Michael Bradley, Motor in U.S. Midfield, Needs a Tuneup
RECIFE, Brazil — If Landon Donovan was the face of United States soccer, then Michael Bradley was — and is — its motor. Bradley is a mainstay in the American lineup, operating in the midfield and generally acting as a conduit between the team’s defense and attack.
Through the first two games of this World Cup, however, Bradley has played inconsistently. He was largely invisible in the first match, a 2-1 win over Ghana, and, after a solid first half against Portugal last Sunday, he was conspicuous in the second half for all the wrong reasons. It was Bradley’s giveaway, deep into stoppage time, that led to Portugal’s crushing tying goal.
So now — with a game looming here against Germany on Thursday that will help determine whether the United States advances to the knockout stage or goes home — fans, analysts and observers have been bandying about a question that previously seemed unfathomable: Where does Bradley best fit?
To the harshest critics, the answer might be on the bench. Such an extreme reaction seems silly, if only because Coach Jurgen Klinsmann has no obvious alternatives even close to Bradley in terms of inherent talent. Bradley, to be sure, will play.
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But what, then, to make of his performances? In the buildup to the World Cup, Bradley was often cited as the player who would prove to be the most indispensable in Brazil. Instead, Bradley has not even been the most important midfielder on the United States team, as his partner, Jermaine Jones, has turned in two fantastic performances.
Jones scored the first United States goal against Portugal, curling in a shot from nearly 30 yards out.
Asked recently about what he has seen from Bradley, Jones hesitated.
“I don’t like to talk about teammates,” he said. “He tries his best.
“Sometimes maybe you don’t have the best day, but that’s happened a lot of times with me, too. The point is that he has to step on, and whatever happens, we have the chance for the next game.”
That hopeful optimism has been a recurrent theme, and it is not without merit. Statistically, Bradley has not been as poor as the criticism he has faced might suggest. With Bradley the team’s most frequent passer, his precision is paramount, and he has completed 84.8 percent of his passes in the past two games, according to the statistical website WhoScored.com.
That percentage is hardly poor, but it is a considerable drop from his accuracy in his final two seasons playing for Roma in the Italian league, where Bradley was closer to 90 percent.
Passing percentage is an important metric for Bradley because, in Klinsmann’s ideal strategy, the Americans keep possession of the ball and advance toward the goal patiently. That has not played out particularly well so far for the Americans, who were 24th out of 32 teams in possession through Wednesday’s games, with a team passing percentage of 81.2 percent, which ranked 19th. In other words, the Americans have not had the ball much and have not been able to keep possession once they get it.
Explanations for Bradley’s sputters vary. Some point to a slight change in tactics that has kept Bradley up the field more than his usual spot for the national team in the defensive midfield. Others wonder if Bradley’s return to Major League Soccer has affected him, though it seems unlikely since he played only six games with his new team, Toronto, before beginning World Cup training.
Regardless, a return of the more familiar Bradley is even more necessary against Germany. Possession battles are often staged in the midfield. Jones and Bradley, who generally stay farther back to help defensively, will need to be stout.
They will also need to avoid mistakes. Particularly given the small sample size of a World Cup, the spotlight shines brightest on meaningful errors.
Against Portugal, Bradley had two.
In the 54th minute, he took a tantalizing pass from Fabian Johnson and had a point-blank shot at goal from about 10 yards. With the Portuguese goalkeeper off to one side (he had been guarding the near post as Johnson approached), Bradley somehow shot right at a Portuguese defender standing in the middle of the goal, the ball ricocheting high into the air as everyone — Bradley included — watched in disbelief.
Concern over that miss was quelled when Jones scored his goal nine minutes later, but when Bradley took a poor touch in added time — with plenty of room around him — it led, seconds later, to Portugal’s equalizer. To his credit, Bradley did not make excuses after the game, shaking his head when asked if he had been fouled. There were several other mistakes made by Americans on the goal, including three center backs who did not cover Cristiano Ronaldo’s cross into the box, but the play began with Bradley, and he knew it.
“Certainly the way it ends, you rack your mind thinking: Can you do this better? Can you do that better?” Bradley said. He added later that he had “no regrets” about his play.
Klinsmann, who has been demanding of his players, has not lost faith in Bradley. Shortly after taking over as coach of the national team in 2011 — when he replaced Bradley’s father, Bob, in the job — Klinsmann pushed Bradley away for a spell, declining to call him in for national team games.
Bradley did not wilt at the slight — he has said it motivated him — and earned his way back onto the team, developing into a linchpin of the Americans’ lineup and inspiring praise from Klinsmann.
Two inconsistent games at the World Cup, Klinsmann has said, will not change that. The motor of the American team, even if it has clunked a bit, will keep running.
“I’m not expecting perfect games from anybody,” Klinsmann said. “I’m absolutely sure that Michael will grow big-time into this tournament.
“There’s no better stage to do it than in the next game against Germany. Every game you play now is getting bigger, so that’s when you want to see those things coming through.”
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