Soccer America Q&A with Bob Bradley

In 1998, Chicago won the MLS title and the U.S. Open Cup. Now Coach Bob Bradley leads the Fire into international play.

SOCCER AMERICA: What does the upcoming CONCACAF Champions Cup represent to the Fire, and to MLS?
BOB BRADLEY: The CONCACAF competition is something special. You earn your way in by winning the [MLS] championship. It’s something we’ve looked forward to all year.
We need to have a roster where everybody can contribute. But as we get closer to CONCACAF, the bottom line is that the tournament is going to be a priority. We want to arrive in Las Vegas with a healthy team and one that is prepared for that competition.

SA: You were an assistant coach for D.C. United during its CONCACAF run in 1997. What experience did you gain from that?
BB: We beat L.A. Firpo on the Tuesday, then we came back on Friday and lost 1-0 to the Galaxy, which was a disappointment. That was the first time D.C. United had lost a game it absolutely had to win.
[The Fire] has already been in that situation this year, and that’s what I told our team after we lost to Rochester in the Open Cup. We still have CONCACAF and the playoffs to look forward to.

SA: You play league games on the Thursday and Sunday before opening the CONCACAF tournament against Joe Public on Tuesday, Sept. 28. How will you use your players in that schedule?
BB: It’s impossible to play the same team Thursday-Sunday-Tuesday, so we’re not even going to try.
We’ll probably play one group against Columbus [Thursday]. Many of those guys will not play in San Jose [Sunday], and we hope we can bring a good, strong team back on Tuesday to play against Joe Public.

SA: So you’re willing to pass up the chance to finish first or even second in the Western Conference to give CONCACAF your best shot?
BB: You have said it in slightly different words. I’d say we’d absolutely like to finish in first place, but if you look at the MLS playoffs and CONCACAF, the regular season is not the first priority.
We don’t spend a lot of time talking about it. On a particular day, a player will step on the field and do his job, and everyone will have confidence in him.

‘A few more players would help’

SA: Which players have contributed the most as reserves and spot starters this season?
BB: Tommy Soehn has done this for us this year. Andrew Lewis, as of late, has played well for us in a reserve role.
This trade we made with Tampa turns out to be a good trade for both teams. Manny [Lagos] and Ritchie [Kotschau] have done well there, and Sam George and Paul Dougherty have been excellent additions to our team.
Sam is versatile, can play in a number of different spots, and is a smart player, a good competitor. Paul has given us a lift in the center of field at times when we were without Peter [Nowak] or without Jerzy [Podbrozny].

SA: Dema Kovalenko has scored a couple of goals recently as a sub.
BB: He is good around the goal. He can score with both feet, he’s not tall but he’s good in the air, and has a good knack for getting in good spots.
We feel a lot of guys have done a good job for us and have given us the depth that will help as we go into these difficult stretches.

SA: How much easier would your job be with an expanded roster?
BB: A few more players would help. I also think they need to do a better job of organizing the MLS schedule, and fitting in certain weeks for Open Cup and CONCACAF.

SA: So it wouldn’t bother you to have a few more midweek [MLS] games during the season if you had more time to prepare for a competition like CONCACAF?
BB: Exactly right.

SA: How will you prepare for the teams you’ll face, or might face, in the CONCACAF tournament?
BB: You want to make sure your team knows what it’s up against in the first game. A team like Joe Public is not the easiest to scout, but we are gathering information from a number of different sources: People who might have seen them play, people who know some of their players, lineups, that kind of thing.
Anything after that is a little easier. Obviously, Mexican teams we deal with constantly. I have tapes of the CONCACAF qualifications that were played in Honduras, so it’s easy to see Olimpia, Alajuela or Saprissa.

SA: What do you know of Necaxa and Toluca?
BB: I’ve followed their seasons. I know their lineups and I’ve watched bits and pieces of their games, and we have some tapes we’ll go through ahead of time. And any team you play on Friday, you’ll have seen them play in Las Vegas.

SA: What role do these international tournaments play in the development of American soccer?
BB: D.C. United has done a great job over the years. Their accomplishments last year meant a lot to everyone in the league.
And, the winner of the CONCACAF tournament goes to the world club championships. That would be quite an honor. There’s a lot of money at stake here, and for the players, any opportunity to compete for some real prize money is pretty special.

‘We push each other every day’

SA: You mentioned the success of D.C. United. Is that what you’ve tried to replicate in Chicago?
BB: I was lucky to be part of everything in D.C. from day one. I went there because I felt that between Bruce [Arena], Kevin [Payne] and myself that we all had an idea of what it would take to be successful, to have a good soccer environment.
When Peter Wilt called, I told him I had an interest only if we had a chance to do the soccer things the same way we did in D.C. And we have been able to. We have an excellent training facility, the ownership has been tremendous, and I believe, most importantly, the players believe this has been a good club to play for.
I like the challenges we have here. We push each other every day, looking for ways to make things better.
I had a very good relationship with Kevin Payne in D.C., and since I’ve been here in Chicago, I feel the same with regard to Peter Wilt. He’s a great person to work with.

SA: So will you return as coach of the Fire next season, or take a position with U.S. Soccer?
BB: Bruce came to me before the season about helping him with the national team. I made it clear that for this year I was totally committed to the Fire, and at the end of the year, if he wanted to talk more, we could.
At the end of the year, we’ll see how some of this comes together. I haven’t really thought about it.
(Ridge Mahoney is a senior editor at Soccer America.)

“We have an excellent training facility, the ownership has been tremendous, and I believe, most importantly, the players believe this has been a good club to play for.”

Interview by Soccer America senior editor Ridge Mahoney