Jurgen believes Baby Brads should stay a CAM

Jurgen is going to push out another USMNT great...

Oh well.

So who will be taking MB's roster spot for 2018?

I know we're all joking, but in terms of makeup/personality, LD and MB couldn't be further apart. Bradley's talk of "suffering" leading into the World Cup was borderline masochistic. He's probably Jurgen's favorite non German player and maybe his favorite period.

Maybe Jurgen is trying to develop MBs game. Looking for something here, because I ain't seeing what he's seeing.

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Is Jurgen retarded?

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no

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There is no way in hell Jurgen watched Bradley in the advanced role he played in Brazil and thought "Hmmm... I may be on to somezing hea."

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The problem with that, in my opinion, is that he's capable of playing that position. I think a big part of Bradley's performance was the roster shake-up that went down. I know he's a box-to-box guy, but moving forward, it wouldn't hurt for him to get comfortable in that role. He's capable of creating magic at any point. The ball he put up for Fabian against Turkey was downright disgusting. He's our best box-to-box mid, but with Jermaine Jones stepping up, I think Jurgen sees it as a chance to put his playmakers further up the field.

I know he's best suited at the #8, but honestly, I don't think we have a standout #10. That is, until Gedion gets his shite together and becomes the next big thing. At this point, we have a ton of people with the same strengths. In the case of the World Cup, Bradley was the only guy in the central diamond who can show flashes of making insane plays. I'd rather him up there than Bedoya. With Jones and Beckerman holding shite down at the World Cup, it'd have been nice to have sat Bradley next to Jones run shite in the mid. Jozy going down fricked our gameplan hard.

Personally, I think Jurgen's just looking in the near future for this. Everyone saw how uncomfortable Bradley was at the #10 right up until his final minutes of the tournament when he decided to show people what he could do. I don't see a clear #10 at the moment, and I think Jurgen wants him to be comfortable there.

That said, I'm a huge Baby Bradley fanboy so this better all work itself out.

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I know he's best suited at the #8, but honestly, I don't think we have a standout #10.

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We would have been much better served over the past year to have Beckerman (or Jones) and Bradley sit behind Donovan, or even a Feilhaber or a Nguyen than to shoehorn Bradley into a role he's A. not good at (yet) and B. not really familiar with at the club or country level. Remember that the first time Bradley really played that role was the Turkey friendly.

Of course all of that would involve Jurgen trusting a player from MLSpecial Olympics - so that's a no-go.

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than to shoehorn Bradley into a role he's A. not good at (yet) and B. not really familiar with at the club or country level. Remember that the first time Bradley really played that role was the Turkey friendly.

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I agree with that. I just think that moving forward he could do well with minutes at that position, which is what I think is what Jurgen is getting at in the interview. He wants to Bradley to get comfortable playing there, which only adds insane flexibility to his game.

Bradley's at his best when he's sitting back a bit dishing it to guys making runs. Those passes to Fabian and Julian weren't anomalies. The problem is that we really just didn't have anyone making solid runs at the World Cup once Jozy went down. Clint's just not that type of player, and Aron was injured.

We're in a weird transitional state in US Soccer. We're on the verge of becoming a truly great (read: "competitive") footballing nation. I think the biggest issue is that no one is able to see what Jurgen is doing or what his thought process on it is at the moment. If we head into the next major tournament and shite the bed, I think it'll be time to really discuss the direction we're going. Right now, I think Jurgen's just playing mad scientist and dreaming of Brad Davis's left foot.

CAM? Central Midfielder?

try to figure it out for yourself you old bastard.

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We would have been much better served over the past year to have Beckerman (or Jones) and Bradley sit behind Donovan, or even a Feilhaber or a Nguyen than to shoehorn Bradley into a role he's A. not good at (yet) and B. not really familiar with at the club or country level. Remember that the first time Bradley really played that role was the Turkey friendly.

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I really wish Donovan or Feilhaber had been given greater chances. Donovan was sick nasty as the #10 in the Gold Cup and I think would have done a better job than MB90 in the 10 role. I love Bradley but his touch is his greatest weakness. He's a physical player who is great defending deep, working hard up and down the field, providing a threat on set pieces, making late runs into the box, and sending balls downfield... at times he's downright Pirlo-esque with his balls over the top (see: Belgium, Turkey, Nigeria, etc.). Also, Sheep, Bradley played that 10 role against Mexico and destroyed them, but it wasn't the strongest Mexican side and I think Jurgen has been stuck in that mindset ever since.

Going forward I would like to see how Nguyen looks in the 10 role. I think he's the closest thing we have there at the time being.

Also, I agree with other posters that Jozy going down fricked us hard. Clint was going to be our #10 and would have done a better job there than Bradley, IMO. I also think Bradley would have done better if we had used a 2-forward set up instead of a lone striker set up, especially after Jozy went down (since Clint's hold up play is not nearly as good... Jozy still looks better in a 2 man set up but that's a whole other argument). Having 2 outlets instead of 1 in Clint would have helped him greatly, especially since our opponents knew Bradley would be quasi-isolated and easily shut out of the game with quick pressure as he received a (usually hurried, frenetic, clearing ball type) pass from our defense or defensive mids.

Jurgen's tactics at the WC weren't the greatest, and neither were his personnel decisions. The fact that Jurgen still thinks Mix can be a defensive midfielder and that Bradley should be a 10 shows that he's a bit deluded.

I'm not sure that I will ever get over Donovan being left off that roster. He could have helped us in a massive way, and I have to wonder if things might have been different if we had had those moments of LD magic that he's so known for.