Michael Bradley: The right choice and only choice to captain the USMNT

The General is now also a captain.

Michael Bradley, the United States men's national team midfield metronome, was named its captain for the upcoming Gold Cup on Wednesday. Clint Dempsey was, in essence, demoted from the role in the wake of a pair of suspensions for raging at match officials in a recent U.S. Open Cup game with his club team Seattle Sounders.

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"I had a very, very good conversation with Clint about what happened during the Open Cup, but also about how we want to approach things," head coach Jurgen Klinsmann said to ussoccer.com in a Q&A. "For the time being we thought it's the best thing to give the captaincy to Michael Bradley and let Clint focus on what he's all about.

"Clint is about scoring goals," Klinsmann continued. "We need Clint Dempsey badly with the national team. … What happened was a mistake, but it was the first red card in his career and a lot of people went at him. I think the best thing for everyone right now is to let him concentrate really on playing and doing what he does best. It's his performance on the field. … We need Clint in a free spirit and that's why we decided to kind of take that captaincy and move it over to Michael for the Gold Cup and then we'll see."

Bradley is a veteran of 98 national team games, just a few weeks shy of his 28th birthday and a starter during two World Cup cycles. He was nicknamed "The General" at Chievo Verona in his first season in Italy's Serie A for his management of the midfield there. The moniker suits him well for his proud, upright posture and disciplined play. And as far as taking on another military title, the Toronto FC man, who also captains his club, was the right and logical choice.

It was also overdue. When then-captain Carlos Bocanegra was phased out of the national team in early 2013, Bradley seemed like the logical successor. He'd been the team's emotional leader for years, often taking charge in pre-game huddles, lobbying referees and correcting and encouraging teammates on the field. He'd been the U.S.'s best and most influential player, too. He directed traffic with his ball distribution and, in the rare instances where he didn't play, his absence was missed more than anybody else's. But Dempsey was chosen instead, with goalkeeper Tim Howard filling in when necessary.

It's been said, but never confirmed or substantiated, that Klinsmann was weary of Bradley after his father Bob had been fired as head coach to make way for the German. Michael, in his affect, mindset and even in his way of speaking, is essentially a younger version of Bob, albeit one with a far superior playing ability (Bob never made it past college soccer). In his zeal to rethink the program, Klinsmann's reluctance to promote a voice reminiscent of the old regime to the captaincy was somewhat understandable, though.

From the sound and look of it, Dempsey did a perfectly adequate and acceptable job of leading his peers. It's just that, after he was suspended three games by Major League Soccer and banned at least two years by the U.S. Open Cup's Discipline Panel, his position in a leadership role had become untenable.

And by now, it has clearly dawned on Klinsmann that Bradley, an unimpeachable professional, is just about the last player who would ever subvert him, or risk harming the team in so doing. Perhaps he realized, too, that the optics of passing Bradley over for the captaincy a second time might look strange and unjust – not to mention prove damaging to the greater good.

Bradley is ideally suited to lead the players in this transitional time. He embodies both what the program was and what it hopes to become. That traditional American hard-nosed grit, toil and dedication to cause and country oozes from his game. He can bull about the field and run an opponent into the ground. But he also has that sophistication, the soft touch and confidence on the ball, the vision and instinct far too many American players lack.

He has played in most of Europe's major leagues. After spending some formative years in the Netherlands, where his attacking game grew in leaps and bounds, he earned moves to Germany, where he became a well-rounded player; Italy, where he got a master class in tactics; and England, albeit briefly.

Bradley is what's good about U.S. Soccer's past and what the national team strives to develop into. He also plays at home – well, in Toronto – meaning he would probably be available for more games than an overseas-based captain would if Klinsmann chooses to make the switch from Dempsey permanent.

And while he and Dempsey are both ferocious in their intensity on the field, they are different off it. Bradley seems to live his life wholly in the service of his family and his soccer career. Away from the stadium, Dempsey is laid back. While invariably pleasant and polite, he is soft-spoken and can even come across as a tad shy. His leadership, as such, is less rah-rah than by example.

Bradley espouses both those styles. He can likely bring back a little urgency, with his added on-field authority, in a time when that's too often been lacking from the U.S.

With Dempsey out of the job and Howard still on his year-long sabbatical from the national team, Bradley was exactly the right man for the captaincy – the only man for the captaincy.

And so now, the General has an army to command.

Leander Schaerlaeckens is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @LeanderAlphabet.