At the risk of destroying my credibility with all American readers, I want to come out in defense of Bob Bradley.  He’s a good coach.  He’s doing a good job.  The criticisms of his regime and his work are almost completely without merit.  And he’s probably going to win the Gold Cup.  Over Mexico.  Again.  Before you denounce me as a fool, consider the following:

He’s Picking The Right Team..........We are constantly being told that Bradley won’t pick the right players, but when you actually engage in the argument, there’s no there there.  I had a guy screaming at me after the Guadaloupe game that Bradley is horrible and won’t pick the right players.  O.K., I said, but who are these players?  Who should Bradley be selecting, but is keeping out of the team?  You know what the answer was?  “Well, you can’t tell me that in a nation of 310 million, we shouldn’t be producing more latin and black players who are good with the ball.”  I agree, but what the hell does that have to do with Bradley?  A selection controversy is Argentina choosing between Tevez, Messi, Higuain and Aguero, when only 2 of them will play.  It’s Italy back in the day, choosing between Totti, Del Piero and Baggio.  It’s Brazil every 4 years.  Pay attention: there is no pool of world class players that Bradley is ignoring.  He’s picking the best guys.  None of them went to La Masia.  That’s not his fault.

The Critics Have No Shame...........When Bradley makes a decision, he has to live with the results.  His critics have a better deal.  They can demand something, and then when Bradley adopts their idea and it doesn’t work, that’s not a repudiation of their analysis.  Bradley’s still a bad coach, and they are on to the next suggestion.  Remember the Jose Francisco Torres bandwagon prior to the 2010 World Cup?  I do.  I was on it.  Well, Bradley gave the crowd what they wanted, and started Torres against Slovenia.  I was at Ellis Park watching it.  It was a disaster.  Anybody admit they were wrong?  No, they just move to the next critique.  Recently, it’s been all about Tim Ream, seen as the future at center back.  Bradley started him the first two games of this tournament.  I like Ream, and I bet he’s a starter in 2014, but he was killing us against Canada and Panama.  Now I’m hearing that he should be playing Freddy Adu.  Seriously?  2 weeks ago I was hearing what a joke it was that Bradley picked him for the squad.  From the same people!

Just Win Baby................As Leander Schlaeckens noted on World Football Daily last week, this current US squad peaked at the World Cup in 2010.  He’s right, except I think they may have peaked in 2009, at the Confederations Cup.  And that’s o.k.  But Bradley must try to win this tournament prior to turning the team over in preparation for 2014.  Sunil Gulati, US Soccer and the fan base all demand a Gold Cup victory, preferably over Mexico.  They also want the team to play better soccer and get younger.  All in good time.  We’re between cycles right now.  Bradley is actually being very pragmatic about this.  The next wave is not quite ready.  The veterans give us the best chance of winning this tournament.  And this tournament is the only thing that has mattered since South Africa, not a meaningless Spain friendly.  Imagine what they’d be saying about Bradley if he’d played Donovan in the Spain match and he was injured.  After this tournament, there will be no competitive matches for the US until August 2012 when the initial pre Hexagonal World Cup qualifiers begin.  By that time you could see a starting XI like this:  Howard, Lichaj, Ream, Gonzalez, Chandler, Edu, Bradley, Holden, Diskelruud, Dempsey and Altidore.  With Donovan, Agudelo, Jones, Shea, Bocanegra, Bedoya and Goodson in reserve.  That’s a brand new back four and a very nice age balance.  Actually, we could be better in 2014 than in 2010.

Believe me, I get frustrated when I see us lose to Paraguay and get owned by Brazil and Spain.  But Brazil and Spain are better than us.  I wish Rossi and Subotic had chosen us, but Chandler and Jones did and we’ll win a big one in the next couple years.  I’ve attended 8 Gold Cup matches, in Charlotte, Chicago, East Rutherford and Washington, D.C.  Mexico is playing fluid, attacking, possession soccer.  We look clumsy by comparison.  But we actually remind me of a typical German team post 1990 and pre 2006.  Not particularly attractive, not real likable......but in the semifinal again, and most likely the final.  And if you think Mexico is going to look that good, that fast, that cultured against us in a final, you’re crazy.  The US and Mexico will always be a great game for many reasons, among them the contrast in styles.  We will not be as open as Cuba, El Salvador and Costa Rica were, and Guatemala had El Tri very frustrated for 50 minutes on Saturday.  And I would rather have our semifinal then Mexico’s.  Honduras are no mugs.  In any event, if Bradley wins the Gold Cup with this team, he’ll add that to a resume that reads won the 2007 Gold Cup, lost the final of the 2009 Confederations Cup, won the Hexagonal, won our World Cup group over England, and lost the knockout game in extra time.  If that’s failure, I’ll have some more please.

Matthew Switalski is a 16th circuit judge in Macomb County, MI, USA and is a WFD premium member.  He is the Managing Editor of www.worldsoccerusa.com.