TFC: Bradley glad dad has L.A. job, but don’t expect a reunion
Nobody has been more angry or frustrated than Michael Bradley to see his father Bob without a professional coaching job since December.
The former United States men’s national team coach was fired from a gig at the helm of English Premier League side Swansea City FC late last year, fewer than three months after becoming the first American manager in that league.
So no one was happier than Toronto FC’s captain when it was announced on Tuesday that the senior Bradley, 59, will return to Major League Soccer next season as head coach of the Los Angeles FCexpansion club.
Michael, who returned to the Reds’ training ground on Friday after winning the Gold Cup with his national team on Wednesday, said it was hard to watch how things were handled at Swansea and equally difficult to see his dad unable to do what he loves.
“When somebody you’re that close with is ultimately treated in a way that is so wrong, that’s not easy to take,” he said. “There was never any doubt for me that ultimately he was going to find a good situation where the vision of the club and the vision of the people there matched his drive and ambition to coach and to lead and to build something different.”
The elder Bradley previously coached the Chicago Fire, in their expansion year, the New York MetroStars and Chivas USA. The U.S. national team job drew him away in 2006; since then, he has spent time coaching in Egypt, Norway and France as well as England.
“Bob’s a true competitor and a workhorse and a guy who clearly knows . . . what he wants to get done with a team,” TFC coach Greg Vanney said. “I look forward to seeing how he builds that franchise.”
But don’t expect the elder Bradley to build that franchise around his son, Vanney said when asked if his captain had submitted a trade request.
“(Michael’s) got a pretty good situation here on a team that’s ready to win. I don’t think that’s in the cards.”
Toronto FC’s captain believes LAFC will operate at a high level from the get-go next season. Will he circle the date of the teams’ first matchup on the calendar, though?
“On one hand, yeah. On one hand, no,” Michael said. “If they could create a schedule next year where we could never play LAFC, I’d gladly take that, but I guess I’ll have to settle for being LAFC’s biggest fan for 33 games and not 34 games next year.”