Bob Bradley: Rising Above The Excuse Culture

“Refereee?!” We have all heard it, you hear it everywhere. Whether it be a six-year-old youth game, a high school contest, or a professional fixture, the one thing you can guarantee is that the referee will be openly questioned.

Rather than an incident in itself, this is often the sign of an excuse culture so prevalent in the game today. Managers will be quick to draw attention away from the failings of their team and onto a referee error.

England coach Fabio Capello was a good example of this. England struggled throughout the tournament and were finished off with a 4-1 loss to Germany.

Even hardened England fans admitted sound defeat to the old enemy, and England player Joe Cole explained that “we just weren’t good enough.” Coach Capello, however, chose a different approach.

“A big mistake from the referee that was too important for us to go forward," was the opinion of Capello.

He is certainly not alone. Referees, fatigue, and the Jabulani ball have all been touted as validating reasons for failure by teams on their way to the airport.

Of course, this phenomenon only works in one direction. Argentina fans do not want to discuss if the Maradona "Hand of God" goal in 1986 changed history to their advantage, and few New York Giants ever wonder aloud what would have happened if Eli Manning had been called in the grasp prior to his pass completion to David Tyree in the greatest play of Super Bowl history.

However, you do not have to look further than the World Cup for a man who has risen above the excuse culture. United States coach Bob Bradley has been on the end of more hard luck than most throughout this World Cup tournament. Bradley coached the only team in the tournament to have two legitimate goals ruled out incorrectly by match officials. In fact, had the USA been eliminated in group play, Bradley had his excuses there to be plucked.

“We would have beaten Slovenia if the Bradley goal had…” or “we would have beaten Algeria if the Dempsey goal had…” These excuses would have set heads nodding in agreement and given every fan a right to complain and say “if only." The heroic losers would return and say that things could have gone better. Except this was not what happened. Bob Bradley chose a better route, a route that chose to focus on the future rather than dwell on mistakes outside of their control.

“You cannot control a call or a bounce, but you can control what you are about as a team,” was the rallying call of Bradley. In an instant, it was known that the future is what mattered, and the message sent to his players that the incident would not be allowed to determine their World Cup fate.

The impact of a coach's behavior on his players cannot be questioned. Bradley maintained a focused approach, and the late game heroics of his players reflected that. Maradona bounced around with verve and passion, and his team responded with some big wins in group play.

There is also a negative connotation to this. Take the Brazil victory over the Ivory Coast as an example. Did the behavior of Dunga really help his team in the closing stages? The Brazil coach became more and more animated and screamed after every foul. This transmitted to his players, who were involved in multiple confrontations, and the situation got completely out of hand.

A red card for Kaka capped a frustrating end to the game. But how would it have ended if Dunga had demanded a calm head and cool execution from his players? It would have been interesting to find out if Kaka would have been sent off, and the scene would have turned so ugly.

The cool focus of Bradley has been consistent throughout his career. He was given the interim tag when he was initially installed as USA head coach. It was an interim role that came along with constant speculation about his successor. Bradley ignored the furor and calmly went about the business of winning games.

Bradley lifted the CONCACAF Gold Cup with a 2-1 win over Mexico in 2007 for his first international trophy. Bradley also flew in the face of a common criticism of the United States team. It was claimed by many that the USA racked up wins by playing inferior opposition. In 2008, games were lined up on the road against England and Spain. Bradley’s team then held Argentina to a 0-0 tie in his home state of New Jersey.

In 2009, Bradley achieved his finest hour, and again resilience and focus were shown by the bucketload from his team. The 2009 Confederations Cup began with back to back defeats at the hands of Italy and Brazil. Rather than lay down, the States rallied to beat Egypt 3-0 and receive the "reward" of a semifinal against Spain.

The USA had lost two games already in the tournament, and the European Champion Spanish team were riding a 35-game unbeaten streak. Bradley led the USA to a 2-0 win over Spain that rocked the footballing world. The fact that Bradley’s tactics were cited by Switzerland coach Ottmar Hitzfeld after his 1-0 upset win during the World Cup over the Spanish shows the acumen of Bradley.

In the 2010 World Cup, Bradley and the USA bounced back from an early England goal to equalize and take a point, a 0-2 deficit to a Slovenia team who had conceded only four goals in 10 qualifying games, a wrongly disallowed winner to be held to a 2-2 tie with Slovenia, and a wrongly disallowed goal at 0-0 against Algeria.

Instead of dwelling on these facts, the USA pushed on and beat Algeria in injury time and qualified for the second round. A triumph for fitness, preparation and focus, and an achievement that was beyond the likes of France and Italy.

If you watch the Landon Donovan winning goal you will see tactical awareness at its best. Tim Howard saved the ball and immediately fed Donovan in the area vacated by Algerian players who had rushed up to join the attack. The likelihood of this being a random act is low. This was likely a rehearsed action by a team that maintained focus and clear heads.

The sad thing is, you have to wonder what would have happened if the USA had been eliminated in group play. With the refereeing mistakes it could have been viewed as a conspiracy and the "shafted" Americans may have been covered in glory.

Instead, a loss to Ghana has left Bradley heavily criticized. The fact that Ghana eliminated the USA from the last World Cup is overlooked, as is the fact that Ghana has since added a generation of Under 20 World Cup winners who beat Brazil last year in the final. No, the fans need a scapegoat and it appears to be Bradley.

His future may be uncertain, but when it comes to Bob Bradley you can guarantee one thing, he will not be making excuses.