Football
Mike Goodman 7y

Bob Bradley's career pattern predicts Swansea success

Bob Bradley, an American manager, will patrol the sideline for Swansea City on Saturday when the Welsh side faces off against Arsenal. Lots of attention has been paid to what the American part of Bob Bradley's résumé means: what it means for American soccer, what it means for the Premier League, what it means for Swansea. Less attention has been paid to the manager part. What exactly does a Bradley-coached team look like?

From a statistical perspective, assessing Bradley's career presents a particular challenge. He's long espoused a desire to test himself at the highest level. That desire means he's had a fairly eclectic professional career. Many American managers have a career based in Major League Soccer, which has robust data to mine. Bradley, however, hasn't managed in MLS since 2006. Rather, after being fired from the U.S. men's national team in 2011, Bradley first went to Egypt, where he ended up one game away from qualifying for the World Cup. He then moved back to club soccer and took a job at Stabæk in Norway, then Le Havre in France's second division.

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