Bruce Arena's New Legacy and its Impact on the Future of the USMNT

Bruce Arena will always be one of U.S. Soccer's greatest winners, but the failure to guide the USMNT to the 2018 World Cup will forever taint his legacy, and it leaves the U.S. in a premature position of finding his successor.

Brian Straus | Oct 13, 2017

Bruce Arena's New Legacy and its Impact on the Future of the USMNT /

Bruce Arena will always be the coach who took the USA past Portugal and Mexico and into the quarterfinals at the 2002 World Cup. He’ll always be the coach who launched so many legendary careers at the University of Virginia and who managed MLS’s two great dynasties in D.C. and Los Angeles. He’s among the most pivotal people in the history of U.S. soccer. He’s on its Mt. Rushmore.

Christian Pulisic is 19 years old. He’s the face of the American game’s new era, which is now kicking off a bit earlier than most would’ve preferred. Pulisic wasn’t yet born when Arena coached D.C. United to the first two MLS Cup titles, and he probably doesn’t remember those giddy days in South Korea a few years later. That temporal disconnect highlights the strain Arena’s legacy now faces following his failure to qualify the USA for next summer’s World Cup.

The sport has grown. American soccer isn’t what it used to be, and that’s not only a good thing but a testament (in part) to Arena’s contributions. But the years are flying by, and the number of people reading about Arena’s accomplishments eventually will surpass the number of people who remember them. Charlottesville, RFK, Jeonju and Carson will fade away, while Tuesday’s nightmare in a place called Couva, Trinidad, will resonate. That’s the unfortunate, uncompromising nature of sports and an inevitable consequence of the passage of time.

Arena will always be the first great winner in American men’s soccer. And he’ll always be referenced and revered. But he’ll also always be among the men at fault for the most significant failure in its history. That millstone will hang from his neck along with all the medals.

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Arena’s resignation from his second, much briefer stint in charge of the U.S. national team was announced Friday morning. In a statement, he said, “I don't know what the future holds for me, but I can say this from the bottom of my heart: from the high of reaching the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup to the low of a few days ago, I have appreciated every minute of being a part of this program.”

Regarding the fifth-place finish in the Hexagonal and the stunning 2-1 loss in Trinidad, Arena said, “When I took the job last November, I knew there was a great challenge ahead, probably more than most people could appreciate. Everyone involved in the program gave everything they had for the last 11 months and, in the end, we came up short. No excuses. We didn't get the job done, and I accept responsibility.”

Arena’s right—he faced a great challenge. And he’s far from the only person at fault. His predecessor, Jurgen Klinsmann, left the USA in a six-point qualifying hole. U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati’s delay in dismissing Klinsmann, which probably should’ve happened in 2015, left Arena with almost no time to refresh the squad or test newer players for the must-win games ahead. Those aren’t excuses. They’re reasons.

But it’s just as true that Arena grossly mismanaged the qualifying run-in—especially the home loss to Costa Rica in September and Tuesday’s backbreaker in Couva. His inflexibility during the former and myopia in the latter were astonishing for a man of Arena’s experience and perhaps can be explained only as the product of hubris.

Missing World Cup Means Unusual Road Ahead, Roster Turnover for USMNT

His Friday statement was well-crafted. His comments during a Thursday phone interview with The Washington Post may be more revealing. Arena cited Trinidad’s “bizarre” goals and the Panamanian players who were “punching people, kicking people, throwing elbows,” against the USA last week but still eligible to defeat Costa Rica on Tuesday (Panama's win helped eliminate the Americans).

And Arena refused to accept the value of hindsight when assessing his performance.

“You can say I could’ve played this guy, that guy, and then you’d come back the next day if we had lost and said, ‘Why did you make those changes and play those guys,’” he told The Post. “The job we have doesn’t allow us to be the Monday morning quarterback. [Trinidad and Tobago] played almost the same team that played against Mexico on Friday, so there’s no difference. So that’s all a bunch of baloney. It has nothing to do with formations or not making changes. We didn’t get the job done.”

The “we” in that last sentence includes him, but Arena’s defiance and condescension—not to mention the lack of solemnity regarding the gravity of Tuesday’s elimination and the impact it’ll have on vast segments of the American soccer community—is telling. There’s a fine line between sardonic and smug. Usually it can be measured by the distance between success and failure, and Arena crossed that line in the past few weeks. It’s forgivable, and the words and tone likely will fade over time. He may be having as much trouble coming to terms with this as the rest of us. But the aforementioned impact of missing the World Cup will linger for much longer.

It remains to be seen how that’ll weigh against his legacy. The 11 major trophies with D.C. and LA, the five NCAA titles, the three Gold Cup crowns, the 2002 quarterfinal (and the performance there against Germany) and praise from so many former players have been more than enough to overshadow the USA’s poor 2006 World Cup and Arena’s subsequent hiccup with the New York Red Bulls. Now they’ll have to contend with the anger and emotion of the past week, as well as the missed opportunity to come. His legacy won’t be ruined. But it’ll forever be tainted.

U.S. manager Bruce Arena through the years

Bruce Arena poses at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., in October 1995 after being named coach of the U.S. Olympic team.

Bruce Arena talks at a February 1996 press conference with D.C. United, the club he guided to MLS Cup titles in the league's first two years.

Bruce Arena is introduced as the head coach of the U.S. men's national team in October 1998 at a press conference in New York.

Bruce Arena talks with soldiers at a U.S. military base north of Seoul, South Korea, in December 2001 prior to a friendly against South Korea in preparation for the 2002 World Cup.

Bruce Arena looks out the window of a U.S. Army helicopter as the pilot prepares to take off from Camp Liberty Bell following the team's visit to the demilitarized zone between South Korea and North Korea on May 31, 2002, in Panmunjon, South Korea.

Bruce Arena holds a U.S. training session at the Misari Football Center in Seoul, South Korea on May 29, 2002 prior to the start of the World Cup.

Bruce Arena gives a fist pump as U.S. players celebrate during the USA's landmark 2-0 win over Mexico in Jeonju, South Korea, in the round of 16 at the 2002 World Cup.

Bruce Arena and the 2002 USA World Cup team present a jersey to President George W. Bush in the Oval Office at the White House.

Bruce Arena, coach of the U.S., and Frank Yallop, coach of the MLS All-Stars, answer questions at the only USA vs. MLS All-Star Game in league history, which MLS won 3-2 at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., in August 2002.

Bruce Arena and England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson answer questions at a pre-friendly press conference in Chicago in May 2005.

Bruce Arena gives instructions to Landon Donovan during the USA's World Cup qualifying match against Panama at Rommel Fernandez Stadium in Panama City on June 8, 2005.

Bruce Arena shows off his agility during a U.S. training session in Glasgow prior to a November 2005 friendly against Scotland.

Bruce Arena shares a hug with Jurgen Klinsmann during a March 2006 friendly between the USA and Germany in Dortmund. Their paths would cross later in life...

Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images

Bruce Arena steps off the plane in Hamburg, Germany, where the USA arrives for the 2006 World Cup.

Bruce Arena, Eddie Pope, Tim Howard and Josh Wolff are welcomed by the mayor of Hamburg at The Ratthaus in June 2006 ahead of the the Americans' participation in the World Cup.

Bruce Arena stands with Claudio Reyna and Steve Cherundolo after a press conference in Hamburg, Germany leading up to the 2006 World Cup opener.

Bruce Arena celebrates after his USA's 1-1 draw against eventual champion Italy after a hard-fought World Cup group-stage match at Fritz-Walter Stadium on June 17, 2006 in Kaiserslautern, Germany.

Bruce Arena is introduced as manager of the New York Red Bulls in July 2006 following his dismissal as U.S. national team coach.

Bruce Arena leads an LA Galaxy postseason training session at Mt. Smart Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand, in December 2008 after taking over as manager midway through the 2008 MLS season.

Bruce Arena is one of four National Soccer Hall of Fame inductees honored on the field during the USA's friendly vs. Brazil in August 2010, standing with Kyle Rote Jr., Sunil Gulati, Thomas Dooley and Preki Radosavljević.

David Beckham and Bruce Arena share a joke at Sydney International Airport on November 25, 2010, during a postseason trip to Sydney, Australia.

At a star-studded event in July 2011, Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, Iker Casillas and Jose Mourinho pose with the LA Galaxy's Landon Donovan, David Beckham and Bruce Arena to announce the Herbalife World Football Challange 2011 friendly tournament in which the Galaxy and Real Madrid played one another.

With help from Landon Donovan and David Beckham, Bruce Arena introduces Robbie Keane as the LA Galaxy's third Designated Player in August 2011.

Bruce Arena hoists the MLS Cup after the LA Galaxy's 1-0 win over the Houston Dynamo in 2011, the first of three titles he would win with the club.

Bruce Arena holds the MLS Cup trophy in between Landon Donovan, Robbie Keane, David Beckham and Dave Sarachan after the 2011 triumph over the Houston Dynamo.

Bruce Arena shakes hands with President Barack Obama at the White House during a 2012 ceremony honoring the 2011 MLS Cup champion LA Galaxy.

Bruce Arena, Landon Donovan, President Barack Obama and David Beckham are front and center as the LA Galaxy celebrate their 2011 MLS Cup title at the White House.

Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

Bruce Arena holds one of his grandsons and looks on as Landon Donovan kisses the MLS Cup trophy after the LA Galaxy beat the Houston Dynamo for the 2012 title.

Bruce Arena and David Beckham share a light moment in the post-match press conference after the LA Galaxy beat the Houston Dynamo for a second straight season in the MLS Cup final, winning the 2012 title.

Bruce Arena returns to lead the U.S. men's national team, hired as Jurgen Klinsmann's replacement following a pair of World Cup qualifying losses in November 2016.

Bruce Arena chats with MLS commissioner Don Garber and U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati prior to his first match of his second stint with the U.S. men's national team, a friendly vs. Serbia in San Diego in January 2017.

An ironic silver lining to that legacy might be the affect this World Cup debacle has on the way future national team coaches are hired. Speaking to the media during a Friday conference call, Gulati faced several questions regarding his role in hiring Klinsmann, Arena and their potential successor. Gulati didn't resign and remains likely to be re-elected as USSF president in February unless he chooses not to run for a fourth term. He said several people have input as a new national team coach is recruited but that one individual must make the final call. That one person has been Gulati, who’s an accomplished administrator but who doesn’t have any practical experience coaching, playing or managing at a high level.

“In the end it’s my final decision. But we have a search committee. We go through a process,” Gulati said, adding that in the next week or two he expects to finalize the appointment of a coach for the one or two friendlies tentatively planned for next month. “In the short term, that’ll come down to three or four of us that are part of that process for the November decision. That’s much easier. And the longer-term decision will have a group of people that will look at this and maybe take a little bit longer. So there might be a change in that process, but it’s never been a singular decision.”

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There’s time to decide on permanent coach. The USA doesn’t have a meaningful game to play until the summer of 2019. Gulati said he understood why there's public skepticism about his ability to identify the best candidate. His decision to award an extension and promotion to Klinsmann in late 2013 and then his reluctance to make a change two years later helped lay the groundwork for Arena’s ill-fated appointment and Tuesday’s defeat. Toss in the failure to qualify for two consecutive Olympic tournaments, and you get a loss in confidence in U.S. Soccer leadership.

“Clearly any time you don’t achieve the results you want, you look back and you’d do some things differently,” Gulati said. “I don’t think I want to get into any of the specific because quite often they’re personnel decisions … but I would certainly do some things differently.”

Gulati acknowledged that the appointment of a senior technical director who might take charge of the hiring process has been considered, “if we can find the right people.”

He added, “That role is a very unique and specific role and frankly, in many ways harder to fill than the national team coach role. And it’s also, in terms of measuring success or failure or progress of that role, it’s much harder because it’s a long-term situation.”

U.S. U-20 manager Tab Ramos currently is the closest thing to a federation-wide technical director thanks to his responsibilities on the youth side, and he remains the a likely appointment for the interim position of senior national team coach. There’s no guarantee Ramos wants that temporary assignment, of course, and there’s no way to know what potential hires might become available after the MLS season and after the World Cup. In so many ways, American soccer is venturing into uncharted waters.

Arrogance, Poor Play, Fine Margins: The Anatomy of USA's World Cup Qualifying Failure

Which brings us back to Arena, who’s responsible for so much of the success achieved in soccer’s new world. Winners always remind us that titles can’t be taken away. But can they be overshadowed? We’ll find out, and it may depend on how U.S. Soccer and the national team emerge from the overhaul ahead. We don’t know yet how permanent the damage is. Whatever the outcome, however, it can't possibly be the epilogue Arena expected.

“I want to thank Bruce for everything he’s done for the game over a long period of time,” Gulati said Friday. “It’s unfortunate that it ended on Tuesday the way it did, but Bruce’s record both at the college level and the professional level and with our national program has been extraordinary, and it’s sad for me on a personal level that it ended the way it did on Tuesday.”

Published Oct 13, 2017

BRIAN STRAUS

A lifelong soccer player, coach and fan, Brian Straus joined SI in 2013 after covering the sport for The Washington Post, AOL and Sporting News.