better move the ball and improve the team defensively. Some of these players, like Mix Diskerud and Alejandro Bedoya, would play roles ranging from important to critical in the World Cup cycle to come.
Bob Bradley celebrates a US qualifying win in 2009.
Of course Bradley was never afforded the chance to manage that cycle.
The US lost 4-2 to Mexico in the 2011 Gold Cup final and Bradley was fired by Gulati shortly thereafter. That the US played a stylish, attacking brand of soccer in that match and were undone by an untimely injury to a fullback and Eric Lichaj’s lacking an inch or two more of vertical leap on Gio Dos Santos’s divine chip did not seem to factor into Gulati’s thinking. The US finally had a chance at their man, Jurgen Klinsmann, and the Mexico loss was simply the space Gulati needed to make the move appear sensible.
Klinsmann entered promising a “proactive and attacking” style, but have played their best soccer pragmatically, defending smartly and counterattacking. And Klinsmann’s record in competitive matches is similar to Bradley’s, despite the US qualifying for and participating in more difficult competitions under the American manager.
All told, Bradley’s tenure as US manager was marked by stability, both in tactical system and preparation, as well as high-water mark results. When he was fired, no less than Sir Alex Ferguson noted to the US media that it was “a shame,” saying “I was disappointed to here it because he is such a diligent, hard-worker and a top tactical mind. He was doing a fine job.”
Bradley now moves to the league Sir Alex reigned for decades, with a chance to show the world what a well-kept secret his tactical mind and sedulous style is.
The early morning reaction to his hire from across the ocean seemed bent on disregarding his international accomplishments and managerial acumen, questioning why Swansea City would hire a “manager from the 2nd division of France.”
Bob Bradley arrives from the French second division where his Le Havre side were in a disappointing 11th place after 9 games. #Swans https://t.co/k0yn9ieT4b
— John Bennett (@JohnBennettBBC) October 3, 2016
Without much thought, others make the ahistorical suggestion that Bradley has only succeeded as an international manager, ignoring his club success with the Chicago Fire, Stabæk and recently, Le Havre.
@pglanville International football and the Premier League are two very different beasts.
— Rhys Padarn (@RPadarn) October 3, 2016
These criticisms demonstrate the heady task ahead.
The historical significance of being the first American to manage in the Premier League won’t be lost on the Princeton-educated Bradley. This is a manager who actively chose the path of most resistance when money, comfort and his choice of clubs awaited at home in MLS. The history of the moment is part of why Bradley chose to move from Egypt to Norway.
Bradley will also understand, then, the importance that he acquit himself well in Wales.
The Swans aren’t a particularly talented group.
The team’s best player is probably Gylfi Sigurðsson, one of Iceland’s EURO 2016 heroes, but hardly himself a scorer and outside of Leroy Fer, a chance creator with very little help. The Swans have been leaky defensively as well, conceding 12 goals in 7 games and still adjusting to life without Wales star Ashley Williams, who left in the summer for Everton.
Bradley, under a heavy microscope simply because of his nationality, will be asked to guide a leaky vessel through murky, icy waters. The expectation by many will be that he will fail, that he is a lost Yankee in soccer’s royal court, and that Americans should leave the task of managing top level football to those from “the continent.” And if Bradley does fail, it could take a while before another American manager is afforded a similar opportunity.
But if any American has prepared himself his whole professional career for life under the Premier League microscope, it is almost certainly Bob Bradley. So often written-off as limited or as a second-choice, Bradley has spent a lifetime delivering quality football in the face of dissatisfied scrutiny and expectation.
The bet here is that Bob delivers again.
Neil W. Blackmon co-founded The Yanks Are Coming. Follow him on Twitter @nwblackmon.