LucaAltieri

The sky is falling! The sky is falling!

He does have value. But as a holding midfielder he wasn't getting forward. He wasn't helping out defensively. You know what he was doing? Running.

Or intercept. Or block. Or clear.

Same site has him averaging 3 blocks/interceptions/clearances per game. Behind both De Rossi and Taddei (as well as all the Roma defenders, obviously).

Same site also has a stat for key passes. Bradley made 25 (2 assists). Making him 6th in the Roma squad behind defender Balzaretti.

You can cherry pick any stats you like to prove your point. Would it make any difference to your opinion if I posted his tackling %age? Goal scoring ratio? Discipline record? Probably not. On the whole he has some decent attributes. He's a professional footballer. But he's not "world class," he's not going to be the match winner, he's not even the difference between winning and losing most weeks. He's tidy. He's professional. He'll do as he's told. I like to see more in a player. You mean like yesterday? Altidore might have an opinion on the matter. Look who created 2/4 with superb passes, him and Altidore both did it. And he's done it for the US many times. How is a fucking passing percentage cherry picking a stat? That's as important as it gets, I've already questioned your opinions without stats anyway. Stats without context mean nothing. As a team Swansea have very good passing stats.

Shut it, Swede.

You can cherry pick any stats you like to prove your point. Would it make any difference to your opinion if I posted his tackling %age? Goal scoring ratio? Discipline record? Probably not. On the whole he has some decent attributes. He's a professional footballer. But he's not "world class," he's not going to be the match winner, he's not even the difference between winning and losing most weeks. He's tidy. He's professional. He'll do as he's told. I like to see more in a player. You mean like yesterday? Altidore might have an opinion on the matter.

You can cherry pick any stats you like to prove your point. Would it make any difference to your opinion if I posted his tackling %age? Goal scoring ratio? Discipline record? Probably not. On the whole he has some decent attributes. He's a professional footballer. But he's not "world class," he's not going to be the match winner, he's not even the difference between winning and losing most weeks. He's tidy. He's professional. He'll do as he's told. I like to see more in a player.

It matters a great deal where he's from because that's the footballing culture he's been around the majority of his life. He may well have moved to Europe when he was 19, but as a pro that means he's probably got 10-15 years of playing an American game ingrained in him. I see it in my fellow Sounders fans. They fucking love Osvaldo Alonso because he's tough tackling. But he's just such a limited player. A lot of his "tackles" are fouls and he offers very little outside of being a bully. It's the mentality here. I love it here in the US but it's pretty gutting knowing my kid is going to grow up thinking "soccer" is all about direct running for 90 minutes. Also, there's no way Bradley would walk into our Newcastle side. He'd be decent backup for Tiote and probably be behind Bigi in the pecking order for a CM spot. It's interesting you should mention Dempsey. He's rather the exception that proves the rule. He DOES have some technique and skill on the ball and that's made him probably the biggest American player in the world. First of all, the tenacity and "never quit" attitude so engrained in American sporting mentality has won us many matches that we probably had no business winning (like the game yesterday, when we came back from 2 goals down against what was arguably a better side, in their home stadium). Unlike many top sides who fold like a stack of cards when they start losing, our team doesn't give-up. Maybe that's a bit hyperbolic, but it's also true. You may beat the U.S., but it won't be because they quit at HT. And yet, anyone who watches U.S. soccer with regularity knows that our players do have technical ability. Klinsmann especially has put an onus on finding players who can play high-tempo passing football. We've been winning games the past year or so playing rather attractive football, not bludgeoning them to death as the U.S. teams of old might. And the bit about him backing-up Bigi is just complete and utter garbage. He's a far better player than Tiote and more developed all-around than Sissoko. I'm not questioning the benefits of tenacity. That's all fine and well. But tenacity alone isn't enough to make up for a skills deficit at the highest level. What Klinsmann has done more than anything is get your lot organised. The team is setup very well and they're expected to play a strict zonal style of play. It's very disciplined and it has worked wonders. Incidentally, that's also the side of Bradley's game that has improved at Roma. He knows where the manager wants him on the pitch and it has helped him in his particular role. With the US national team, the added organisation means they're probably going to see off the minnows with relative ease and from time to time pick up a win against much better opposition. It's good intelligent team play that Klinsmann has given the US. He hasn't gone and turned American players into tiki-taka wizards (or unearthed any).

It matters a great deal where he's from because that's the footballing culture he's been around the majority of his life. He may well have moved to Europe when he was 19, but as a pro that means he's probably got 10-15 years of playing an American game ingrained in him. I see it in my fellow Sounders fans. They fucking love Osvaldo Alonso because he's tough tackling. But he's just such a limited player. A lot of his "tackles" are fouls and he offers very little outside of being a bully. It's the mentality here. I love it here in the US but it's pretty gutting knowing my kid is going to grow up thinking "soccer" is all about direct running for 90 minutes. Also, there's no way Bradley would walk into our Newcastle side. He'd be decent backup for Tiote and probably be behind Bigi in the pecking order for a CM spot. It's interesting you should mention Dempsey. He's rather the exception that proves the rule. He DOES have some technique and skill on the ball and that's made him probably the biggest American player in the world.

I can also understand you defending him. It's cultural. You guys really like your players with a good with ethic. I'm English, I can relate to that. Bradley would be a much better player if he had the mixed heritage of Mix, for example. There's no doubt that Mix is a much more cultured player.

Perhaps. They're not identical players so it would depend on the opposition. Bradley is better at picking out a forward pass. Muntari is much stronger and dominant. Arguably better positioning too. It's horses for courses.

It's great that he's playing in Italy. It allows for us to see the gulf in quality on the ball between him and your bog standard serie A player. He clearly has a very specific role in the team that's valuable. He does the running so the quality players don't have to. Usually in top sides the players in that role have a bit more about them. Players like Gattuso. But sometimes Italians will deploy more limited players if they need to. I'm thinking along the lines of Muntari at Inter. That's about Bradley's level. He'd have trouble finding a spot in a La Liga side or an equivalent top side in the Premier League side. Maybe at the likes of Stoke where ball control isn't really an issue for midfielders. Elsewhere he's going to be that unused loanee.

It's obvious to anyone who grew up with the game. Add to it the fact he's simply not a big game player. You can hardly describe him as one of the best the US has produced.

Christ. He's got no first touch and the turning circle of an 18 wheeler. No amount of tracking back and hard running can make up lack of basic skills that most 16 year olds have mastered.

Poor man's Jonas.

That's absolutely brilliant. Thank you for finding it. Is this worth reading or is it another article that pretends Bradley isn't shite? He can pass but otherwise a headless chicken of a player. Definitely not the best American around at the moment. He just happens to be playing in Europe which to American eyes makes him something special.

That's absolutely brilliant. Thank you for finding it. Is this worth reading or is it another article that pretends Bradley isn't shite?

Deserved. Was class in Highlander, too.

He'll outscore Darren Bent and Loic Remy.

In fact, where is Tony Yeboah? Has anyone ever seen him and Cisse in together at the same time?

Cisse is very much a Tony Yeboah-type figure. An instinctive goal scorer who has worked his way up the leagues abroad, scoring at every level before coming to the Premier League. He's capable of spectacular finishing when his confidence is up. If you look at Yeboah's start to his Leeds career the spectacular stuff didn't come until he'd knocked in a few scrappy goals and gained that belief. Cisse needs that too. Once he has ground out a few tap-ins in our current side then I'm confident we'll see those 25-yard yolleys again.

Thank fuck for that.