Bruce Arena – Resurrection Man
Bruce Arena came under fire from US Men’s National Team defender Geoff Cameron.
Arena’s second spell as head coach ended with the USMNT failing to reach this summer’s World Cup finals to be held in Russia. With the current federal interest in the country, it may yet be for the best…
Cameron plays his soccer in England, with Premier League team Stoke City and while his original criticism of the structure and current state of the sport in the U.S. surfaced in the New York Times, he elaborated further in the Player’s Tribune.
While 32-year-old Cameron’s comments are part and parcel of sport – who doesn’t have an opinion on sport these days – did he pick the wrong target in Arena? The United States Soccer Federation re-appointed Arena after predecessor Jurgen Klinsmann had guided the team to defeats in the opening two games of their 10-match final qualifying group.
Just one more point would have seen USMNT qualify. It’s not easy to put yourself into contention when you start off on the back foot. As Arena put it in January during a Q&A session at the United Soccer Coaches Convention, “We had eight games to get it right and had a very small margin of error.”
Even so, going into the last match against bottom of the table Trinidad and Tobago, USMNT expected to qualify for Russia.
Had they done so, it’s not unreasonable to believe they would have found themselves favorites to finish the top North American team at this year’s World Cup finals. Instead, Betway is quoting Mexico to win that race at -400, as of 20th February 2018.
US soccer is taking the opportunity instead to begin slowly gazing into its’ navel and finding a lot of lint where it is looking.
The question not being asked is what next for Bruce Arena?
Can He Cut It Outside of the USA?
The answer is semi-retirement initially, soccer’s equivalent of waiting on tables while the next audition is cued up.
Outside of the New York City job, Arena has coached all the MLS biggest clubs: DC United, LA Galaxy, and of course, the NY Red Bulls. Five managerial changes already happened and right now, it’s hard to see many happening before Easter.
So, could Arena cut it outside of his native United States?
The obvious move is to English soccer. In the Premier League, Arsenal, Crystal Palace, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Swansea City are all majority or entirely owned by sporting investors with franchises in major U.S. sports.
The obvious avenue for Arena might have been Swansea City, backed by Stephen Kaplan and Jason Levien, owners of the Memphis Grizzlies and DC United. They tried the U.S. coach route with Bob Bradley and it ended badly.
Arena’s successor with the USMNT in 2006 was a surprise appointment for the Swans in October 2016 and proved a disastrous choice. In 11 games, he lost seven and won two, leaving the club with praise from club’s board of directors but derision from supporters.
Bradley claimed the board was unduly influenced by the “negative atmosphere” surrounding the club at the time. Results under new boss Paul Clement picked up – they lost nine of the next twenty and avoided relegation – reinforcing the sneering stereotypical view of U.S. coaches in the English game.
Arena, with a more pragmatic view of how the game should be played, might be the man to correct that situation, but it seems highly unlikely any top-flight English club would take that risk at present.
Ironically, his style of play is suited to Cameron’s own club, Stoke City, and that would be the kind of reunion the soccer gods love to spring on people.
The summer will also see some international coaches finish with the World Cup finals proving a final bridge too far. It’s the nature of the soccer beast.
Sport is an industry in which failure is not a stumbling block. The same faces fill the same jobs, whether you’re talking about NFL, NBA, MLS or NHL; it’s a merry-go-round for which age or record is no exclusion.
Certainly, someone with Arena’s record will be in contention when the next vacancy arises. It won’t be long before the MLS changes begin as the season fails to start with the expectations of owners proving at odds with reality.
U.S. soccer, despite the views of some, has not yet seen the last of Bruce Arena.