The New York Red Bulls appointed former U.S. Men’s National team midfielder and MLS Cup winner Michael Bradley as the head coach of their second team, Red Bulls II, and officially introduced him on Thursday afternoon at the club’s training facility.
“This is a dream opportunity for a young coach to be at this club, to be inside the Red Bull family,” Bradley said. “I will do everything I can to help the club and make sure everything continues in a good way. New Jersey is always home for me. I was born here, and it’s still the area where I have such strong roots. So the opportunity to now be back home to coach and work in a club inside an organization like this, you can’t ask for any more.”
The appointment represents a homecoming for Bradley, who was the youngest signing in New York/New Jersey Metrostars’ history when he was selected at 16 years old in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft.
Bradley’s first coaching role was at Stabæk in the Norwegian first division in October 2023 as an assistant coach to his father, Bob Bradley. He’s also served as a guest coach during the June international break for Jesse Marsch’s Canada.
“As a coach, you try to take all the experiences you have from the game, the teams you played on and the coaches you played under, and try to use it,” Bradley said. “Growing up in a house with a coach, you understand quickly what it means to commit yourself to your team and to love that challenge. I’ve been lucky.”
Bradley’s recruitment process began towards the end of last year, when he was still in Oslo and “figuring out the next steps in my career.” He spent two and a half weeks at a different Red Bulls club in Salzburg, Austria, earlier this year, following the U-19’s Salzburg squad to the UEFA Youth Champions League.
“It was awesome, seeing training, games, football discussions, meetings in every way,” Bradley said. “In the middle of May, there was an opening with the second team, so I said, ‘When do I start?’”
Bradley would represent a role model for the younger players, living a career that all youth academy players will be aiming for. His vast experience at the club level and at the international level will be invaluable for the development of RBII’s players.
“It’s your job first and foremost to find the right ways to fit into that culture and to make sure that people know you are here for the right reasons,” said Bradley. “Make sure that people know you are ready to work hard and commit yourself fully to everything that’s going on. I’m excited to do that again, and already in the first few days, just the part of being out on the field every day, it’s easy to see that Red Bull is second to none.”
After 30 appearances and 1 goal from midfield for the Metrostars — now known as the Red Bulls — Bradley moved to Heerenveen in the Dutch Eredivisie for two seasons. He continued his eight-year journey through Europe next in the German Bundesliga with Borussia Mönchengladbach and on loan with Aston Villa in the Premier League for the latter half of the 2010-11 season. Three seasons in Italy followed with Chievo Verona and Roma, before making his return to MLS with Toronto FC in 2014.
He won everything in 10 years at Toronto, including four Canadian Championships as well as a historic 2017 domestic treble campaign where they won the Canadian Championship, MLS Supporters’ Shield, and Cup. He reached two more playoff finals with them, as well as a CONCACAF Champions League final, where they lost to Mexican side Guadalajara on penalties.
During his 20-year playing career, he was known for his relentless box-to-box running, as well as his ability to break up play in the No. 6 or 8 role. Internationally, he featured for the U.S. Men’s National Team 151 times — third-highest — and was a part of two World Cup campaigns, with 17 goals.
He announced his retirement from playing in October 2023 after he was sidelined for months with a hamstring injury and his father’s dismissal as head coach and sporting director.
Bradley’s primary job will be keeping NYRB II top of the MLS Next Pro. With a game in hand, they maintain a one-point gap over Ventura County, which was built by former head coach Ibrahim Sekagya, who was promoted to first-team assistant coach after Vedad Ibisevic left manager Sandro Schwarz’s staff. RBII is on a five-match winning streak that has lasted over a month. They face Carolina Core FC this Saturday, who sit tenth in the Eastern Conference.
“Having the opportunity to be on the field every day with a group of my own and take my ideas of culture and environment, and now bringing them together in a way where football comes to life for the group, we can now continue,” Bradley said. “Ibra has done a fantastic job, and we can continue to have a team that has mentality and spirit and plays football with real personality and ideas. The second part is the talented young players that you get to work with. There’s no better age than the age of these players who are so close to taking the next step in their football careers. Some of them have had a taste, already, of first-team football, and they come in every day so eager and motivated to work. So it’s about how can I help them even more?”
For more on Michael Bradley and the Red Bulls, visit AMNY.com
