There are thousands of American soccer fans whod like to see the back of national team manager Bob Bradley as soon as possible. The teams star player Landon Donovan might even be one of them as he refused to back his coach publicly after losing to Mexico 4-2 in the Gold Cup Final after holding a 2-0 lead. Its no wonder that Donovan didnt back his coach after he was left on the bench in some of Americas most important games only to save their skin when coming on as a substitute.

Donovan basically told the press that hes not concerned if fans want to see the 53-year-old Bradley removed as manager. However, some players, such as goalkeeper Tim Howard, backed Bradley to the hilt and said he shouldnt be blamed for the loss to Mexico.

Donovan was left on the bench when the USA kicked off their semi-final match against Panama and he questioned Bradleys decision to the press. Donovan came on in the second half and set up the winning goal. Leaving your teams best player on the bench is all too common in soccer and Bradley is playing with fire by doing so. He would have been crucified in the press and by fans if he didnt start Donovan against Mexico and thats likely why he started the game.

The problem with Bradleys American squad at the moment is they arent playing consistent football. Theyre an exciting bunch to watch, but are quite unpredictable. Theyll need to get their act together though once World Cup 2014 qualifying starts next summer. This means Donovan and Bradley will have to be on the same page if theyre to succeed.

Donovan is seen as a team leader by the players and they think highly of his opinion. If push comes to shove between him and the coach, there will be a division in the dressing room, especially with Bradleys son Michael on the squad.

Theres no shame in losing to Mexico! , but fa ns are worried that the rest of the CONCACAF teams are getting stronger while the Americans are slipping. They point to a lost to Panama in the group stage of the Gold Cup as a perfect example of this. This could cause some huge problems in world Cup qualifying as there are only three guaranteed places up for grabs in CONCACAF with the fourth-place team having to play off against one of the South American nations.

Some fans feel Bradley will struggle in qualifying matches because he tries to protect leads instead of adding to them. This defensive approach is seen as negative and usually backfires more often than not. If Bradley is on a short leash, there are several qualified candidates to take over his job as WCBetting.com has been informed. These include Jason Kreis (Real Salt Lake), Carlo Ancelotti (former Chelsea manager), Bruce Arena, (former U.S. national team manager), Marcello Lippi (Former Italian national manager), Marco Van Basten (former Holland manager) Guus Hiddink (current manager of Turkey), and Jurgen Klinsman (former manager of Germany).