LOS ANGELES: If self-belief was any guarantee of footballing success, Swansea may have picked a winner in appointing Bob Bradley as their new boss.
The 58-year-old became the first American ever to be appointed as head coach of a team in one of Europe’s top five leagues on Monday when he was named to take over from the sacked Francesco Guidolin at the English Premier League side.
For Bradley, the appointment is the opportunity he has long craved to prove he is capable of mixing it at the highest level after a career which has included spells as the coach of the USA and Egypt as well as stints in Major League Soccer, Norway and France.
In an interview with Sirius XM radio earlier this year, Bradley maintained that despite his relatively modest CV, he believes he is in the same sort of bracket as some of the leading coaches in world football.
“When I have a chance to observe different managers, the ones that do good work, I mention (Mauricio) Pochettino, (Jurgen) Klopp, [Thomas] Tuchel that took over for Klopp at Dortmund, he’s a fantastic young manager,” Bradley said.
“We haven’t even talked about the (Pep) Guardiolas and the (Carlo) Ancelottis. But I’ll tell you what, maybe I’m stupid, but I think I’m a manager in and around that level.
