Is Arena going to coach after the World Cup?

[PSsoccer123]

I heard Arena's deal ends after the World Cup. Is it supposed to get renewed? Assuming we get out of the first round, I really hope he stays, even the some of his personnel decisions seem crazy. He gets results, and that's what matters most. However, if we don't escape the first round and play poorly, we should probably change the coach. There aren't very many great candidates in MLS. Possibly a Steve Nicol, Peter Nowak, Dave Sarachan, or Gus Hiddink could kick the can?

[lond2345]

I hope he resigns. Arena gets results but the U.S style of play doesn't win new fans or grow the sport. It is 4 years later and it seems we are at the same level before 2002! not much of an improvement can be seen in terms of fanbase.

Arena has done great things, but it is time for a change.

[Bruce S]

may depend on what other jobs Bruce is offered.He has said he would like an EPL job, but it isn't clear he would get one.I wondder if HE will want a change no matter how well we do in 2006.

[PSsoccer123]

I hope he resigns. Arena gets results but the U.S style of play doesn't win new fans or grow the sport. It is 4 years later and it seems we are at the same level before 2002! not much of an improvement can be seen in terms of fanbase.

Arena has done great things, but it is time for a change.
Do you mean same level of fanbase since 2002 or same level of play? Because I would say that we have much more depth now, and that we have better players in almost every position on the field, except for maybe right midfield.

[UChicagoSoccer]

Do you mean same level of fanbase since 2002 or same level of play? Because I would say that we have much more depth now, and that we have better players in almost every position on the field, except for maybe right midfield.

I think he's trying to say it doesn't look pretty enough. We need to reach a higher level of show... more Adu's... and a lower ranking. But whatever gets the fans I guess.

[SUDano]

I doubt he stays. Many National Team coaches indicate they need and want the week in week out preparation it takes to get a team ready. They say it is very difficult making personnel decisions over months of time without playing games. It's as if month of boredom with only a few games a year. I hope a Championship team with a name makes him their coach.

[AShotByBalboa]

Arena should definitely go after the World Cup, even if he makes it to the semis. He's the longest serving national coach in the world and I think that's ultimately a detriment to US soccer. My argument has nothing to do with whether he's a good coach or not, or whether he's doing an acceptable job or not, the fact is that to for US soccer to advance we must change coaches.

Arena, like all coaches, has favorites and thus players become complacent, like Donovan for example. We need to get a new coach in to keep the players sharp, to keep every player in the country thinking they have a chance. Look how Van Bastian is shaking up Holland, that's great for their team. More and more players are getting involved. If you stay with one coach, fringe players don't feel confident they have a chance, mainstays and favorites (Armas, Agoos, Albright) that have no purpose being on the team stay around for too long because of his emotional attachment and familiarity, and the team gets stale. The style becomes predictable.

Every other country, including Brazil, changes coaches every four years or so. Plus, Arena virtually has no accountability now and the more he stays, the less accountability he will have -- and that isn't good. These boards have been full of postings complaining about his lack of accountability keeping him around will only increase the problem.

So, I definitely hope he will move on after the cup. We can get someone like Klinsman who invigorate the team, teach them a new style, demand more from the players, seek new players, and have no emotional attachment to the old players.

As guys like Reyna and McBride cycle out, so too should Arena. While these guys were amazing assets to American soccer, the game has evolved.

[Liviu]

I think this post is premature. IMO whether Arena should stay or go is not subjective but based on WC '06 results.

If he gets us to the quorters again, I consider that a step up because of the european soil and he should stay. If he gets us to the semis it would be fantastic and truly ludicrous to fire him. If he doesn't get us to the quorters that I will start considering if he should go. I have tremendous respect for Arena and I think he deserves great praise for achieving spectecular results with for the most part average players.

[mickhayafe]

BA has led us to the greatest heights in US soccer history. Coaches need to get results, that's it . mexico said they were going to play beautiful soccer against us and look where it got them. this thread is out of line, especially coming off a victory that solidified the USA for the first time as the "giant of concacaf", not in our eyes, but in the other nation's eyes in concacaf.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b25/mickhayafe/smileys/36_1_30.gif

Coaches are not there to grow the fanbase , this is a capitalist society and there is combination of marketing and customer desire that needs to take place. (i have alot to say about this, but it's off topic)

who cares how long he's been the USMNT coach? as long as he's getting the W's I want him to stay.

[MattMathai]

You know, Dave Dir is just doing TV color work until Bruce quits...

[rgli13]

in national team coaching terms bruce has been at the helm for a lifetime- but i dont know that we have to follow everyone elses "rules". my vote would be for bruce to stay.

the only two guys i see that i would want to take over are possibly bradley (if we stayed with an american, which i prefer) or klinsman.

but it strikes me as incredibly...greedy, i guess, to be ready for bruce to go. we are competetive on the highest level- and dominant in our region, hes taken our national team about five times further than anyone could have expected- yet its time to "better deal" him? i guess i can understand that side, but i certainly dont agree with it.

so id love to have him as long as its what he wants. but i do think a club position will pull him away, most likely after the cup.

if and when he does go i think theres going to be a strong sense of "dont know what youve got till its gone".

[lynesjc]

This thread is stoopid. The Bruce has earned the right to stay as long as he wants.

Just b/c the rest of the world thinks it's a great idea to have no continuity in their national team program, doesn't mean we should copy them.

Did Dean Smith get stale at UNC after about 6 years? How about Coack K now at Duke?

[mickhayafe]

so id love to have him as long as its what he wants. but i do think a club position will pull him away, most likely after the cup.

if and when he does go i think theres going to be a strong sense of "dont know what youve got till its gone".

sadly, I think you are right, and it's making me all messed up inside just thinking of it. I'ld just not like to think of it now, we have 10 months of glorious USMNT soccer ahead of us, it's like going to a party and right when you get to the door, complaining to your date that you will have to eventually leave.

It won't be the same without BA, whenever he leaves

[APZ007]

It depends how he does in the World Cup. If the US does good, they will renew his contract if he doesnt, I think he is out.

[asdf2]

I hope he stays. He's good if not great and the continuity has been valuable.

If he leaves I think the likely candidates would include Myernick and Sarachin given their history as his assistants, and Bob Bradley (despite the poor form of his MLS teams the last few years). I think Dominic Kinnear would also have to be given some consideration. Also Steve Nicol.

Other than that we'd be looking at foreign coaches (I mean truly foreign as opposed to guys like Nicol who are involved in MLS) and I think Arena is the best of any of these alternatives by a long shot. I hope he stays on.

[jri]

We should do everything we can to get Gus Hinddink (sp?). Full stop. Best coach in the world, at both club and int'l level. He also would get the 'American thing'.

[Asprilla9]

i like the Klinsmann idea a lot. i think for a country that is had a history of sub-standard finishing ... to hire one of the most clinical finishers of all time to be the t.d., that's a dynamic concept.

but i think we should cross that bridge when we get there. one thing no one has mentioned would be, is Arena getting burned out himself??? he made comments of that ilk before 2002, that he didn't know of too many coaches that could handle 2 entire WCQ campaigns in our 3rd world confederation (and all that goes with that). i think he was even unsure if he wanted to go through it again.

then WC 02 happened, and we did so well. and unfortunately for Bruce, he really didn't have any job offers that were attractive to him ... so he signed on for another campaign. now me, i have no idea where Bruce is at this time around. b/c this time, he has made no comments about physical toll/burnout. makes me think one of two things:

1. he's developed a system. i.e. he's figured out a way to get through grueling 3 yr WCQ cycle without it being so grueling. it's a system he's so comfortable with, he could do it as long as he wants. he loves CONCACAF WCQing so much, he's thinking about building a winter home in Mazatenango.

2. he knows it's his last go 'round with the USA. no use making any comments about road trips, physical toll, burnout, etc, when you know you'll never go through it again anyway. let's face it: ref critiques notwithstanding, this cycle has been remarkably free of Bruce bitching about road trips/conditions etc (and one thing we know about our little Brucey: he LOVES to bitch). packing bags for EPL as we speak.

i really have no clue which scenario it is. i'm leaning toward #2, because, as much as I love Bruce, I cannot, for the life of me, envision one man going through 3 consecutive CONCACAF WCQing cycles. there was a time when i wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. :D

[Sempuukyaku]

Some of you guys seriously have lost your goddamn minds.


Without Bruce, we don't have a #6 ranking in the world, period.


I don't care if he's around for the next 10 years. If he wants to stay, keep him at ALL COSTS.

[Asprilla9]

Without Bruce, we don't have a #6 ranking in the world, period.i thought the general consensus was that the #6 ranking was not valid. or maybe you think we ARE better than england, spain, france, portugal, rep. of ireland and italy. in which case, i think it's you that's lost your "goddamn mind."
I don't care if he's around for the next 10 years. If he wants to stay, keep him at ALL COSTS.i think you may be on to something with the "if he wants to stay" part.

[robchap628]

This thread is stoopid. The Bruce has earned the right to stay as long as he wants.

Just b/c the rest of the world thinks it's a great idea to have no continuity in their national team program, doesn't mean we should copy them.

Did Dean Smith get stale at UNC after about 6 years? How about Coack K now at Duke?

Bruce has earned the right to take the team to Germany, and depending on how how the team performs there he may be asked to stay. However if the US does well, I'll expect he's asked to stay, but finds a job elsewhere, if the US craps out in the first round, Bruce is gone and he'll probably get a job with one of the smaller concacaf teams or go back to MLS. Either way I really don't think Bruce sticks around after '06, I don't even think he'd want to.

I think Steve Nicol would probably serve as the best replacement to him. Nicol knows both the American game as well as the international one, and has proven to be a successful coach with the revolution. He really seems to get a lot out of his players. I mean Dempsey, Noonan, Ralston and Twellman are some of the best players in MLS and I when I see them with the national team I have a hard time figuring out why. I think a lot of that has to be attributed to Nicol. I think Nicol has to be the front runner for this job.