Bob Bradley Still Being Mentioned as Potential Fulham Coach

By most stateside estimations, Bob Bradley had a solid, but not outstanding, 2010 World Cup in leading the U.S. to the top of its group before being eliminated in the round of 16.

If recent reports are to be believed, then U.S. soccer fans might not hold Bradley in as high regard as EPL execs on the other side of the pond.

Bradley has been mentioned by numerous outlets as one of the front-runners to take over as coach of English Premier League side Fulham, who have an opening after Roy Hodgson left to take over at Liverpool.

The reports at this point appear to be questionable at best, but they have built to a point where Fulham players are weighing in on the matter.

Fulham striker Eddie Johnson, an American player who has played for Bradley in the past but did not make the 2010 World Cup squad, told the AP that he thought Bradley would be a great fit for the tough-minded English squad.

AP reports:

"Bob could do a good job at Fulham," Johnson said. ... "He's a very similar manager to Roy," Johnson added. "He plays attractive football but also organizes his team in a defined shape that is hard to play against. They are similar in a lot of ways. The training sessions are very similar and their style on the pitch is."

Bradley is already familiar with the west London club, which reached the Europa League final last season.

"Bob was always keen to come over to Europe to see how the game was over there and he has been over to Fulham's training ground a couple of times and has seen how Roy coached Fulham," Johnson said. "I think that made their styles similar."

Johnson, who spent the last season on loan with Greek side Aris, is not the only American on the Fulham squad. U.S. star Clint Dempsey also plies his trade at Fulham, which gives Bradley strong ties to the London squad. It's also interesting that Bradley has spent time monitoring Fulham practices, as this would mean that he already has at least some sort of relationship with the team.

Regardless, it's a great day for U.S. soccer when an American coach is even in the running for a gig in the EPL.

It's also pretty classy of Johnson to support the move so strongly even though Bradley left him off the World Cup squad.