MONTREAL -- United States captain Michael Bradley says he and his international teammates have to "look in the mirror" after Jurgen Klinsmann was dismissed as U.S. coach on Monday.

"It's never a good thing when a coach gets fired," Bradley told reporters after Toronto FC's 3-2 first-leg loss to Montreal in the MLS Eastern Conference finals on Tuesday.

Klinsmann was let go by U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati after the Americans lost a pair of World Cup qualifiers earlier this month when a 2-1 defeat to Mexico on Nov. 11 was followed four days later by a 4-0 shellacking in Costa Rica. It marked the first time the U.S. has opened the final round of qualifying by dropping two games.

"It's never a good thing when we have to go through a night like we did in Costa Rica," Bradley said. "The reality of sports is that the coach is the one that takes the fall and again, as players, that's not a nice thing.

"Because we understand that we're the ones on the field and we ultimately have to look at ourselves in the mirror and be very honest and just say that it's not been what's its needed to be this last stretch. There's nothing else to say now. As captain, nobody takes that harder than me."

Still, Bradley is looking forward to rekindling his relationship with new U.S. boss Bruce Arena, who was hired earlier Tuesday. Arena coached the national team from 1998 to 2006, leading them to the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup. Before Germany '06, Arena gave a then-18-year-old Bradley his first two U.S. caps.

Michael Bradley was given his first two international caps by Bruce Arena. Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

"I can only speak for myself, but I'm very excited to work with Bruce again," Bradley said. "He was the coach who gave me my first opportunities with the national team. He and I have always maintained a little bit of a relationship from afar."

That relationship predates Bradley's playing days. Bradley's father, Bob, served as an assistant coach to Arena with D.C. United from 1996-97.

"I certainly have a lot of respect for the career that he's had and the way that he has gone about making every team that he's coached better. His record speaks for itself."

Bradley has not been in contact with Arena or Klinsmann since the moves were made.

"In the last few days, no," he said. "For me it's been focusing 1,000 percent on this game. There will be time for all those types of things in the next stretch ... the focus for me was solely on what was going on in Montreal."