Once we all get over our disappointment at Klinsmann walking away, we have to come to grips with Bradley as the USMNT coach, at least for a while. Just because almost everyone wanted Klinsi doesn’t mean Bradley is a horrible choice. Ives Galarcep has an excellent article up at Soccernet outlining Bradley’s accomplishments, why he isn’t "Arena Lite" and that maybe, just maybe, we’ll come out better in the end.

Bradley’s appointment is being met with considerable skepticism, but much of that is a product of Bradley’s one unsuccessful coaching stint, a three-year term with the MetroStars that ended with him being fired. That stint transformed his standing in the public eye from being Bruce Arena’s logical successor to just another member of the MLS coaching scrap heap.

Bradley did his part to restore his reputation last year, rebuilding a terrible Chivas USA team using his keen eye for young talent as well as his ability to get the most from players he knows well. He earned MLS Coach of the Year honors for his efforts, but the response to his appointment as the new U.S. coach clearly shows that he has yet to remove all the MetroStars tarnish from his reputation.

Read the whole thing. Once the dust settles, it’s on to 2007 and we have a lot of catching up to do.

[UPDATE: Jeff Carlisle doesn’t think this is a good thing.]

[LATE UPDATE: Ives adds some info to his story via his blog Soccer by Ives]

As a side note… Damn, talk about a brutal headline, especially one linking to what is such a positive article:

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