The IMOTGP View: Defending Bradley at Swansea is Wrong and Unnecessary

Unless you have been under a rock, you know by now that the first American to manage in the famed Premier League is no longer after Swansea City sacked the embattled Bob Bradley on Tuesday. The dreadful Swans continue to swan dive down the table as they languish in 19th place; Bradley picked up eight points out of 33 in his 11 matches in charge with two victories and one point out of 18 in his "road games."

Swansea shipped 10 goals in their last three defeats with supporters calling for his ouster after a Boxing Day debacle in a 4-1 home thrashing at the hands of West Ham. Bradley insisted he would fight on but it was clear that he wasn't reaching this sad-sack group.

The inevitable comparison is being made to predecessor Francesco Guidolin, who picked up four points in seven matches in charge.  Swansea were outscored 12-6 in Guidolin's matches compared to 29-15 in Bradley's 11.  Obviously the Swans scored more and defended worse under the American.

That is, unless, you look at the blogosphere and see selected facts that say otherwise like this Tweet:

Swansea City expected goals per game by manager this season...

- Guidolin: 1.39 xG, 2.29 xGA
- Bradley:  1.40 xG, 2.07 xGA

— Paul Carr (@PCarrESPN) December 27, 2016

This prompted other U.S. football writers of the pro-Bradley bent to state unequivocally that Bradley wasn't worse than Guidolin.  Except that he was worse, and not based on simple metrics such as points per game and goals allowed per game.

You see, the reason coaches like U.S. boss Bruce Arena are critical of analytics is because they know raw data about expected goals and shot attempts can be largely rubbish, to use a British term. That's because when you score is very important in football since a trailing team obviously must press the action; this is something that expected goals doesn't take into account.

That's why we crunched the numbers here at IMOTGP and found out that Guidolin's Swansea conceded three first-half goals and nine in the second half in his seven matches. That means four times his side kept a clean sheet at half-time. Bradley's Swansea conceded 12 goals in the first half and 17 after, with only four clean sheets at the half. Why does this matter? It means that Guidolin's side was more competitive as far as giving Swansea a better chance at a positive result.

Need more proof?  Guidolin's Swansea led 11.6 percent of the time and trailed 28.7 percent of the time with the score tied over the balance. Bradley's numbers in that category were 10.4 percent and a whopping 44.6 percent of time trailing. We should note we calculated this over 90 minutes in each match so the wild 5-4 win over Crystal Palace with two stoppage-time goals earned the Swans a total of 0 minutes for those tallies since they came after 90 minutes. The point remains nonetheless that Bradley's Swansea trailed for 442 out of 990 minutes; almost half the time.

It's foolish to defend Bradley using cockamamie statistics and there's no need to compare him to Guidolin anyway since either way you look at it, Swansea are a hot mess of garbage. We didn't even mention that Guidolin had to face Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea (a 2-2 draw!) among his matches, and those are the top three sides in the table. Bradley faced the three teams below them and lost those three by a combined 11-3. Bradley lost the plot, and was rightly dismissed.

We here at the IMOTGP are fans of Bob Bradley; otherwise this reader would beat us up! No one should be surprised that he became the butt of many jokes in Britain. This situation wasn't dissimilar to how American basketball fans reacted when David Blatt, an American-Israeli with a vast amount of coaching experience in Europe, was hired to coach the great LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Blatt was ridiculed at every turn and was dismissed as Cleveland went on to win the NBA title without him. When Blatt resurfaced in Turkey, he was made fun of for accepting that job.

This will leave a stain on his c.v. but if you were being honest, you had to ask whether Bradley, while a good manager, was really experienced enough to manage at this level.  He coached middling national teams from the United States and Egypt as well as European clubs that were hardly prominent.  In comparison, Guidolin had a distinguished career at many Serie A stops and Monday's counterpart, Slaven Bilic, has guided Croatia as well as top teams in Russia and Turkey.

Should Bradley have found a way into the Championship and developed a team that won promotion into the world's most expensive league? Perhaps, although that would also have been a difficult task. Should he have finished the job in France and brought Le Havre to Ligue One? Perhaps, again. Bradley chose to strike while the iron was hot; the problem was the iron he picked up was too hot to handle.

There is no need to criticize Bradley; he's still one of the best American managers in history.  The sad truth is that the vast majority of football players and coaches from the United States simply do not have enough of a top-class pedigree to succeed in Europe's top leagues at this point. There are exceptions, of course, but to expect instant success from a U.S. player or coach is pure folly.  The United States has much to prove in the football world and Bradley's admirable tenure was more evidence of this.

A Difficult Night in Berlin

It goes without saying that football was secondary in Berlin on Wednesday night as Hertha BSC cruised past Darmstadt 2-0 to wrap up the 2016 part of the campaign. Just the day before in the pre-match press conference was a somber atmosphere as the details were presented about additional security at the Olympiastadion after the deadly attack at the Breitscheidplatz Christmas Market killed 12 and injured about 50 more and shook the nation.  Coach Pal Dardai said: "Berlin should remain strong and stand together."

The Hertha and Darmstadt players locked arm in arm before the match. There was football to be played but it is clear that things will no longer be the same in the nation's capital. The attack took place not too far from Zoo Berlin, and an eerie quiet settled in throughout the city.

A mid-week fixture in the cold against the bottom side in the league was never going to fill the cavernous stadium, and a crowd of slightly more than 31,000 came to see the match. The showdown for the Herbstmeisterschaft (winter champion) between Bayern and RB Leipzig  surely left some people home, although it is clear there was more to it than that.

The drab first half featured no goals as Hertha's goalless streak stretched into five halves of football in the tense night. Thankfully, Marvin Plattenhardt stepped up and delivered one of the best freekicks you will ever see at the :50 mark below:

The hosts added a Salomon Kalou header and saluted the crowd before the post-game reaction was as much about the mood in the city compared to what really was a dreadful match. Said Dardai: "It is difficult to talk about the attack. We need to stick together at this time."  Said Kalou: "We won for the city of Berlin. Our fans showed that love is more important than anything else."

Perhaps more notable was that among each team's substitutes used were Anis Ben-Hatira for Darmstadt and Sami Allagui for Hertha. The Berlin-born Ben-Hatira played for Hertha between 2011-16 while Allagui, also German-born, returned from a lengthy injury lay-off for a 12-minute cameo.

Certainly Ben-Hatira and Allagui faced the most difficult set of circumstances to play Wednesday night. Both are Tunisian internationals and the suspect at large is a Tunisian and former asylum seeker.  If Hertha ever had an advantage in the Bundesliga, it was supposedly the diversity of the city that allowed Ben-Hatira and Bayern Munich star Jerome Boateng among others to come through the youth system. That multiculturalism is under attack now by this woman, a politician on the rise who suggested that German border guards "use firearms if necessary" to prevent illegals from crossing into the nation.

The geographic location of Germany has always helped the Bundesliga link top international footballers from Western and Eastern Europe in a way that the other continental footballing countries could not. Players from North America, South America, Africa and Asia have also found the league to be a happy landing spot to establish their initial careers because of this, and also because of many clubs' willingness to give younger players opportunities.

This attack came on the heels of the one this summer in Munich. Sadly, the grim reality of these incidents was evident on the final day of the Bundesliga season in 2016.

It's getting ugly in Wales for Bob Bradley

If you look at the bottom of the Premier League table, you will see Swansea City in 19th place above only Hull City on goal difference.  The Swans were horrendous in shipping six goals away to West Bromwich Albion and fellow relegation contender Boro in two crucial defeats last week.

Even worse is that American manager Bob Bradley was ridiculed for using 'PK' and 'road matches' in his comments. That set off a torrent of criticism, although to be fair the criticism is really about what a defensive abomination the sole Welsh representative in the Premier League truly are.

Bradley said after losing at the Riverside to Boro that he knew what he signed up for. But maybe he didn't know that his presence in the Prem would spawn British tabloid TV to create a segment called 'Brad Bobley.'  It's become quite popular.

To be truthful, these aren't really that funny but it is en vogue to make fun of Americans worldwide these days thanks to this guy.  So expect more and more episodes unless Bradley can turn it around and not ship three goals a game.

Can India supplant the United States as a footballing destination?

Unless you have been under a rock or in a "safe space," you know that Virat Kohli is widely considered one of the world's greatest athletes. Kohli has put forth a series of astounding batting displays to lead India to an easy series victory over England, showcasing why Team India is the No. 1 Test cricket team in the world. Even people who hate Kohli love him.

A topic of debate in sports bars from Mumbai to Manipur is imagining how great India would be at football if top-level cricketers like Kohli played the sport instead. It is well known how India practices football in their training sessions, after all.

Seasoned United States fans have heard this before. American football superstar Odell Beckham has stated that he would have played for Real Madrid or Barcelona if he stuck with the sport he dominated as a child, choosing instead to stay in the States since he claims he didn't want to leave his family.

Both India and the United States have professional leagues in which the best players tend to be over 35 years old. MLS commissioner Don Garber claims that his league can produce the next Christian Pulisic yet still trumpets Frank Lampard's impact on the league. Supporters of MLS brag that the stadiums are first-rate and fans are enjoying the matches - even though the championship was won by a team without a shot on target for a 120-minute match.

There is little question that MLS-level caliber of football can also be produced in India's Super League. Players such as John Arne Riise, Florent Malouda, Lucio, Diego Forlan and Mohamed Sissoko all operate there, and the eight-team league is thriving.

That number eight should be noted since only major Indian cities have clubs for a three-month season. Unlike the expansion of MLS to almost 30 teams, soccer in India is getting light exposure in order not to water down the league. In that sense, an IPL team probably has the same amount of quality as MLS and attendance has averaged over 27,000.

It's not hard to imagine India's football league soon topping MLS since the goal is to eventually compete with the Japanese league as the best in Asia.  The J-League's credentials can't be questioned after Kashima Antlers took Real Madrid to extra time in a spirited display in the Club World Cup championship. 

That's the same competition in which CONCACAF champion Club America were hammered by a jet-lagged Real Madrid in the video below. Of course, no MLS team has had the quality to oust a Mexican team to gain entry to the event so it shows where the league truly ranks in the pecking order of football. This week was proof that MLS is no match for the J-League.

India has two teenage footballers as trialists in Spain so the real question is whether the next Virat Kohli will choose the sport rather than cricket. It's a tough call in India since cricketers get fame, fortune and the best Bollywood models, much like American football players in the States. It's worth watching how much football develops in India and the United States as they vie for the status of having the best 35-and-over league in the world.

Arena Bringing what the U.S. Need: The Truth

The United States has announced that tickets will go on sale Monday for the Jan. 29 matchup in San Diego versus Serbia.  Making that announcement was none other than Bruce Arena, back for a second go-around as boss and the no-nonsense manager showed what he was all about Friday with an unprecedented Facebook Q and A.

Arena took a number of fan questions and two things happened. One, the questions were quite good and two, Arena answered them honestly and thoroughly.  Gone were the days of the U.S. coach lambasting the fans after getting thrashed by four goals.

He was forthright about the January camp, mentioning that players who were out of favor in the past like Benny Feilhaber, Darlington Nagbe, Juan Agudelo and Gyasi Zardes would be there. He also intends to bring in uncapped players like Walker Zimmerman, Keegan Rosenberry and Gambian-born Kekuta Manneh, with Chris Pontius of the Union also earning the right to go to the camp. Arena detailed how Perry Kitchen won't be there since Hearts is in a Cup competition. is in the bloody Scottish Cup! - (note:IMOTGP reader Ryan Willox)

The coach said there is hope that Clint Dempsey will be available for the camp while explaining that Boro backup Brad Guzan is the No. 1 keeper for the qualifiers now given that Tim Howard will still be recovering from surgery come March.

Arena didn't shy away from the tantalizing possibility that Christian Pulisic and Sacha Kljestan could play together in the middle of the pitch, suggesting a 4-1-4-1 as a possible setup.  He said he was unaware of any new young talent in the pipeline, with the inference being that the player pool that the knowledgeable U.S. fan sees is the same one he does as well.

He provided details of his trip to Germany in which he visited with Fabian Johnson, John Brooks, Bobby Wood, Christian Pulisic and Timmy Chandler. Arena specifically mentioned Wood's stint off the bench in a match against Darmstadt and directly answered a question of where Johnson would play by saying that he asked Johnson the exact question: Johnson said he can play as a defender or midfielder but just wants consistency. Arena noted he would not be able to work with this group until the week before the Honduras match.

As for team performance, Arena indicated that he wants a minimum of four points from the home game against Honduras and match at Panama in March. Gone are the days when the U.S. coach says we are going to "take it to them" and loses by four on the road; this is Arena's pragmatism showing. He noted that Chandler and Jermaine Jones are suspended for Honduras, a match he termed  "must-win." Arena also said winning the Gold Cup is important in 2017.

Other highlights: As far as fixing the team, finding a No. 10 is a priority for Arena as well as shoring up the back line by organizing it better. And that back line will comprise of players such as Brooks, Johnson, Geoff Cameron and DeAndre Yedlin so it's unlikely anyone from MLS will fill those roles.

When asked whether he would encourage players to play abroad or in MLS, Arena was non-commital yet made this interesting remark: "For me it makes no sense if a player is playing on a reputable club abroad and doesn't get on the field (for the U.S.)." Can this be read into Yedlin somehow going off the radar for our team yet featuring regularly for Newcastle?

When asked about relying on veterans for qualifying as opposed to young players, he notably said that using younger players makes more sense at home than in an away environment like Panama. Pulisic having ups and downs was specifically mentioned. You may recall that in the first two hex games, Pulisic started both the Mexico and Costa Rica matches; this blog felt that Pulisic should have been kept in reserve in Costa Rica - a tactic the shrewd home side used in bringing in Joel Campbell off the bench to shred us to pieces.

Leaving no stone unturned, the ageless DaMarcus Beasley will get a look in January. Matt Miazga, who recently scored his first goal in Europe, is not part of Arena's plans for now since the defender is not getting regular playing time at Vitesse. Arena said Columbus attacker Ethan Finley is playing well but not well enough to earn a shot in January.

In conclusion, there could not have been a more thorough evaluation of the state of the program and all the moving pieces involved and it could not have been done in a more professional manner. We encourage all of you U.S. fans to watch the Q and A and judge for yourself. This in and of itself should give us hope that 2017 will be a step forward after this past year made us a world laughingstock.

No surprise: Don Garber lies about the state of MLS

As most football fans know, it's time to crown the champion of MLS on Saturday night. You didn't know? Well you should watch this below ...

Anyway the championship game will be held in Canada for the second time, with Toronto FC hosting Seattle Sounders, a team you will recall this blog went to see back in August when we scouted Nicolas Lodeiro and company. It's a great matchup that features Lodeiro for the Sounders and Italian star Sebastian Giovinco for TFC, marking a rare title game in which both teams' best players are not even 30 years old, let alone the minimum age requirement of 35 for most foreign stars. 

This fact has caused MLS Commissioner Don Garber to go into full-on bragging mode about the quality of MLS, Garber claims that we have "young stars" to look forward to as he continues to make MLS one of the "best leagues in the world."

Said Garber: "Without doubt the target is younger players who are coming at the prime of their career or even as they're beginning to establish their career.

"The strategy in the past might have been to sign players that were well known who have already established their legend playing someplace else. Now we're able to bring in a (Nicolas) Lodeiro who is an accomplished player at 28, but he's the MLS newcomer of the year and we're hoping he can create a legend for himself in Major League Soccer and in Seattle.

"Certainly Sebastian Giovinco has been able to prove that, and Giovani dos Santos who has seen his career really rise to an entirely new level by playing in (Los Angeles). It's part of the evolution of our league."

Let's examine this statement. Bragging about players 28 years old is great and Lodeiro and Giovinco are solid. But if we are talking about great players at that age, we are talking about this guy and this guy. Lodeiro only made 13 appearances for Seattle though he is a player on the rise while Giovinco has never been considered one of the top 50 players in the world.

Meanwhile, it's true that Dos Santos has been more productive in MLS than anywhere else in his career. But is that rising "to an entirely new level," as Garber says, or simply dominating an inferior league. Garber is ridiculous in thinking the U.S. fan somehow won't understand this. Obviously, Giovinco never dominated Serie A like this. To put things into perspective, when The Phantom is playing goalkeeper with little boys and girls in summer camp, he morphs into a fearsome combination of Gigi Buffon and Edwin van der Sar. Those 10-year-olds don't stand a chance!

You can read more nonsense from Garber here.  He wasn't asked about the embarrassing fact that MLS teams fly commercial, and if he was, he would probably tell you that flying Southwest is part of his master plan to "grow the game" and make MLS "one of the best leagues" in the world. Much like Sunil Gulati with the U.S. team, Garber exists to try to fool American fans into thinking MLS is a premium product. It's not and won't be anytime soon, given his plans to expand the league to such lengths that we could eventually have a top flight as big as a 48-team World Cup.

That's All Folks!

In the end, and there was always going to be a bitter end, it took the United States six years to figure out the truth about Jurgen Klinsmann when it took Bayern Munich about nine months to come to the same conclusion. Back in April of 2009, the situation was dire enough for the Bavarians with a Champions League berth not secure; action had to be taken.  The U.S. is in a similar boat; it's unthinkable that we cannot qualify for the World Cup in the remedial football class that is CONCACAF, yet we are at the bottom of the table through Klinsmann's final two matches in charge.

But there will be plenty of time to examine the United States, Bruce Arena and an apparent bumper crop in talent that was mismanaged so thoroughly. For now, there is only a postmortem to conduct and one that makes anyone with a shred of footballing knowledge wondering why Jurgen Klinsmann should be hired by anyone in the future. Oddly enough, attending a state dinner in Berlin - with two neutered world leaders in Angela Merkel and Barack Obama - was his final act as U.S. coach.

There were failed formations, players out of position, nonsensical interviews and a general arrogance and condescension to just about everyone in sight during his reign of terror. This included even former basketball great Kobe Bryant. Even his greatest accomplishment - the 2013 Gold Cup championship - was won with Landon Donovan as the player of the tournament in a watered-down event. We all know what would happen to Donovan one year later.

Not that Donovan was the only player to draw Klinsmann's ire with a laundry list of them thrown under the bus.  That group includes Jozy Altidore, Michael Bradley, Alejandro Bedoya, Fabian Johnson, Tim Howard and John Brooks. If you notice, those are players that the United States generally counted on in his era.  It was Brooks who Klinsmann blamed for Mexico's winning goal last week, and the center back responded to such "motivation" with a calamitous performance in the ill-fated 4-0 loss to Costa Rica.

Somehow Klinsmann got extreme credit for a 2014 World Cup in which the U.S. did advance from a difficult group by beating Ghana and drawing Portugal. It was never the Group of Death - Costa Rica won that one by besting heavyweights Uruguay, Italy and England. Then the knockout loss to Belgium in extra time made Howard an American hero - although many astute observers wondered why the Red Devils were allowed so many shots at our goal.

The U.S. managed one shot on target in the loss to world champions Germany in that World Cup, then were consistently outshot and outplayed in the 2015 Gold Cup - losing to Jamaica in the semifinals. Klinsmann blamed the referees for that defeat. Improvement as far as results came in the 2016 Copa Centenario with wins over Ecuador, Paraguay and Costa Rica mostly due to the individual brilliance of Brooks and Clint Dempsey. Losses to Colombia twice and Argentina by 4-0 in the semifinals told another tale.

Sandwiched around that Copa were ridiculous results in World Cup qualifying. An unthinkable loss in Guatemala has somehow been glossed over but the results of the last week could not be.  And while losing by four at Costa Rica was embarrassing, it says here that for the U.S. to see the end of their Columbus home dominance over arch-rival Mexico was a far more telling blow. In fact, Klinsmann lost his last two competitive fixtures to El Tri on home soil, failing to qualify for next year's Confederations Cup as a result.

Those who followed Klinsmann's tenure in Germany closely couldn't have been surprised. His pep talks in the 2006 World Cup bordered on the ridiculous and his host nation side actually weren't that impressive in that tournament and lacked a signature 90-minute win. His lack of tactical acumen was evident the year before when Germany's disastrous defending in the Confederations Cup resulted in 4-3 wins over Australia and Mexico and a third-place finish in that event - on home soil.

Ironically, Klinsmann's place as Germany coach was under pressure in 2006 before Arena brought a reserve-laden U.S. squad to Dortmund and was hammered 4-1 in front of a jubilant crowd. Even that match was scoreless at the half. Said Arena: "The game served the purpose of evaluating players. I’d never come again to Germany to play the host country in their last tune-up before the World Cup with a second team, but this team is wearing USA. We got beat, and we deserved to get beat."

Yes, Klinsmann used his starters to pummel a team of Arena's backups in order to save his job a decade ago. It's the mentality of a small-minded man - to beat a weak team and claim glory for it, as Klinsmann did in the 2013 Gold Cup for crushing Belize and El Salvador. The same mentality of "going for it" was seen in friendly wins at Germany, Italy and the Netherlands when those European powerhouses never really were up for the fight. Now it's Arena's turn to try to clean up this mess and restore some semblance of cohesion to the once-proud United States national team.

Don't worry, it didn't happen!

The rumor is that the United States played a football match somewhere last night. There are numerous news stories about the aftermath. Some people even believe the coach will be fired.

But the real question is did it happen. Because a little after 4 pm Eastern time, there is no mention of the match on the U.S. soccer website.  Go and see for yourself.

We are going to interpret that to say there was no United States match last night! So go ahead and dream big, U.S. supporters!  Remember we are on our way to the semifinals of the 2018 World Cup!

Dumb tactics? Yes. But Mexico still should have lost

History was made Friday night. Jurgen Klinsmann added another chapter to his illustrious reign as U.S. boss. He already guided the U.S. to our first loss ever against Jamaica back in 2012.  He did one better by losing to Jamaica yet again in last year's Gold Cup semifinals.

Now he's the first coach to lose a home qualifier in Columbus  against Mexico after Friday's 2-1 defeat. And it's clear that the new "3-4-3" with Christian Pulisic playing centrally was a horribly naive decision. Things improved when Andres Guardado got hurt and the U.S. went back to the familiar 4-4-2 thereafter with Pulisic operating on the wing.

So yes, Klinsmann blew the start of the game. But U.S. fans have long known the team needs to perform better to overcome his tactical insanity. The real question is should the U.S. still have won this contest?

We here at IMOTGP say a resounding yes because after Bobby Wood's equalizer, this was no contest. And what was exposed was the fragility of the Mexicans. It's not hard to see why this is a team that lost 7-0.   This blog was shocked at how meek and mentally shot Mexico was the game required just an ounce of grit. And the fouling and yellow cards that came with that during the portion of the match in which they were outplayed was evidence of that.

This has been described as one of the "most talented" Mexican teams ever. Well we still see the same one. Chicharito - so sublime at Bayer Leverkusen - was a complete non-factor. Outside of the first half hour in which Mexico were so superior because the U.S. was lost in a trash formation, the visitors brought little to the table, were yelling at each other and looked like they wanted to hide.

Of course, one last tactical mistake - not having a player on the back post in the 89th minute - proved to be the undoing for the U.S. But it's likely the team under Klinsmann doesn't practice such set-piece defending, more likely choosing instead to drill formations that are unusable. Still, let's not hail Mexico for this performance when they were abject for half the contest. Their frailties remain. Bravo to them for getting three points on the road against the U.S. but what this contest proved yet again is that CONCACAF remains a footballing minnow.

Short-handed Gladbach revive Champions League qualification hopes

Borussia Monchengladbach were rooted to the bottom of their Champions League table. They had stalwarts Thorgen Hazard and Raffael out with injuries as well as United States superstar Fabian Johnson while Mahmoud Dahoud started on the bench for their Wednesday trip to Glasgow to face Celtic. None of that mattered as the Fohlenelf rolled to a 2-0 victory that silenced the Bhoys' faithful and boosted qualification hopes.

After a Matchday 1 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Pep Guardiola and Manchester City, Gladbach looked doomed in the Group of Death.  Blowing a lead at home against a Lionel Messi-less Barcelona on Matchday 2 made that fate even likelier.

Now Andre Schubert's side could leapfrog City with three points at home against Celtic provided Manchester City do not win in England against Barca that same day. In that scenario, Borussia could now advance with three points in a Nov. 23 rematch with City.

It's all conjecture at this point but this was an inspired showing by the Foals. Lars Stindl and Andre Hahn proved too much for Celtic to handle after the Scottish champs gave City the business in a 3-3 Celtic Park thriller that had them looking the likelier of the two sides for a Europa League berth.

Instead Borussia turned on the style and made their hosts impotent, seizing on two Kolo Toure errors for their goals even though in truth they were the better side throughout. It was the kind of away performance rarely seen by Gladbach.

"We're fearless at home – we play with a high tempo and we're always looking for the quickest route to goal," Schubert told Bundesliga.com. "In the opponents' penalty area, we look for one-on-one situations and try to get shots on goal. When we're away, though, our attacks break down, or we just pass the ball from one side of the pitch to another." 

Last season, Gladbach took four points off Bayern Munich and visit the Allianz Arena this weekend. They could prove to be the bogey side again to the Bundesliga's best.

Said Hahn: "We know we’re a team who can give Bayern problems."

Need an Aspirin? Bayer 04 Do After Another Champions League Draw

Yet once again, Bayer Leverkusen were fit to be tied in the Champions League after a 0-0 draw Tuesday at the BayArena against an injury-plagued and underwhelming Tottenham Hotspur squad. Three draws in three games leave the Werkself third on three points - which easily could be nine.

To refresh, Roger Schmidt's men squandered a two-goal lead in the Group E opener at home against CSKA. Then they nursed a 1-0 lead in France until Monaco's Kamil Glik struck with the last kick of a 1-1 draw on Matchday 2.  Bayer held shot advantages of 18-8 and 10-6 in those games.

That only foretold the story of a matchup with Spurs lacking injured talisman Harry Kane while Son Heung-min made his return to the club that made him famous. You will recall this blogger's trip to Ukraine to see the great Son in action.

Although the Londoners had more of the possession and the stronger of play in the first half, Leverkusen held a final 16-5 edge in shots and piled on the pressure in the second half with Hugo Lloris coming up big for Spurs. No bigger was Lloris' save on Chicharito in the 58th minute although the Mexican missed a good chunk of open net for a shot that the 'keeper barely kept from going over the line.

So an uphill battle remains for Bayer to qualify with road games against Spurs and CSKA along with a home matchup with Monaco.  Questions will be asked of Schmidt, who received plaudits from the English media even though his club is in 10th in the Bundesliga and yet to win a Champions League match.

Why Stefan Kießling was allowed to go the full 90 was a good question considering his final 15-20 minutes left plenty to desire and he wasn't that great before that, either. Kießling has only played in three league matches and has yet to score. The same question goes as to why Julian Brandt received only five minutes to make an impact.  Hakan Calhanoglu didn't make the most of his start before giving way to Julian Baumgartlinger at the break.

The lone positive was Leverkusen's first clean sheet against an English foe in 17 Champions League matches. They also have three straight at the BayArena, blanking Augsburg and Borussia Dortmund.

Nobody Respects the MLS

Who knew that there is one week of football left in the MLS. And the big story in the league was how 45-year-old Didier Drogba refused to play for Montreal when he learned we was not going to be in the starting lineup.

Playoff-bound Montreal coach Mauro Biello has made up with the washed-up Drogba.  But let's be clear: Drogba would never have pulled this move at his former stops. He knows that it simply doesn't matter for his career or really anyone's career what happens in meaningless MLS matches.

This event highlights how players who starred in Europe view the league. You may have missed Andrea Pirlo's recent comments about the league.

Said Pirlo: "I love the style of sport in America. Here you come to the stadium with your family and the victory comes second. What counts first and foremost is the sense of people coming together."

This in a country that brought you Donald Trump. Yet Pirlo is right. The family atmosphere in MLS stadiums is legendary, as this blog can attest to from games in Colorado, Orlando and Chicago this season. You can sit and enjoy the match and talk to the people next to you about the weather, politics or how your kids are doing. That's what Pirlo is talking about.

Furthermore, only three teams fired coaches in season. To be fair, the ineptitude of the league is a major reason for this. New York Red Bulls will finish atop the Eastern Conference despite blowing five, count them FIVE two-goal leads in draws.  Normally those 10 dropped points would matter but the quality in the MLS is so low it didn't. No one is paying attention anyway.

MLS coaches love that nothing is on the line for them.  There's very little pressure to perform in the league - or in the country - for anybody.  The United States finished fourth in the Gold Cup and retained coach Jurgen Klinsmann. The U.S. fourth-place finish in the Copa America consisted of three wins and three defeats. Consecutive fourth-place finishes are considered "success," apparently.

The football culture in the U.S. is more than accepting of mediocrity and no one respects the MLS. Even this old guy is back scoring goals.

Back in business! Real football returns

After a stretch of boring internationals that included a useless 1-1 draw between the United States and New Zealand, it's time to get back to business with some real football action in Europe. Let's refresh what's going on in the top leagues over there and get ready for the weekend.

Premier League

The biggest story continues to be how foreign managers continue to latch on, with Pep Guardiola and Antonio Conte coming aboard this year. Ronald Koeman has Everton flying high and Mauricio Pochettino and Tottenham look capable of another third place run.

The big matchups this weekend are all between foreign managers. Former Barcelona bosses Guardiola and Koeman meet along with a match between Italian supremos Conte and Claudio Ranieri as Chelsea take on Leicester City. Perhaps the most intriguing is Arsene Wenger matching wits with Bob Bradley as Arsenal tussle with Swansea City. Bradley's hire has drawn plenty of attention and the Swans have actally won on three of their last five league visits to the Emirates.

The Premier League features a last-place team with an American striker in Sunderland's Lynden Gooch.

Bundesliga

The table is still tight with Bayern Munich only enjoying a three-point lead. The big match is today as second-placed Hertha Berlin visit third-placed Borussia Dortmund in a matchup of heavyweights.

Both have American stars and Christian Pulisic and Dortmund will be eager to take over second place ahead of a big Champions League encounter with Sporting Lisbon. Hertha, who have been playing without John Brooks, have shipped six goals in their last two road fixtures, including a humbling 3-0 defeat to Bayern. The last time these sides met, BVB rolled in the German Cup semi-finals, and Berlin have plenty to prove. Hertha's Genki Haraguchi and Valentin Stocker had impressive weeks for their countries.

The Bundesliga features a last-place team with an American striker in Hamburg's Bobby Wood.

La Liga Santander

No league will have a better title race than this one. Atletico Madrid currently lead, followed by Real Madrid, Sevilla and Barcelona in fourth. 

The big story is the return of Lionel Messi. Both Barcelona and Argentina showed their frailties without him. The plan is to get him some action this weekend against Depo so he can possibly start against Guardiola's Man City next Wednesday. 

In other news, Cesare Prandelli is the latest to take over at troubled Valencia. Can the Italian maestro revive this once-proud club?

La Liga, of course, features no American players.

Serie A

Juventus is back on top and on form, although is there cause for concern after Gianluigi Buffon's gaffe against Spain? We think not.

The biggest game is second versus third when Napoli host Roma. Things won't be the same since the strike partnership of Jose Maria Callejon and Arkadiusz Milik has been broken up thanks to Milik's ACL injury while playing for Poland. How ill-timed are these internationals?

Quietly, a Carlos Bacca-led AC Milan may finally be a Champions League contender again. Over at the San Siro, Keisuke Honda is out of favour once again and he has ripped the Milan faithful in response.

Serie A features no American players, although that could change.

FINAL THOUGHTS

That about sums it up. There is one bit of business we want to mention from international play - the developments in Asian World Cup qualifying this past stretch. You may be surprised to learn that neither South Korea nor Japan hold automatic spots in a region that is becoming more competitive.

Iran scored a deserved 1-0 victory over Korea in front of a huge crowd in Tehran despite playing on a Shiite day of mourning. Check out the highlights below:

Another stinging critique of U.S. Soccer culture!

The United States team edged past Cuba in a meaningless friendly today that hopefully no one saw. The match came hours after former boss Bob Bradley made no bones about how much he hates Jurgen Klinsmann with some oddly-timed comments at his introductory Swansea City press conference.  Bradley also made clear that he felt Klinsmann was not a good candidate to coach England (hopefully England doesn't realize that!).

Meanwhile, it's college football season in the States or college 'soccer,' as the Yanks call it. And we have more evidence of how idiotic that sport it in this story by the Guardian. You see, college soccer allows what amounts to basically unlimited substitutions. That leads to chaotic slopfests that prevent players from developing technical skills. It's a complete mess.

Said UConn coach Ray Reid: "People wonder why the USA doesn’t play the right way – and it’s our fault, because we haven’t given Jurgen enough guys with technique. We should have more guys playing good soccer, but you have to be willing to sacrifice early on and a lot of guys aren’t. More guys concentrate on wins and losses than on development."

Why would college soccer exist like this?  Well Americans always do things their own way, don't they? That works in sports they invented, although even that isn't true all the time. It doesn't work in a sport in which everybody in the world plays - with the notable exception of the greatest cricket powerhouse in the world India.

There is no reason for college soccer not to play by regular rules but American colleges are essentially overpriced, self-contained businesses at this point with little to no oversight. If tuition continues to reach record heights each year with the government unable to do anything about that, do you think U.S. soccer has any chance of fixing a sport that is an afterthought at these faux institutes of higher learning?

While Bruce Arena flies Southwest, Bob Bradley is flying high

This is about the two greatest football managers in United States in history. One led the country to a World Cup quarter-final appearance and was thisclose to the semis. The other masterminded the only team in history to win a World Cup group along with a stunning upset of European champion Spain in between La Furia Roja's 2008 Euro title and 2010 World Cup win - the lone such crown in Spanish history.

Much is known about Bruce Arena and Bob Bradley and both have extensive MLS experience. One is still there now - the dean of MLS coaching in Arena. And do you want to get a chance to meet him? You can do it by logging onto Southwest.com and booking a flight.

Why is this? Because of the stunning LA Times investigative piece explaining how MLS mandates commercial flights.  That means the star-studded Galaxy may be on Southwest.

Said Landon Donovan: "There’s a perception and an image. We're on a Southwest flight to Kansas City and a lady in front of us said, ‘Why are you guys flying Southwest?’ So if we want to be Major League Soccer, not minor league soccer, and we want to be like the others sports, eventually we have to get there."

In essence, the league only allows four charter flights in the interest of "competitive balance." That includes the playoffs for some reason. Arena said he is so embarrassed that he bans the players from wearing LA Galaxy gear in order not to look ridiculous.

What does the league have to say in response? Idiot commissioner Don Garber said that teams have to decide whether they want charter flights or academies.  What foolishness and this is why the MLS is one of the world's laughingstocks. The Times reported charter travel would only cost the league an additional $20 million.

Across the pond, Bradley doesn't have to deal with such nonsense in the richest league in the world. The new Swansea City boss gave his first interview below to the club web site.

So what does IMOTGP think about Bradley at Swansea City? Well we think it's a good situation despite the club hovering just above the drop on four points and winless in six. For one, within the Swans' reach are clubs like Hull City, Burnley, Boro and Bournemouth - all within four points or fewer. Swansea have enough talent to get above these sides.

The next six fixtures are Arsenal (A), Watford (H), Stoke City (A), Manchester United (H), Everton (A) and Crystal Palace (H).  Only the Gunners are title contenders in that group and it's safe to say that Swansea will fancy their chances of picking up points in all of the other five, perhaps outside of the trip to Goodison Park. A 10- or 11-point haul from these matches is critical for Bradley and could be doable with established talent like Fernando Llorente, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Leroy Fer and Wayne Routledge on hand. It's up to Bradley to revive players like Jefferson Montero and Ki Sung-Yueng.

The Arsenal match is delectable since it was reported that Swansea asked their managerial candidates for a game plan to neutralize the Gunners during the interviews and Bradley apparently shined. On Oct. 15, we will find out whether that plan really has merit.

But in conclusion, Swansea are a fairly stable club and we believe it's actually a better place for Bradley to be than a bigger club like Sunderland which has had much upheaval of late. He's also not with one of the newboys, either. If Bradley gets relegated, he'll deserve to be sacked but we predict that won't happen and the Swans will stabilize somewhere in the upper part of the bottom half of the table.

How IMOTGP Spent the International Break

With the international break upon us, you may be wondering what your humble blogger has been doing with very little meaningful football to watch. Well, although football is the world's greatest game, you should know that we here at the IMOTGP follow another sport in cricket - the world's most popular bat and ball game.

So we used the time off to head to the theater along with dozens of Indians to check out the movie that has become a worldwide phenomenon - M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story.  It's a film about the greatest athlete of the 21st century, M.S. Dhoni, and his rise from the state of Jharkhand to the captain of the Indian cricket team. Dhoni led us to the 2007 T20 World Cup title and the 2011 ODI World Cup title. In between, we also rose to No. 1 in the Test rankings. These were heady times for the world's most popular sports team. Let's face it, we defined greatness during those days.

Dhoni is severely underpaid for his status, however, as only the 23rd richest athlete in 2015 with a mere $31 million. That paltry sum only means that he has not fallen victim to the marketing machine of Western sports, choosing to stay true to his humble roots when he began as a ticket taker at a train station.

The official IMOTGP  verdict on the movie is that it is one of the greatest pieces of filmmaking this decade. It tells of the highs and lows of the world's greatest athlete, the tragedies and the triumphs, and it clocks in at just over three hours - slightly more than a riveting T20 match.You see how Dhoni grew up in a small town, how he rose to prominence, how he met the woman of his dreams by locking himself out of his hotel room and how he dropped three legendary players from the India team as captain. In short, you learn what makes Dhoni and India so great.

The most moving scene is when Dhoni's boss at the railroad station demonstrates how cricket is a metaphor for life when Dhoni wants to quit his job. The boss mentions how as a batsman you have to deal with different deliveries from the bowler by using different techniques at the crease - just like life throws you different challenges. After all, would you swing for the boundary on an inswinger or go for six on a doosra? I think we all know the answer to that.

We give this movie four stars. This football fan found it inspirational to see the leader of Indian cricket in all his glory. M.S Dhoni is a living legend and we can't wait for the sequel. Head to your local theater and watch this as soon as you can!

How IMOTGP convinced Bob Bradley to go to England

Multiple sources have told the IMOTGP that Swansea City have changed managers, with Bob Bradley taking over for Francesco Guidolin. You may be wondering how this all went down and we will break down some of the details the media may not be aware of.

Swansea City are owned in part by Americans Steve Kaplan and Jason Levien. The former has some executive role with the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies and the latter is linked to MLS outfit D.C. United. The Americans are well aware how Bradley masterminded an upset of Spain as United States boss in a memorable run to the Confederations Cup final in 2009.

What you may not know - and has not been widely reported - is the role IMOTGP has played in this. Swansea have done their due diligence and noted our fantastic blog post about how the American David Wagner is performing a miracle in English football at Huddersfield Town. Proving the Swans left no stone unturned, they contacted the IMOTGP after seeing our clandestine meeting with Bob Bradley's son, Michael - known best for being a United States teammate of Christian Pulisic. (Note: Pulisic mentioned in this article for SEO purposes).

We can now disclose that Michael Bradley and IMOTGP discussed coaching options for his father in that September meeting. We apologize for not reporting that earlier but we were in a delicate position here at the blog and didn't want to compromise any valuable information. Bradley and us discussed several jobs - IMOTGP suggested the Bundesliga was too far a reach for Bob Bradley and he should pursue a lesser league like the Premier League instead.

So there you have it, the story behind  the story that the football media has not picked up. We congratulate Bob Bradley on this historic appointment while still waiting for the first American coach in Bundesliga history.  Maybe this guy can do that?

How to Become a Footballer if you are from the United States

As you know, we have discussed the shortcomings of the American footballer with this outstanding post from a week or so ago. And this has generated a lot of response in the blogosphere and elsewhere, Many people stop The Phantom on the street (like United States captain Michael Bradley) and ask yours truly for solutions to how we can develop top-level football talent.

Well unlike a certain Presidential candidate, we're not here just to tell you what's wrong with America. We're here to tell you how to fix it. And to say that means we have some good news: you can be a top-level footballer hailing from the United States; which of course means that you do NOT play in this league - until you turn 35.

Of course, Europe is where the money is in football and The Guardian reported on three top-level pros from our land competing over there in this insightful piece. Let's meet them.

1. Mayowa Alli. Alli plays for Klaksvik in the Faroe Islands. Who knows how he is doing on the pitch but he is being paid well enough to enjoy the local delicacy - whale.

Said Alli: "Some people would say eating whale is barbaric but I learned to look at it from their perspective. I only had it once. I can’t give you a sophisticated review – but it was good."

To be fair, Alli is actually in the Faroe Islands on loan from Denmark's Vendsyssel. So here he is, a top-level footballer from the U.S.

2. Adan Coranado. We will coronate Coranado as the most creative United States player in Europe since he is at AZAL in Azerbaijan.

Said Coranado: "I went on Google and said: 'Where’s this place at?!' I saw it was under Turkey: 'Oh, it’s a little further out from home. It’s way over the pond.'"

He's actually a Mexican-American who was the subject of a local documentary. Unlike Alli, he bypassed college soccer in the States and turned pro - just like basketballers LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. And he's enjoying a similar happy ending with his blossoming European career in Azerbaijan.

3. Shaquell Moore. Known as 'Shaq' by IMOTGP and his close friends, Moore is a teenage success story playing in Spain. He did not get paid for his first five months playing for Huracan.

Said Moore: "It was bad but it was good. It helped me a lot. I know I’m able to tough it out even when I wanted to drop everything and go back home."

An FC Dallas youth product, Moore was spotted by Spanish scouts and the rest is history - in the making. The 19-year-old plays for Atletico Levante, the reserve team of Levante UD, the club that finished last in the Spanish top-flight last season and went to the Segunda Division. Moore is hoping to get on the first team and eventually lead them back to matchups with Real Madrid and Barcelona - something the Levante faithful expect.

Said Moore: "The (major) difference with the U.S. is the technical ability of the players. At home, the focus is on bigger players and who can run the fastest and be the most physical. Here, you can be physical but you also have to have a brain for the game and good technique. It’s more competitive because there are a lot of players and everyone is good. Even in the lower divisions."

Moore is correct that in the United States you don't need a brain for the game to play football. We wish him luck in Spain. He's one of a select few trail blazers looking to broaden their football horizons.

The ridiculous to the sublime: A new low for England

It's a banner week for football in England. Tottenham Hotspur won their Champions League tilt in Moscow.  The champions of England, Leicester City, have two wins in two tries in the competition. Arsenal, sans Olivier Giroud, have a winnable home game against FC Basel while Manchester City have yet to lose under the great Pep Guardiola as they travel to Glasgow to face once-mighty Celtic.

Of course, no one is England is talking about this or about Thursday's huge match at Old Trafford, where Manchester United look to maintain their unbeaten home mark against Ukrainian opposition. That's because, once again, England's national team has humiliated the country - this time without even taking the pitch.

Now people come up to The Phantom all the time on the street (like U.S. captain Michael Bradley) and accuse yours truly of being too hard on England.  Well the defense rests after Tuesday's utterly ridiculous announcement that England boss Sam Allardyce has been let go after one match in charge.

It is this blogger's opinion that maybe Allardyce - a victim of a sting operation by tabloid rag Daily Telegraph - didn't deserve to go. But does it really matter? We couldn't make sense of the whole situation and while his comments about Roy Hodgson and Gary Neville have drawn plenty of heat, his words about having to pay taxes only echo what every overpaid rich person in every Western nation claims.

In any case, this is proof that being England manager is the Impossible Job the nation claims it is and mostly because you can expect folly like this if you accept it. Not that we are into willy-nilly nationalism or patriotism but shouldn't publications - even hack operations like the Telegraph - not go after the manager of the national team?  The answer is yes but the reason it happens is not just because the tabloids are out of control but also because the culture in England has gone to the shitter to such an extent that the public deep down believes in such gutter muckraking. It's why Allardyce is bitching about his taxes and the idiots over there voted for Brexit. England - and its people - have struggled to take responsibility on many an occasion, resulting in a general distrust that creates an atmosphere of chaos. It's what they do. It's not surprising that an Englishman wrote the famous play Betrayal since the Brits have truly made that into an art - literally.

So where does England go from here? The truth is it doesn't matter for the "laughing stock of world football." Last year, Leicester shocked the world by winning the Premier League. From our vantage point, it will be a bigger shock if the next England manager doesn't wet himself.

Joe Enochs: The Inspiring Story of an American coach in Europe you have never heard of

Those of you familiar with the blog recall our insightful look at German-American coach David Wagner. His Huddersfield Town squad continues to lead the English Championship and is on course for promotion to face the big boys like Manchester United, Arsenal and West Bromwich Albion. That feature is part of our mission to educate the American public on U.S. coaches succeeding in Europe.

Well there's another American coach we'd like to spotlight today. He's successful in his own right, guiding his side to second place in the German third division. He's a Californian by the name of Joe Enochs - and you have never heard of him!

The Joe Enochs story is one of the most uniquely American soccer stories around. And it's a shame that so few people know it. Well that's what the IMOTGP is here to do. A college soccer player at little known Sacramento State, he got a call from a former teammate playing in one of Germany's lower leagues and made the trip over to play for counterculture club St. Pauli.

That's right, Mark Baena was playing for TuS Hoisdorf and gave Enochs a call to come to Germany. The rest has become American soccer lore. He joined St. Pauli's amateur squad and was offered a chance to play for the first team.

But Enochs turned it down and joined VfL Osnabruck. The struggling team near the Dutch border allowed Enochs to play for such German coaching luminaries like Michael Lorkowski and Jurgen Gelsdorf, and he lasted 12 seasons for the Lily Whites with an astounding  359 appearances. A captain with the club, Enochs was so beloved by the Osnabruck faithful that he received a testimonial match in front of the club's die-hard fans at the Osnatel Arena. 

Well this fairy-tale football story has come full circle now that Enochs has taken over as coach, a move he discussed in this wide-ranging interview. Enochs has dreamed of the idea of bringing his German expertise back to the United States to help us - unlike the current idiot in charge. Meanwhile, we'll be keeping an eye on the German third division as Enochs, who received one U.S. cap under the great Bruce Arena, tries to write another chapter to his amazing history.

Joe Enochs - an American football legend and a friend of IMOTGP!

Wednesday preview: Four major European cities see action in two clashes of titans!

There was some football action Tuesday but now it's time for the big boys to play. And these are some enticing domestic matchups in the top two leagues in the world, featuring four major European cities and four big clubs with big reputations. It doesn't get any better than this. Madrid. Barcelona. Munich. Berlin. Mouth-watering stuff, isn't it?  Let's look at Spain first with the contest that will cap this big night.

That's right, it's Spain's two biggest cities with Madrid and Barcelona represented. In one corner, you have the Champions League finalists from last season in Atletico Madrid while in another you have the reigning Spanish champions, Barcelona.  It's a late-night start at the Nou Camp that has caused the city of Barcelona to extend the Metro hours so supporters can get home.

Who can forget last season with the Atleti knocked out Barca from the Champions League, helping pave the way for Real Madrid to lift the coveted trophy.  The Blaugrana have not since this matchup features a contrast in styles, with Atleti content to see Barca maintain possession. 

Said Barca coach Luis Enrique: "They are still masters of the counter attack and set pieces. They’re candidates for every trophy, so we’ll have to get things right against them."

After two draws, Atletico have fired in nine goals in two routs to actually match Real for best goal differential at plus-9.  Adding to that figure is a challenge that Atletico is well aware of.

Said captain Diego Godin:  "Barcelona at home are a very tough opponent so we must give 120 percent effort - not only are they very strong in attack but also in their defence. We did things well in our opening two games but did not win, but we must believe in our efforts and direction."

The other storyline is how Neymar has been criticized for "taking the Mickey" (as the hated Brits say) during a weekend stroll at Leganes.  He won't have the chance to do so Wednesday against battle-tested Atletico.

One city is known for the world's best beer drinking festival. The other has been described by those in the know as "hip, vibrant and constantly evolving." It's Munich and Berlin and it's a true culture clash between Bavarian traditions and the cosmopolitan cool of the capital city.

On the pitch, this clash has been more one-sided with Bayern Munich losing once in the last 25 meetings with Hertha Berlin, and that was when Jurgen Klinsmann coached Bayern and brought in Landon Donovan as a substitute. Both those Bundesliga buffoons have been banished to toiling in anonymity in the United States.

There is reason to believe in Hertha this time despite our odd new slogan of "We Try. We Fail. We Win." We are off to our best start with a perfect record of three wins in three games to join Bayern on top of the table after Matchday 3. Its's the first time since 1963 that two Bundesliga clubs that have started with three wins will meet in the fourth match.  Carlo Ancelotti is treating this like a huge encounter, with Thomas Muller set to return to the side.

Sadly, our heroes from Hertha limp into town. Oft-injured defender John Brooks is out with a muscle problem while Vladimir Darida, reportedly targeted by Real Madrid, is out until 2017 after suffering ligament damage in Sunday's 2-0 win over Schalke. And Bayern is so dominant that some people in Germany want American NFL-style playoffs to determine a champion.

But it's football and anything can happen and if things go right, Hertha BSC may be on top of the Bundesliga after Wednesday night. In any case, four top cities have pride and honour at stake. Madrid. Barcelona. Munich. Berlin. What a time to be a football fan! Enjoy!