After a late-season collapse led to finger-pointing, a fractured locker room and the dismissal of the coach, the MetroStars found themselves reduced to a dysfunctional mess. They may have regained some direction yesterday by hiring Bob Bradley, the winningest coach in MLS history.
The New Jersey native owns the best winning percentage (.622) and is tied for the most wins (82) in league history. He took expansion Chicago to both the MLS and U.S. Open Cup titles in 1998, and was named the league’s Coach of the Year. The feat remains only the second “double” in league history.
The MetroStars lost their final three games of the season and finished with the second-worst record in MLS. But for Bradley – who was born in Montclair and coached Princeton to the Final Four – the new job gives him a homecoming.
“I’m excited about this opportunity,” Bradley said. “It was hard to leave, but after talking with my wife, it became clear it was the right time to take this challenge. … The challenge of having a team here that’s successful from one season to the next, that people are excited to watch, that gets things right on the field and off.”
Octavio Zambrano was fired on Oct. 8, and less than a week after Bradley’s family convinced him it was the right move for him, he worked out a deal believed to be at least four years in length and worth about $1 million. As compensation, the MetroStars had to give up leading scorer Rodrigo Faria and a conditional 2004 draft pick.
Bradley is stepping into a hornets’ nest. The team last season suffered from terrible chemistry, with embattled Zambrano claiming that star Clint Mathis needed to see a psychologist, and GM Nick Sakiewicz insisting that “[Mathis] cost us a playoff spot.”