Should we Keep the Bruce?

[littlerockant]

Bruce Arena has definitely done well during his tenure as Nat coach, but after this WC his contract is up. Do you think he will/should stay on? I want to read some opionions and hear some news.

IMO he's done a good job, but has taken us as far as HE can. I'd like to see a foreign coach (Hiddink if he doesn't go to Russia, or other coaches). I just think he and MLS definitely broadened the player pool and that was the job given to him, now it's time for someone who's experienced at the highest levels to take us to the next level. I think that a foreign coach could tweak the player selections a little better, you know, a couple of different players would've gotten a try under a different coach: Buddle, Cunningham, Rolfe, Adu, Martino, Gomez, and others who are in foreign leagues or who just don't come to my mind as of now. Once again I'm not bashing Arena I just think we're now at a place that we can get to another level and it's time to go there, also because now that's the team is better a higher profile coach might like to come to the USSF that wouldn't have before because they didn't think we were a soccer country.:cool:

[Bruce S]

Bruce Arena has definitely done well during his tenure as Nat coach, but after this WC his contract is up. Do you think he will/should stay on? I want to read some opionions and hear some news.

IMO he's done a good job, but has taken us as far as HE can. I'd like to see a foreign coach (Hiddink if he doesn't go to Russia, or other coaches). I just think he and MLS definitely broadened the player pool and that was the job given to him, now it's time for someone who's experienced at the highest levels to take us to the next level. I think that a foreign coach could tweak the player selections a little better, you know, a couple of different players would've gotten a try under a different coach: Buddle, Cunningham, Rolfe, Adu, Martino, Gomez, and others who are in foreign leagues or who just don't come to my mind as of now. Once again I'm not bashing Arena I just think we're now at a place that we can get to another level and it's time to go there, also because now that's the team is better a higher profile coach might like to come to the USSF that wouldn't have before because they didn't think we were a soccer country.:cool:
I would keep him. The best qualification we have ever had, things progressing smoothly.Every coach has his prefrence of players, and that can and will always be debated. Look at the results.

[lemons]

We just had this discussion a few days ago. Basically, this question is unasnwerable until after the World Cup. If we do well in Germany and Bruce wants to stay, we keep him. If we don't do as well as we'd like to, the Federation will have something to think about.

I always think it's funny people say "I want a foreign coach" and then named Hiddink. Does anyone know another foreign coach other than Hiddink? I'm starting to think not. :D

But yeah, wait until after the World Cup.

[Jabinho]

I think it's basically up to him.. If he wants to stay the USSF won't say no and I can't see many fans or players being upset with him staying. ;)

[Zathras]

He's taken us as far as he can. I think it's time to move on.

There's a guy in MLS with a history of taking a mediocre side to great heights. Look what he did for the Galaxy last year.

He's the man we need.

[england66]

Yes....yes...Lord God almighty....yes...

[TxFan]

is this thread for real?

[NoSix]

I always think it's funny people say "I want a foreign coach" and then named Hiddink. Does anyone know another foreign coach other than Hiddink? I'm starting to think not. :D


If Hiddink would just manage his time better, he could coach all 32 teams at the next World Cup and remove that variable from the competition.

[Bruce S]

Yes....yes...Lord God almighty....yes...
One might have to be of a certain age to realize how good Bruce is at so many thing coaches need.

[El-Professor]

How does anyone know he's "taken as far as he can"? We've gone to greater heights with him as coach than any other coach, including another foreign miracle worker, and think the best is yet to come.

I say we have it Made In America and there is no reason to outsource.

[bltleo]

i was wondering why ameriacans are asking if they should keep bruce? of course they should...why?...soccer made in Bruce is very successfull...you won against Norwey 5:0, against Poland, you won all friendlies, and you will have great world cup....I believe in USMNT... Bruce is best for your team

[Eleven Bravo]

unless we completely bomb at the World Cup than we definately should keep him.

[yokefello1]

How could you not keep him? Who would you replace him with? Us Soccer would demand an American I'm sure, and they prefer to draw from within their system. The pay & prestiege wouldn't be suffecient for someone like Hiddink.

Unrealistic. Bruce is our man.

[Bruce S]

How could you not keep him? Who would you replace him with? Us Soccer would demand an American I'm sure, and they prefer to draw from within their system. The pay & prestiege wouldn't be suffecient for someone like Hiddink.

Unrealistic. Bruce is our man.
who wants a hired gun who does not give a rats arse about the development of US soccer anyway?

[m vann]

The question is will Bruce keep us? His legacy has been etched in our hearts and he has earned full reign to decitate whether he stays or goes. As much as I would love to see him continue he is destined for greater things. There's talk he could head to Europe but selfishly I want him to stay stateside. His vision, his philosophies, his passion, are eactly what could lead to the type of commisioner MLS needs. He could really scrap many of the pointless "Americanization" that Garber tries to implement. Arena was spoken several times of likes and dislikes of the league and where he sees it heading. He strives for this sport to succeed in the country and he could spearhead a great campaign.

[JRstriker12]

Keep him!

Bruce knows how to put a great team together. The US don't always have the best individuals, but Bruce's teams seem to come together in a way that thier sum is greater than thier parts.

People mention foriegn coaches. I can see how a foreign coach my have a tactical advantage over Bruce. However, I think they would be at a disadvantage in terms of knowing the US system and putting the best group of players together. I wonder whether a foreign coach would really give MLS players much of a look.

I think some posters have this thought that if we had a foreign coach that the US would all a sudden develop a team of world class players (name top EPL, LA Liga, Serie A, etc star here). IMHO - I don't think that's the case. In the limited amount of time that players spend in camp and with the national team, I don't think a foreign coach would speed development by that much. I think that type of development really has to come from the proffesional level where players spend 99% of thier time.

My 2 cents.

-My question - to those of you who think Bruce has reached his limit - what can a foreign coach do that pushes the US past that limit?

[ghazi]

I think the question should be reposted as "If the US bombs at the WC, should we keep Bruce". . because anything short of a disastrous WC means Bruce is staying and SHOULD be staying.

He's completely transformed this team since he's taken over. We can legitimately beat any other team on the planet, which is something we couldn't say 8 years ago. He's allowed the team to have a hand in forging its own identity as well, which is another sign of a great coach (i.e. letting your players' skills influence the style of play).

If we don't advance this WC, it won't affect his job security. We're in a very difficult group.

Under Arena we've gotten into the quarterfinals of the WC, and outplayed one of the finalists. We have dominated our regional rival Mexico, which used to own us, we have taken the claim of top dog in the region without question, and we have won tough and gritty matches on foreign and European soil against WC teams.

Hell, 8 years ago if someone told you all of that, you woulda slapped him for lying! :D

Keep da Bruce.

[FC Tallavana]

I go back and forth on this but right now I believe we should let him go. I think that would be best for both parties. Bruce has the itch for club soccer again and we have a curiosity to see what a new coach can do to further the progress made under Arena.

If we make the move immediately after the world cup, we will have two years (including a gold cup and a possible Copa America) to see if we made the right choice. If we didn't, we will be able to make another choice (who knows, Bruce might very well be available again) in time for qualification.

[saxman]

No doubt we should keep him. Bringing in a foreigner would do nothing more. He would still have to work with the players we are producing here in the states. And the only thing a foreign coach would have to drive him would be his own success as a coach. His personal pride. An American such as Bruce, especially Bruce, has pride in the country that he is coaching, because it is his country. It is very evident that Bruce is proud of the USA. Playing/coaching for something bigger than ones own self is a huge motivater. No question. As they always say at the incumbent presidents party convention- Four more years! Fourmore years!

[SamsArmySam]

I put together this analysis a while back to show that the US team as a whole under Arena is greater than the sum of its part, and it still holds with today's data. That credit has to go to Arena and his coaching staff.

Let's look first at the whole, the team, what Arena has created from the raw materials of the player pool. I'm going to use ELO ratings. But the FIFA ratings prove the same point. Here's the world rank of international teams according to ELO (http://www.eloratings.net)

1 Brazil
2 Netherlands
3 England
4 Spain
5 Czech
6 France
7 Italy
8 Argentina
9 Portugal
10 Denmark
11 Germany
12 Sweden
13 USA
14 Romania
15 Croatia
16 Turkey
17 Ireland
18 Mexico
19 Iran
20 Poland

Now let's look at the raw materials, the player pool, the "sum of the parts." I'm going to use the sum total of estimated player transfer values for the 32 World Cup squads from this German site: http://www.transfermarkt.de/.

23 USA

We are 10 slots higher in team performance (#13) than you would expect given the raw materials in our player pool (#23).

Caveat: I realize these numbers aren't perfect, but they're the only ones I've found closest to what I'm trying to measure. There are multiple biases in the data, both for and against this conclusion. But even with a little variability, it's hard to argue that this positive overperformance by 10 slots in the two ranking tables shouldn't be attributed to Arena.

The question is whether another manager could do even better with this player pool, and aside from Hiddink, I don't think so.