(Reuters) – Former United States coach Bob Bradley has been named the inaugural manager of the Los Angeles Football Club, the Major League Soccer expansion team that will start playing next year.

For Bradley, who was at the helm of the U.S. team that advanced to the knockout stage of the 2010 World Cup, it marks a return to MLS after previously coaching Chicago Fire, MetroStars and Chivas USA.

During his first stint in MLS, Bradley won a league title and two U.S. Open Cups with Chicago and left Chivas in 2006 to take over the U.S. team.

Long a polarising figure, Bradley was dismissed from his U.S. role in 2011 and was criticised by many for being too conservative and for coaching a team that too often had to catch up using fitness rather than tactical awareness.

Bradley has since had stints coaching Egypt and club teams in Norway and France.

Last year, he became the first American to manage an English Premier League team after being hired by Swansea City.

He was fired by the Welsh club last December, less than three months after taking charge.