It's Time for Sunil Gulati to Do His Job for the US Men's National Soccer Team

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With qualification for South Africa wrapped up and—for better or worse—the 23 man roster just about selected, the most important job heading into the 2010 World Cup falls on the shoulders of Sunil Gulati—as it is not only Bob Bradley’s position on the line, but the person who hired him.

Gulati has had it rough from the outset of his tenure as USSF president. Gulati had to not only find a replacement for the most successful coach in USMNT history at the time, Bruce Arena.

Following the team’s dismal performance at the 2006 World Cup, he was forced to reorganize the entire program as international stalwarts Claudio Reyna and Brian McBride decided to retire from international play.

But with Jurgen Klinsman interested in rebuilding the US program early on, it looked likely Gulati was going to pull it all off.

Apparently though, soccer fortunes change just as quickly off the field as on it. At the worst time possible, Gulati was in the media dodging questions about Klinsman’s prolonged interview process, finally announcing that the USSF could not come to terms with the German manager.

Gulati tried to atone for the disastrous affair with Klinsman by claiming that he would hire the perfect high profile manager.

In the end, he was forced to promote interim coach Bob Bradley to full time employment after a prolonged and painful search for any coach with an international reputation interested in the position.

Other than Klinsman, what half-decent international manager would want to coach the USMNT?

Bradley’s appointment was the first sign of Gulati’s inability to assess the international soccer landscape.

Compared to the prestige and perks afforded to elite managers in other countries, a job living in relative anonymity of the United States is not that appealing to top European managers: Less money, little fame, few adoring fans, and no media coverage is only attractive to poorly performing managers wanting to avoid criticism. 

Without the promise of accolades, the U.S.'s job isn’t at the top of the list for the likes of Gus Hiddink, Luiz Felipe Scolari, or Roberto Mancini, all the more reason why Klinsman’s interest could never have been overstated, or the failure for the federation to come to an agreement with the German understated enough.

It is highly unlikely that an arguably elite, top flight European manager will so unabashedly announce his desire to coach the United States national team again.

This all happened at the beginning of his term. Then the USMNT won a couple of games.

Bradley’s appointment seemed to work out, or a stable domestic league with improved play along with a couple of standout performers (Donovan, Dempsey, etc.) allowed the US to handle the mediocre competition found in the CONCACAF region. In any case, Gulati did enough to avoid criticism.

But the writing was on the wall for Gulati and the national team. Inconsistent performances, a lack of development and progress from USMNT pool players, and a failure to win big games started to haunt Bradley and the US team.

And even as outspoken as Gulati was during the search for a manager, he became strangely quiet just as the pressure mounted.

With no international managerial experience, little individual, or domestic fame, and a lack of media-friendly panache, Bradley was an easy scapegoat for fans and critics of American soccer that had seen the team’s early successes disappear.

Arguably, Gulati should have been deflecting attention from his coach. 

It wasn’t because Gulati was too busy with the international community. He did not speak out against the questionable refereeing the United States experienced during the 2009 Gold Cup, Confederations Cup, or qualifying matches.

It seems as if Gulati prefers to stay out of the limelight rather than take advantage of his position and lobby for the USMNT’s interests. 

Still, with qualifying over, Gulati needs to stay in the spotlight rather than disappear once things get difficult, and since the United States is unlikely to be given an automatic seeding (based on FIFA’s formula), the team will need his support this summer. 

Here are some recommendations:

1. Put pressure on FIFA and CONFACAF to select the best officials for American’s matches from here on out.

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