Why Bruce Arena is perfect man to replace Jurgen Klinsmann
He isn't the sexiest pick, but Bruce Arena is the right man for the USMNT job right now.
If Arena is named the next head coach of the U.S. national team, as USA TODAY Sports' Martin Rogers reported is likely to happen this week, it will be a smart decision from U.S. Soccer. It will also be the safe one, but in this instance, safe isn't a bad thing. And safe isn't a boring thing. In this case: Safe is smart.
As long as Arena is only being hired to see the team through Russia, this makes sense. He's well liked and connected in U.S. Soccer, he's gotten better as a coach in his decade gone from USMNT, and he can do a job for now. He's also the perfect answer to Jurgen Klinsmann, who was fired on Monday after six years as the head coach of the USMNT.
Why is Arena the smart choice? Well, for one, he's a fantastic manager, someone who's shown an ability to win at every level. His Los Angeles Galaxy teams over the last decade have produced some of the most gorgeous, free-flowing, attacking soccer in MLS. He's shown an ability to work with established veterans and rising stars, young and old alike.
He brought along Gyasi Zardes into the first team and into the national team picture, had great success with Giovani dos Santos and Robbie Keane and Steven Gerrard, and got the last bit (and more) out of Landon Donovan. He convinced Robbie Rogers to come out of retirement following Rogers' decision to come out as gay, then helped Rogers reinvent himself as an outside defender (and one of the best in the league).
Arena is also a smart choice because of his close ties with MLS, which is an underratedly important part of everything going on right now. Klinsmann spoke negatively of the domestic league many times, a decision he made to try and push players to top leagues, perhaps not realizing that by doing so he was alienating a great portion of his talent pool (and not realizing how quickly the level of MLS was improving). Arena will have no such problems. And while he will have to explain his comments about foreign-born American players to his team, I highly doubt he'll make the mistake of continuing to express that opinion, as Klinsmann did with his negative view of MLS throughout his tenure.
The complaints that Arena is merely a re-tread, a running back of a coach who already had his shot with the team from 1998-2006, are fair. U.S. Soccer should be looking forward, not backward. But for now, if this is merely a stewardship position to see the team through the 2018 World Cup, I'm on board. From there, U.S. Soccer can get more ambitious, perhaps bringing in someone like Oscar Pareja, the FC Dallas coach who's shown a unique ability to foster and develop young talent and build attacking teams.
For now though, Arena isn't as boring a pick as one might think. It's been a decade since he was in charge of the USMNT, and he's only gotten better as a manager. He's more adaptable, more forward-thinking, and has built some beautiful teams in Los Angeles. If he can resist the urge to bring back his old favorites (I love Donovan but now is not the time), he's the right choice to get the U.S. to Russia.