Michael Bradley

An Irish Red said:
Fair enough, it's still not a great compliment though. It would be like complimenting a winger by saying he's better than Young. Not great.
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That is true, it really isn't a stellar compliment.

I think the point I was trying to make is that if we wanted a CDM on the cheap, someone like Bradley (or Parker, Barry, De Jong) would have done the trick...to have spent 28M on Fellaini was madness...but thats a topic for another thread.
 
ravi2 said:
That is true, it really isn't a stellar compliment.

I think the point I was trying to make is that if we wanted a CDM on the cheap, someone like Bradley, Parker or Barry (or De Jong) would have done the trick...to have spent 28M on Fellaini was madness...but thats a topic for another thread.
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Bradley and Parker are nowhere near good enough for us. Barry is better but, yet again, that's not a great compliment. I'd rather us play Pearson than sign any of those three.
 
Manucho the boss said:
True but he's not fashionable enough for the modern football hipster, educated by football manager and FIFA games. They can spot world class talent without even seeing them play in real life.

Players like Bradley or James McCarthy get wrote off as ordinary because fans with a ridiculous sense of entitlement want only big name signings and couldn't care less about a balanced squad.
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You're absolutely right. Football hipsters. That's who's bringing him down. Someone who played 3 games on loan at Aston Villa two years ago after spending the bulk of his career as a squad player in a German side near the bottom of the Bundesliga is definitely good enough for us because he played fairly well in a televised World Cup game in which he lost. Those hipsters really do have everything upside down don't they? They just get so easily swayed by things.

I think you've definitely identified everything spot on here. Kudos to you sir, kudos.
 
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Pogue Mahone said:
That's bollocks, to be fair. Belgium got a lot of joy down the flanks but not much through the middle. He put in a hell of a lot of tackles, was always available for a pass and showed a nice range of passing himself when he did get on the ball.

He almost certainly isn't good enough for one of Europe's heavyweights but put in an impressive performance yesterday. Some of the comments since then have been ridiculously harsh.
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The US parked the bus and played narrow. That's why it was hard for Belgium to break through the middle. I thought his use of the ball and decision making wasn't good at all throughout the tournament. He gave it away far too much.

I think a lot of the comments in here are harsh because people want to distance United from him. My comments were harsh because I live in the US and there was a lot of hype about Bradley going into the tournament. There was a real spotlight on him. Lalas said he was World Class more than once. So he's being judged by much higher standards than he probably should be. He's clearly not world class or even close. He's a decent player who has better technique, vision and composure than anyone else in the US squad; but he didn't have a good tournament. The US fans that I know, were very scathing of his performances. His game against Belgium was bang average at best until a late flurry in extra time.

But I am in the minority I think, that don't view the US' performance against Belgium through rose tinted heroic glasses. I thought they were dreadful from start to finish and were utterly played off the park. Save for Tim Howard it would have been 5-0 or more. The 15 minute rally at the end was so incredibly deceptive of the balance of the game.

By far their best performance came against Portugal, where they genuinely looked a decent team. If they had adopted that same approach against Belgium i.e. not playing a defender in midfield, it might have been a different game.

Anyway, Bradley is ok, but definitely a couple of levels short of United standard.
 
Bradley was incredibly average for gladbach, a team that got almost relegated two times. (08/09 09/10) He wasnt even a nailed-on starter.
So after another 5 month he was loaned to villia (winter 10/11), where he had no impact at all.
After that he had solid/good two years in italy without being outstanding.


He is not good enough for United. Not even close. In the EPL he could be a starter for a team that is fighting relegation or he could be a squad player for teams, that want to reach the Euroleague.
 
He's just not very good. A player who benefited with starting time under his father, instead of having actual competition for the position.
 
unitedbhoy said:
That's very unfar. OK, he didn't have a great tournament, but I think you could tell by watching the games that he was a level above most of the team.
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Would have rather seen players like Torres given a decent chance under Bradley senior. But there was no competition for the spot, so Michael got years and years of experience. He should be a level above the team with all the games he's gotten compared to the others. But he's not.
 
Not the biggest fan of Bradley but it would be beneficial for him to go to the EPL. Could see him playing for Everton.
 
I thought Jones looked a better player.....

combative, decent passer and that was a wicked shot he has
 
PedroMendez said:
Bradley was incredibly average for gladbach, a team that got almost relegated two times. (08/09 09/10) He wasnt even a nailed-on starter.
So after another 5 month he was loaned to villia (winter 10/11), where he had no impact at all.
After that he had solid/good two years in italy without being outstanding.


He is not good enough for United. Not even close. In the EPL he could be a starter for a team that is fighting relegation or he could be a squad player for teams, that want to reach the Euroleague.
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Yep. Most Americans I know don't even rate him very highly.
 
AlwaysRedwood said:
He's just not very good. A player who benefited with starting time under his father, instead of having actual competition for the position.
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Ala Darren Ferguson & Jordi Cruyff :)

Bradley's useless & i'm truly baffled he has some sort of top rep with the US team & in the MLS as a whole. Isnt he on serious dollar over there?

He would walk into the midfield of any team Trappatoni was managing though - good players dont get a look in. Thats the best way to rate a player - "The Trappatoni Rating System" :)
 
PedroMendez said:
Bradley was incredibly average for gladbach, a team that got almost relegated two times. (08/09 09/10) He wasnt even a nailed-on starter.
So after another 5 month he was loaned to villia (winter 10/11), where he had no impact at all.
After that he had solid/good two years in italy without being outstanding.


He is not good enough for United. Not even close. In the EPL he could be a starter for a team that is fighting relegation or he could be a squad player for teams, that want to reach the Euroleague.
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Well for one I'm hoping we'll at least reach the Euroleague as you call it this season..
 
Red Hand Devil said:
Sorry, i phrased that post wrong.

I just mean, was he really all that in the 1st place or just the best of a bad bunch of English wingers around?
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Ah the latter definitely, Villa was Young's level which makes you worry for why some people are keen for us to sign a player who couldn't secure a place for that long at many of Europe's midtable clubs.
 
Young was one of the best wingers in the league for 2 seasons atleast at Villa. He had among the best assists/goals/Chance created numbers in that direct system which O'neil had going there with crosses into the Big Target Man and Agbonlahor.

Remember United, Arsenal et all getting linked with even likes of Reo Cooker of that team.

Bradley is a decent player and would be a good player now more than his first go if used properly for a mid table Prem club but nothing more than that.
 
FlawlessThaw said:
Ah the latter definitely, Villa was Young's level which makes you worry for why some people are keen for us to sign a player who couldn't secure a place for that long at many of Europe's midtable clubs.
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He's not top 4 thats for sure FT & we're stuck with him for the remainder of his contract i'd say..

Who's this other player you're referring to man? Sorry, i cant think of who you mean..
 
FromTheBench said:
Young was one of the best wingers in the league for 2 seasons atleast at Villa. He had among the best assists/goals/Chance created numbers in that direct system which O'neil had going there with crosses into the Big Target Man and Agbonlahor.

Remember United, Arsenal et all getting linked with even likes of Reo Cooker of that team.

Bradley is a decent player and would be a good player now more than his first go if used properly for a mid table Prem club but nothing more than that.
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Bradley's definitely Trappatoni class ;)
 
Red Hand Devil said:
He's not top 4 thats for sure FT & we're stuck with him for the remainder of his contract i'd say..

Who's this other player you're referring to man? Sorry, i cant think of who you mean..
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Agree on Young, I hate to say it but signing him for the wages we have given him will go down as one of Fergie's bigger mistakes.

The other player I meant was Bradley, I think he is a good player and has shown it at times at the World Cup, but I honestly don't think he is much better than Cleverley is.
 
FlawlessThaw said:
Agree on Young, I hate to say it but signing him for the wages we have given him will go down as one of Fergie's bigger mistakes.

The other player I meant was Bradley, I think he is a good player and has shown it at times at the World Cup, but I honestly don't think he is much better than Cleverley is.
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Young was a good signing at the start, but he's been found out now. Looks like many of the modern players that couldnt give a shite about the club or the game, and are content just to soak up the wages & leave on a free..

Bradley's shown some fine moments at the WC, but he's also been a liability many times & cocky on the ball. Trappatoni would love a player like him..

Cleverely's a better player than Bradley - its close though, both wreck my head in equal measure..
 
Bradley is a good, honest professional footballer but he's nowhere near United quality. But then again very few footballers are. He's got to be judged against the standard of his American peers and by that standard he's very, very good.

Bradley is capable of supplying great final balls and has incredible stamina, but he tends to slow play down too much and fail to take the initiative on plays that have a glimmer of a chance of leading to something unless it's very late in the match.
 
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