Amid reports that Sunderland, Galatasaray and Palermo are courting Borussia Moenchengladbach's Michael Bradley, Mike Woitalla of Soccer America reports why Gladbach coach Michael Frontzeck benched the American after 17 straight starts.
The 23-year-old Bradley, midway through his third season at Gladbach, had been a regular starter since arriving from Dutch club Heerenveen.
He played all but 13 minutes of this season's first 17 games and scored three goals before being relegated to the bench in the last two games.
Shortly before the winter break, Frontzeck, according to Express, changed the team’s formation and told Bradley, “I want to try something else because I don’t want people to say that I haven’t tried everything.”
Gladbach, with a 3-12-4 win-loss-tie record, is rock bottom in Germany's Bundesliga and six points deep in the relegation zone.
Bradley played only 19 minutes in a 1-0 win over FC Nuremberg and four minutes in a 3-1 loss to Bayer Leverkusen.
Express reported that Gladbach, if it secures a replacement – such as Michael Fink, a 28-year-old who played 131 Bundesliga games (12 goals) before moving to Turkey’s Besiktas -- will accept a $6.8 million offer for Bradley. Gladbach acquired Bradley from Dutch club Heerenven for about half that amount in the summer of 2008.
Galatasaray and Palermo reportedly offered $4 million for Bradley, whose contract with Gladbach expires after the 2011-12 season.
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