*Note, this content is mirrored at nationalsoccerradio.com As I pulled myself away from the twitter and BigSoccer explosion that greeted the news that Bob Bradley had been retained as the U.S. Men's National Team coach on Monday, I realized that I felt more uncertain about the future of U.S. Soccer than I did before the announcent. Granted, part of that is probably due to the hyperbolous nature of the websites I just mentioned; yet, even reasonable soccer minds seem to agree that this decision by U.S. Soccer was perplexing at best. And even though we all are still pulling ourselves out of the initial shock of the decision by Sunil Gulati and company, there are some questions that arise from the hiring. The obvious first question: why did U.S. Soccer wait over two months before re-hiring the same guy? The timing of yesterday's announcement is brain-boggling - if Bradley was the clear number one choice all along, then why wait until now? Clearly, that question would seem to be merely academic, as reports suggest that U.S. Soccer boss Sunil Gulati met with Jurgen Klinsmann as late as last week. If Bradley was not the clear number one choice, it would seem logical to ask why U.S. Soccer could not land their first choice candidate. In the grand scheme of things, there are very few teams in world soccer that get their first choice candidate (otherwise they'd all be coached by Jose Mourinho). But if the first choice was in fact Klinsmann, as it was 4 years ago, the abilities of Gulati as the U.S.'s top soccer executive have to be called into question. Unless Klinsmann was being purely unreasonable (which is hard to believe, seeing as how US Soccer reportedly went looking to Klinsmann despite their reported differences the last go 'round), Gulati has to be held accountable for not getting his man. Another question Gulati must answer: What type of search was conducted? Were the only two viable candidates again Bradley and Klinsmann? Rumor has it that the reason US Soccer signs it's coaches through the end of a calendar year - and not through the end of a World Cup - is because the federation wants to have time to make a decision without leaving the program in limbo. While I appreciate the desire to prevent knee-jerk reactions in the aftermath of a World Cup, this built in safety net has allowed the U.S. to be complacent in it's hiring practices. Instead of looking for candidates immediately after the World Cup, the decision would seem to be pushed off to a later date. Meanwhile, top managers were swapped and traded in preperation for various club seasons and Euro 2012 qualifying runs. If the U.S. could truly only manage a talent pool that consisted of the same two candidates as last time, it is again a fault of Gulati, who will come under increased scrutiny for his handling of this situation. Then of course comes the question of how Bob Bradley himself feels about the situation? Sure he's glad to have a job in this economy - who isn't? But their afternoon conference call today was more like a couple reconciling than a couple announcing their engagement. Another important factor to consider - What message does this send to the two camps in the player pool? From my completely non-locker room view, there are two divisions in the U.S. Men's National Team - the established veterans, some of which are at an age that they will see diminished or non-existent playing roles in 2014. Guys like Tim Howard, Carlos Bocanegra, Clint Dempsey, DeMarcus Beasley, Jay DeMerit, Oguchi Onyewu, and Ricardo Clark: all will be probably not be as big of a part of the proceedings in 4 years time. You could even throw Landon Donovan into that camp, though most would argue that if anyone of that group would be likely to maintain their 2010-level duties, it would be Donovan. Still, this group of aging veterans will likely be losing playing time to the next young core of U.S. Soccer stars. While Michael Bradley and Maurice Edu seem to be the established leaders of this group, the crop of midfielders is bolstered by Americans abroad such as Stuart Holden, Jose Torres, and Alejanro Bedoya, who will be working to be starters on that 2014 team. Young bucks like Omar Gonzalez and Gale Agbossoumonde are licking their chops at a chance to push into the starters roles in central defense, while a group of forwards including MLS prospects Tristan Bowen, Jack McInerney, Juan Agudelo, and Omar Salgado will have to be on the radar, if not in the first team, in 2014. Even the most novice U.S. Soccer fan could probably rattle off the weaknesses of the current U.S. side - slow central defense that seem to be prone to catastrophic mental lapses early in games, and zero goals from the forwards in two World Cups and counting. Naturally, the forward prospects' playing time will be largely influenced by how well Charlie Davies and Jozy Altidore progress between now and then; that question is one that Bob Bradley must be quick to answer. And as for central defense? As was the case with Bradley's best forward option (Davies), a near-career ending injury to arguably the U.S.'s best central defender did not help Bradley. But the fact that the backup plan largely seemed to be "cross our fingers and hope that both of them recover" isn't instilling many fans with confidence. The gleaming bright spot for the U.S. at the 2010 World Cup was the solid play from the midfield, which was the most pressing need coming out of the 2006 World Cup. One reason for that quality is that Bradley was largely able to wield a scalpel on a player pool that had become a little old and soft in midfield. Will he be able to do the same with the forward and fullback spots, given that he has now gone through a World Cup cycle with these players? Or will Bradley go back to his established, comfortable picks deep into this cycle, as Bruce Arena did in 2006? Sadly, however Bradley approaches it, the initial reaction from the "old guard players" is probably that of relief. One has to think that hiring a new coach would bring with it an increased sense of pressure for young and old players alike, and an optimism that everyone's slate would start fresh. Does the Bradley hiring send that message to the players? I have to think it decidedly does not. Most U.S. Soccer fans would have to admit that it is nice to finally get the coaching question put to rest, whether or not they are happy with the decision. But while Bradley's contract renewal answers one question, it raises quite a few more.