by: Karen Alassaf
TORONTO – The Toronto FC announced on Wednesday its contract with the American coach “Bob Bradley” to lead the team, just days after the team “parted ways” with former coach Ali Curtis.
“I would like to thank Bill Mannings and the border at MLSE for trusting me,” Bradley said at the TFC news conference. “I have seen for myself the passion for Toronto and the way the club has connected to the city. I am looking forward to putting a team on the field that will make our fans and supporters proud.”
Toronto Reds president Bill Mannings said: “We are excited to work with Bob as we enter a very important season and know we have a squad that needs a big change. Bob has experience bringing teams together and getting teams to perform at a high level, he understands Toronto expectations and standards and he’s ready for this challenge.”
Mannings added “Things came together very quickly after that, and, “I think he is the right guy at the right time to lead this club.”
Toronto cleared the way for Bradley’s arrival by announcing the departures of GM Ali Curtis and coach Javier Perez. Bradley arrives three days after the season ended in a 1-0 loss to CF Montreal in the Canadian Championship final.
“This is not an empty whiteboard,” said Bradley. “This is a whiteboard that still has a lot of names and needs a lot of discussions.
Bradley is the father of the TFC captain Michael Bradley
Michael Bradley said he is excited, more so for the club.
“I’m lucky. I know more than anyone how good my dad is. And the environment that he will create both inside the club and out on the field every day,” he said. “And as a player, that’s what you want. That’s all you want. To come into a place every day where you’re surrounded by people who share the same ambition, share the same drive, share the same commitment to trying to create something different, create something special.”
When it comes to their dealings, both father and son indicated it will be business as usual.
“Michael’s in the back end of his career,” Bob said of the 34-year-old midfielder. “And I’ll be interested now to be able, when training starts, to find ways to continue to open up his mind for how he can be better. Just like I will with every other player to challenge him, to push him” Badley said.
And he added “I think you guys know he loves to play, he loves to compete. And I still think, that in the right ways, he knows he wants to be coached.”
Bradley comes to Toronto with 20 years of head coaching expertise. He has coached both the US and Egyptian national teams in addition to his experience as an NASL coach. Canada will be the sixth country in which he has served as a head coach. While Bradley helped build LAFC from the ground up, he has a foundation in place in his bid to help Toronto rediscover its winning culture.
Bob Bradley has achieved many important successes during his twenty years of experience, On the west coast, he had quick success, leading the first-year LAFC to 57 points in 2018, the most points ever scored by a first-year team in league history. With 72 points in the regular season in 2019, LAFC set a league record at the time. LAFC dominated the league in goals scored with 85 while conceding the fewest goals (37) of any team in the league. The +48-goal differential was 27 goals higher than the next closest team in the league. Bradley was named MLS Coach of the Year for the third time in 2019 after leading the team to a record-breaking regular season and winning the MLS Supporters’ Shield.
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