http://www.socceramerica.com/article.asp?ART_ID=562136887 Great interview, but I wish the interviewer would have pressed Arena on who his ideal 11 would be. We can all guess, but it would have been great to hear who would be in his first 11 if every player was healthy.
Friend, have you accepted Bruce Arena as your personal savior? Great interview. That was classy of Bruce to take the time to elaborate on some important points. We don't see enough of that from coaches these days.
Great interview. I'm not a Bruce Arena fanboy, I'll be the first to criticize him on his overuse of aging players who are past their sell-by date, Pope's decent performance yesterday notwithstanding. However, anyone who doesn't recognize Bruce's overall contribution to American soccer is loony. He's not just a Hall of Famer, he should have a whole wing with his name on it at Oneonta.
It has been discussed before, but any ideas on where he is taking this. Injuries and cards so the need for multi-postion players? Less afraid of youth and letting untested players play (Beasley)?
David Regis. Why would you bring a player you have intention of playing? we went to a 352 specifically so we wouldn't have to play him
I think BA has been quoted before about needing to better prepare for the demands of the WC; i.e. it is a campaign and you need to take players who can step up to the physical and mental demands of playing that many big games in such a short period of time. Also, as you said, the need for a higher level of flexibility in your roster. So...it's not just a question of being the better skilled at your position, you need the physical and mental tenacity as well. The highlights from USSoccer have also showed me much more what people talk about relative to a person like Hejduk. What a hoot - the phantom cell phone call during an interview, the shades after the Norway game and the words he said were just classic: "It's not about me, it's about all of us making each other better." (Paraphrasing here, that is not a direct quote.)
Interesting that he revealed McBride and Johnson to be the first-choice pairing up front. Not exactly shocking, but another starting slot pinned down.
Excellent interview (high marks to both Arena and the interviewer, Mike Woitalla). Some interesting quotes: Ha! Amen! Not really a shock, but somewhat surprising that Arena publicly singles out only this one position. There's a ticket to Germany just waiting to be claimed for anyone who can play a decent RM. As others have noted, this is an interesting, if somewhat cryptic, comment. I assume that Arena is talking about the problems we faced becasue of injuries and suspensions. So, the response would be to bring only fullly healthy players and backups who are versatile. Also, do not bring anyone along just to get experience for 2010. I wish some posters on BS would adopt the same attitude.
God I would love Bruces mindset in a milk and cookies MLS. This guys knows the sport and gets it. I don't like everything he does (play Copa Bruce), but the more I hear outta him the more I like.
Yes, caught my eye, particularly in contrast to LM where he names three players but not in order, or that 1 is a starter and the others are back-ups.
I love his ideas about making MLS regular season games more meaningful including the regular season champion getting the CONCACAF spot, monetary incentives to players, etc. It gave me another idea. Tie the fans into the incentive. How cool would it be if the league awarded the season ticket holders of the champion with something. How about a replica with a champions patch? If a team had 5,000 season ticket holders, you are probably talking about a $50,000 actual cost. Or, maybe a big post-season bash for the champions season ticket holders. Just a thought, and it could be a marketing tool as well. Imagine, a professional sports league that actually recognizes the contributions of a championship teams most loyal fans. Hell, I've seen the United Center go nuts because the Bulls get close to 100 points and a free taco for the fans.
He's my first choice for that job. Maybe after '06 or possibly '10. Garber is doing fairly well, but Bruce is king, like it or not. Maybe they could tag team. Bruce could be the ops guy and Garber could be the marketing guy...
Give the two of them 5 years and we'll be in the top 10-15 leagues in the world. Give them 10 years and we're on par with everyone but the big 5. Seriously.
Nice idea, but Bruce is most definitely a coach, not a suit. I don't think there is a chance in hell he would want a league position.
I think he'd take the suit provided he had the power to implement his ideas whichis by no means a given. I think one of the things that makes him succesful is his ability to think long-term, much easier said than done.
Wonder if he'd be the perfect guy to run the youth camp, or to set up the framework for a more effective youth development system.
I perfer to see him take over the soccer side of MLS. He can gain sponsors, work expansion and build stadiums. He's good at that. But Garber is not a soccer guy, he just just show that he has any clue on how to grow this sports popularity. Let him handle the finances and let Bruce run the SPORT. Bruce is the BEST this country has.