Bradley should never wear the kit again. As to who wears it in the next year, I don't care and they can swap it every match as far as I'm concerned. That will take care of itself after a while.

Ok, he failed as captain. And he never reached his full potential. But why kick him to the curb like that? I don't think he failed for lack of effort.

Calling out the fans after the loss to Costa Rica in New Jersey, his response to Lalas's rant (Lion doesn't concern himself with sheep). His move back to MLS really shows where his ambition is.

But the most important thing to me is attitude. That has to come from the captain and our attitude Tuesday night was appalling for what that game meant. He's not fit to wear the shirt as far as I'm concerned.

In fact I hope Toronto gets Chicago in the playoffs so I can boo every single touch he makes.

He's pretty borderline for qualifying.

Time to start moving on now.

For the foreseeable future for the USMNT?

We won't have a meaningful game for several years at this point, so him being "captain" of a team with no meaningful games on any horizon doesn't make sense.

It's not kicking him to the curb, it's moving on with a long away meaningful game in mind.

I'm really indifferent about the whole captain thing. I agree that there won't be meaningful games for a while. I'm just wondering why he'd be pushed aside like that. Sure, if there are players that need to make the team and develop, I hope they find them and do that. I'm just not convinced that it needs to be done with the exclusion of Bradley.

they mean it. We should not see a single player over the age of 26 wear a USMNT kit.

Bradley makes all of these useless short passes. He bosses nothing. He does very little. I appreciate his chip at the Azteca but other than memories, I don't want him, Deuce, Howard, or any of the older guys associate with this team any more. It's over for them.

What purpose does it serve?

I don't want young players getting his attitude. He won't provide any benefit to a 2022 WC side. So...what's the point?

Other than disagree with JK that he was a not better suited to play an advanced midfield role, I don't recall any kind of attitude issues with him. There are a hell of a lot of guys that just weren't good enough. And I certainly don't put him at the top of the list.

This isn't a Dempsey or Wondo keeping a Dom Dwyer out of the team. The midfielders just aren't good. Acosta, Arriola and Nagby were already there. None of them looked any better than Bradley. Probably worse.

Are we waiting for Hyndman and Zelalem? OK, fine, but they aren't exactly knocking the door down.

Other than having the microscope of captain, I don't see how Bradley was any more of a failure than anyone not named Pulisic...and maybe Wood.

Edit: I've never seen the kid play that plays in Germany (Schalke?). I assume that he'd be a part of the next generation. And Acosta showed some promise. I don't see much in Arriola. My point being, if Bradley earns his place, and accepts that his new role is to help make those guys better, why kick him to the curb?

He was terrible at controlling play in the midfield. Far too many turnovers in the defending half and only marginal in defense. He had difficulty running with anyone more than a serviceable center midfielder. He was absolutely hopeless against good midfielders. His only success came when Jermaine Jones played just behind him and would bail him out (when not too out of position himself).

I'm can't give you that one.

And to the extent that you may have inferred that he and Jones had some success together, I can't agree either. They were generally awful when paired together.

There were a couple games...literally like two...in which Jones played out of his mind. He was entirely out of position and trying to single handedly carry the team. And it was Bradley that covered for Jones to allow that to happen. But the other 99% of the time when Jones was not superman, they sucked.

When I say running, I mean competing. Turnovers, missed tackles, and poor defensive footwork are the norm for Bradley.

As for the Jones / Bradley pairing, it was not great. However, I think we were much more dynamic with both of them on the field at the same time. We lacked a lot of ambition and creativity when Bradley played without Jones.

I won a Bradley jersey at an American Outlaws game-watch the night he hit that banger against Mexico. It still has the tags on it.

... point, and he hasn't been for some time.

But an obvious replacement isn't jumping out at me either.

I'm not really sure what "now" means since it would appear that they have some time on their hands.

Arena had one job which was to see the team through the World Cup. That job is done (not accomplished obviously). So it's time to clean house. The new coach should name his captain as the leader that emerges from the pack as the leader of the next generation. Clearly Pulisic is the next best player. It remains to be seen whether he is the leader. Guys like Bradley and Altidore can get the armband in any meaningless matches over the next year until the house is cleaned out.

Bradley should retire from international play.