Former United States Manager Bob Bradley feels his son, Michael who is arguably the best American field player of this current generation would have made a good signing for Arsenal this past January. At the time the younger Bradley was struggling for playing time at AS Roma and eventually moved to Toronto FC of Major League Soccer. In an interview with Slate, the elder Bradley stated:
I think American players and coaches have to fight really hard for respect.
In January, Arsenal [was] looking to add a midfielder, and they chose Kim Kallstrom. Kim Kallstrom’s not a bad player, but I think Michael feels pretty strongly that he’s better, and so Arsene Wenger must not feel that way, and [Arsenal chief executive] Ivan Gazidis must not feel that way. So sometimes, no matter what you do, you don’t get the respect you think you deserve.
As it turned out Kallstrom was injured for most of his spell at Arsenal and was unable to prevent the Gunners from sliding from first to fourth in the Premier League table.
