Filed under: English Premier League, US Soccer, U.S. Men’s National Team
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — U.S. national team coach Bob Bradley has emerged as the bookmakers’ favorite to take over at English Premier League club Aston Villa, and U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard, who stars at rival Everton, said Bradley would have the respect of his players if given the job.
“With his style, I think he’d be accepted by all the players. It’s hard to say how he’d do, because the way things happen now with managers in Europe, and certainly England, is pretty damn crazy. But overall I think he’d be accepted. And that’s the biggest thing, is player acceptance,” Howard said ahead of the national team’s friendly against Brazil.
American players are not such a novelty in European leagues anymore, and all but the most myopic of coaches, journalists and fans would have to admit that the U.S. has produced some talent. But respecting the American soccer mind is a whole different matter. U.S. coaches have found scant opportunities overseas, but Bradley appears to have broken the mold. The national team’s victory over Spain last summer, followed by its first-place finish in group play at the World Cup, seem to have convinced at least some overseas that this particular American can coach.
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson is one.
“I think he would do well,” he said last month in Philadelphia. “I like Bob. I like his approach. I think he has a steely determination about him and he goes into a lot of detail in his coaching. I think he’d do a fantastic job (in Europe).”
Bradley told FanHouse here that there was contact with Fulham last month regarding the London club’s vacancy, and now he’s come up as a possibility at Villa. Martin O’Neill submitted a surprising resignation on Monday, and Bradley, perhaps because of the link with Fulham, perhaps because of Villa’s American owner Randy Lerner, surfaced almost immediately as a candidate.
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