Q & A With Michael Bradley Before his 20th birthday, Michael Bradley fulfilled a dream when he signed a contract to play for Heerenveen in the Netherlands. Since then, Bradley, now 25, has played in Germany (Borussia Mönchengladbach) in England (on loan to Aston Villa) and now in Italy (first for Chievo Verona and now for AS Roma). His passion for the game and preference for a soccer education took Bradley from high school to Major League Soccer when he was drafted by the MetroStars in 2004 at age 16. His father Bob coached the team at the time and later gave his son his first chance with the U.S. national team, in 2006. It was a path more typical of players in Europe than in the United States. Bradley has matured into the intense midfield linchpin for the United States national team. After going the full 90 minutes in last Saturday's 4-2 win over Milan, Bradley and Roma finished the first half of the season in sixth place in Italy's Serie A. He is now with the club during its one-week training camp at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. In February, Bradley and the American men will begin the final stage of qualifying on the road to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Bradley spoke with Jack Bell of The Times What's different now that you're in your second season in Italy? It's completely different. The first year playing with Chievo was a great experience, it helped me grow as a player and person. When I arrived in Rome it didn't take very long to see that it's another world. I'm enjoying every second of it. You come in with an idea of how big the club is, how special fans are and how people love the club. For me, it's such an honor to be here for this club. On the field I'm improving every week, and we have the players to continue my improvement. What has been the biggest adjustment. I did an interview the other day and said that when you come to play for a big club you learn you what you can only learn at a big club. The reality is that until you're with a club like this there's no way to experience these things. The idea of stepping on the field every weekend with the pressure to win regardless of who you're playing, home or away. The pressure is always there. You look at how special a city this is in the context of world and realize how much focus and attention is on us every time we step on the field. There's real competition for places on the field, two or three players for every role. You can train at your best every day, but even then decisions go against you. You have to be ready whenever you time comes. Maybe it's in the second half or as a starter a few days later in the next game. You have to learn to deal with the fact that a big team has a lot of players. There's no way to explain this. To understand you have to be here and live it every day. So many Americans go to Europe and fail, for many reasons. You went first to a smaller club, Heerenveen, in a smaller league in the Netherlands. Was this by design? I started with the MetroStars in New York and like a lot of American players I always knew and realized that to make the best career for myself I needed to play at the highest level. To test yourself you have to come to Europe. My first opportunity was in Holland. It wasn't like there were 20 clubs to choose from for a 17-18-year-old American kid who had played a year or two in M.L.S. I got a chance to establish myself in Europe, the first big step. From there you try to evaluate each step as they come. I never wanted to get too far ahead of myself. As you improve, as you grow, the goal is to play at the highest level on the best teams in world, to play in the Champions League to play in the World Cup. For me, it's all I've ever been about. Improve every day. In some of your recent games with the U.S. national team, so many commentators have said that you seem have to matured tactically from playing in Italy, which has a reputation for emphasizing a tactical approach to the game. To be honest, when people want to talk about how they've seen such an improvement on the tactical side, I look at in two ways. It is a compliment and means that people notice how I'm improving. If you look at the last cycle and when I first came into the national team, I still think I brought something to the team in the beginning. It's a progression. Sure, there's a big emphasis on tactics in Italy - the coaches, the players, the fans, everyone wants to be prepared. And for them, it's a way of having the best chance to win. You never want to arrive at a game and feel the team is unprepared. To now have played in two different teams in Italy, each team has different way of doing things, and tactic play a big role. I think that as much as it seems to be an obsession on the part of some observers who constantly talk about it, sure it's a part of the game. When you watch the best Italian teams, or the national team in the Euros and the best club teams play, there's so much more to it. So much of the game is more skill, technique and physical ability that goes with the tactics. It's the mentality that the best Italian teams have. To me it's a shame that all some people want to talk about is how the Italian national team or the best club teams are being too tactical. They're just not looking at the big picture. When your father was the coach of the U.S. national team there was talk of nepotism. Was that difficult for you to deal with? One of first things you learn when you become a professional football player is that you better have thick skin, a strong mentality and be committed to who you are. In tough times you have to believe in yourself. For me, sure people used to speak about my father being the coach. But the reality is that every player has to deal with these kinds of things. That's the way the world works. It's a way of life. People are quick to say you're no longer in good form when you have a bad game, then when you play great people they're quick to say you're the best in world. You have to have the strength of character no matter what. I'm committed to working hard and giving the most I have. For me with national team, when my dad was coach and now playing for Jurgen [Klinsmann], my mentality never changed. All I've ever wanted to do was to help our country and team win. That will never change. That part will always be there. Have you been able to give any thought to the coming World Cup qualifying matches? There's an understanding that 2013 is going to be a really important year. After a World Cup you have a window to slow down more, play friendlies, and build and shape the team for the next four years. We had that in the second part of last year as we moved into the first stage of qualifying. Obviously we dropped a few points early on, but in the end we're very proud of how we responded and qualified for last round very comfortably. Now this last round, the guys who have been there know how difficult it is. Ten games and we know what the road games are going to be like, we know what's waiting for us. This group of teams [the U.S., Mexico, Jamaica, Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama] for this hex without a doubt are the six strongest in Concacaf right now. There's very little room for error and we have to be ready to go and take points on days when we don't play our best. We have to win home games, and be committed and in a position to get to the World Cup. We're all very excited. It's a big challenge, but that's the exciting part. We're in the home stretch. I feel really good about the team. It's growing and improving. Do you ever pinch yourself when you look at the arc or your career to this point? I am proud of who I am and what I am all about ... but I'm not someone who likes to spend a lot of time looking back. There will be plenty of time for that when my career is over, in the meantime I am as committed and as determined as ever.