Statement from US Soccer

U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati announced today that Bob Bradley has been relieved of his duties as the head coach of the U.S. Men’s National Team.

We want to thank Bob Bradley for his service and dedication to U.S. Soccer during the past five years,” said Gulati. “During his time as the head coach of our Men’s National Team he led the team to a number of accomplishments, but we felt now was the right time for us to make a change. It is always hard to make these decisions, especially when it involves someone we respect as much as Bob. We wish him the best in his future endeavors.

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Yahoo Sports’ DirtyTackle blog offers up some possible replacements (and laughs.)

Jurgen Klinsmann — The former German national team coach, who has been meeting with U.S. officials off and on for years now and scaring them with his ideas of a total systematic overhaul. Will this be his chance to put his grandiose ideas into practice or will he stick to consulting Toronto FC into the ground?

Any MLS coach — Jason Kreis, Sigi Schmid, Steve Nicol, Dominic Kinnear, Bruce Arena for the comeback? They are all successful MLS coaches. Just like Bob was.

Marcello Lippi — He won a World Cup for Italy. And, more recently, he was a part of the abomination that was Italy in the 2010 World Cup.

Carlo Ancelotti — Seriously, I want this. The magic eyebrow would dominate CONCACAF with its press conference gymnastics alone.

Michael Bradley — Just to make it extra awkward at the Bradleys’ holiday dinner table this year, why not Bradley’s son Michael as player/coach?

Freddy Adu — Staying with the player/coach theme, now that The Adu is back, just put him in charge of everything. He has a good 45 years of experience in the game at this point.

Abby Wambach — Maybe it’s time someone from the more successful women’s side shows the U.S. men how it’s done. She’s already been named player/coach for her WPS team. Natural progression.

Chicharito — Just to make some heads explode. Also because he can score more from the touchline than most USMNT players can from inside the box.

Rafa Benitez — He’s been unemployed for a while now, so someone has to take pity on him. Plus, not having to go against Alex Ferguson will make him 87 percent more sane. FACT.

Timber Joey — Hey, he has a chainsaw.

Maradona — You know you want it.

After years of rumors and almosts, US Soccer  President Sunil Gulati has finally decided to hand the riens over to the former German NT and Bayern Munich coach.

Statement from US Soccer:

We are excited to have Jürgen as the head coach of our Men’s National Team,” said Gulati. “He is a highly accomplished player and coach with the experience and knowledge to advance the program. Jürgen has had success in many different areas of the game and we look forward to the leadership he will provide on and off the field.”

U.S. Soccer will hold a press conference in New York on Monday, Aug. 1, to formally introduce Klinsmann. Further details regarding the press conference will be released later today.

Newly minted USMNT Manager Jurgen Klinsmann has named a 22-player roster that will travel to Philadelphia in advance of the match against regional rival Mexico on Aug. 10 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

Full roster and our thoughts after the jump:

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