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With the news that Toronto FC captain Michael Bradley has been named to United States 22-man roster for a pair of upcoming friendly matches, it is now clear where the priorities of the American midfielder lie.
While many have rightly pointed out recently that Bradley’s fellow Designated Player Sebastien Giovinco is likely underpaid even though he is the highest paid player in the league, Sunday’s call-up for Bradley only reinforces how overpaid the American midfielder is.
Not even taking into account his performances as a player since he joined Toronto at the beginning of last year, one simply needs to ask if there is any player in the league who gets paid more money to play so few games?
Given the call-up, Bradley will now miss Toronto’s road fixture against Eastern Conference rival D.C. United on Saturday. With TFC already short-handed due to the absences of injured players Jozy Altidore and Collen Warner, the absence of Toronto’s second highest paid player could be the difference between a positive result and a loss.
To be completely clear, it is 100% acceptable for any International player to accept a national team call-up when training camps and matches are held on official FIFA dates.
However, the United States match on Friday, June 6 against the Netherlands does not fall on an official FIFA date, so neither Bradley or Toronto FC are obliged to have the TFC team captain take part in that game.
With Bradley already expected to miss a large chunk of the summer while on Gold Cup duty with the United States, his absence this week does not speak highly of all parties involved.
With respect to United States Head Coach Jürgen Klinsmann, this is just another instance of the disrespect that he has always shown toward Major League Soccer. Surely, for a non-FIFA date the German gaffer could do without Bradley and use Friday’s poorly scheduled match as an opportunity to try out some new faces.
Given how much time Bradley has missed for TFC already due to national team duty, Klinsmann should surely be 100% aware of what Bradley brings to the table. If he isn’t, then he has probably been spending too much time talking to the Buddha’s in the dressing room and not enough time analyzing how to get the best out of Bradley in matches that really matter.
With respect to the TFC brass, General Manager Tim Bezbatchenko and Head Coach Greg Vanney look weak for allowing their captain to leave when the club is under no obligation to do so. Saturday’s match is an important one and, as the saying goes, points earned in June are worth just as much as wins and draws earned down the final stretch of the season.
Lastly, with respect to Bradley, for many it will be hard to criticize a player who clearly leaves it all on the pitch when he does suit up for Toronto FC. However, sadly the operative words in that last sentence are when he does suit up for Toronto FC. Simply put, the 27 year midfielder is paid more by Toronto than he would be by any other club in the world. The team consulted him on trades and acquisitions over the offseason and even signed his friend Jozy Altidore at his request. In essence, TFC has made Bradley one of the centerpieces on their club and given him free rein to direct to the ship as he sees fit.
With all of that in mind, the right decision on Bradley’s part would have been to decline a national team call-up for a match on a non-FIFA date and show clear dedication and leadership towards Toronto FC.
The fact that he didn’t suggests that while the club that pays him millions of dollars is a priority, it is also clearly priority number two for the Toronto FC captain.
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