Bruce Arena
Appearances
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
You know, if you look at every national team in the world, the coach is usually a domestic coach. When you have coaches that don't know our culture, our environment, our players, it's hard. I mean, I'm watching, I'm shocked that we can't beat Panama and Canada. Time is running out and they got to get going.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
You got to work at it, this and that. And they don't want to hear it. And their agents are telling them this and that, and they want to go to Europe and blah, blah, blah. So you've got that. The only thing I try to do, and it's hard, just be honest with the guys. You've got a chance of developing a good relationship with players and a good culture in your team.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
I tell them I make mistakes just like them. That's all part of it every day. But I want to be honest with them. I want to be fair. And I want to be there for them whenever they need me. And that's all I can do as a coach.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
Hi, Bruce. That was very nice of you to say, Tim. Good to see you as well. Two great people.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
Well, we finished 29 out of 29 teams last year, and we gave up most goals in the history of the league. And I think this year we can, we can do better than that. We will improve on that. We'll, we'll finish 28th and I'll be the coach of the year. I think, I think we were capable of making the playoffs. Uh, it's not going to be easy, but I think we're capable of that. And, uh,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
We have some good players here. We're going to have to have some breaks along the way, obviously. But that's my goal for the team is to make the playoffs. Can we finish? And that means in today's era of MLS, it's going to be in the top nine teams in a playing game. That's that's something we've got to shoot for. I think we can do that. You know, we have a decent roster and it'll get better.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
not only great players but great people so it's great to see that you're you're still in the forefront of the of the game in our country and you mean a lot to a lot of people your voices are heard and we really appreciate everything you've done uh for the game in our country thank you we appreciate that yeah you are you're a living legend and um it's just great to have you on great to see you back kicking ass in the mls so uh this is this is going to be a fun episode
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
But obviously, organizationally, we have to grow. We have to develop our facilities better so we have a better everyday environment. But as a starting point, we're improved and the guys have a great attitude. I have a great coaching staff with Dave Sarikens here with me again for like the 40th year. Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
Showery Joseph, who I think is an upcoming terrific coach, is going to be a head coach in this league one day. He's terrific. Steve Ralston, who I think, Landon, you played with Steve?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
And Aiden Brown, our goalkeeper coach. It's a great staff. They're doing a great job. And the players have been very supportive. So we're enjoying ourselves. We really are. And I think we have a chance to be decent.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
Oh, tough question. Either national team... That is a tough... Club team. And I must tell you, Landon, the ride back on the bus after the Germany game in the 2002 World Cup was special.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
We had a collective group of guys that knew that they gave everything they could possibly give. Did the best they could. And... We fell short, but we were so proud of ourselves. And that is clearly one of the great moments in my coaching career. But I look back, you know, I had been fortunate to be part of so many great teams at the collegiate level, having four consecutive national championships.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
It was brilliant. The D.C. United run was great. Even, you know, obviously the Galaxy was terrific. Even New England Revolution, we won the Supporter Shield. That's right. Those things are special. And I don't want to take anything away from any of those teams. They were all great, and they were great experiences. You know, I'm very fortunate.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
You know, you said before we got on the call, you said, holy mackerel, you're 73 years old. And I said, yeah, I'm going to be 74 this year. And I'm saying, I'm still working and enjoying myself and fortunate to be around these wonderful guys every day to keep me young. And it's exciting and You know, I get up at five in the morning every day to go to work and I enjoy it. And so I'm fortunate.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
You know, you can talk about this or that. And, you know, I've experienced this and all these other things in my career. But I've been the lucky one. I really have been. So, you know, it's it's it's been special.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
Well, thank you. And I'm, I'm hopeful that we, we have a lot to celebrate next summer.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
And I think some weeks ago, if you saw the comments by Insalati, he basically said that how you treat people is more important than your tactics. So true.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
I love you guys. I'm grateful for having the opportunity to spend some time with you.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
Well, just think about the league in 96. I was going back to my playing career, which nobody knows anything about, which is good. I was drafted by the Cosmos and chose not to play for the Cosmos because of how the American play was treated. I was finishing up my last semester at Cornell, playing lacrosse at the time as well, and
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
Right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
I was going to back up ship missing, and they offered me $200 a game, and I could work at the KLM counter at JFK Airport. So I chose to complete my degree at Cornell, and then I played professional lacrosse ahead of soccer, but So that's where the American player was at the time. And then, you know, Pele came then a year and a half later, and I looked like an idiot. And then the league folded.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
And then there was this dead period. And, you know, I'm coaching at the University of Virginia. And, you know, we don't have a professional league in the country. And then we get the World Cup. And then part of that deal with the World Cup was that we had to start a league in 96. And we did. And we didn't know what the hell we were doing. And that's what I remember about 96, that opening game.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
how poorly we played and the quality of the game. And we just were all going in different directions. And I think three weeks later, I cut maybe six players that started in that game. So, you know, everything was crazy. And then by mid-year, we got it going and the league got better. And we, oddly enough, had some very good players.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
to start the league when you think about Valderrama and Donadoni and Echeverry and some of these great players. And, you know, we went through tough times. And I think the U.S. national team moving forward after the 98 World Cup and having success in 2002, it helped keep the league afloat. And then things are happening now. We're getting... We're getting better.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
The state of MLS today is remarkable compared to the night. You know, when I look around and I see these stadiums and these training facilities and the players we're attracting now and thinking about what's going to happen after 2026, you know, we're going to be in a position where, you know, we were all worried about, you know, can soccer be the number one sport in this country?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
It doesn't have to be. We're in America. It can be one of the five major sports and it will be. So there's such a great future. And to think about the role you guys played where we are today is remarkable. So you asked me, can I remember 96? I can. And I know of 2025 now and see the battle we've had over the years and where we are now.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
And I really think there's a bright future for the game in this country.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
My understanding, yes. And if we didn't have the World Cup we had in 2002, I think the league would have folded. Oh, wow. Let me be fair about this. I could be completely wrong, but I've been told that by a number of people. Wow. Because the league was in not great shape. Right. And the 2002 World Cup excited people and ownership increased.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
you know uh got a little in an injection of momentum from that and decided you know i i think at that time if i can recall correctly phil and shoots on 16th right yeah that's right i think in san jose it was it was jointly owned by craft and hunting and shoots and these these gentlemen were keeping the league alive And if it wasn't for the 2002 World Cup, I think the league may have folded.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
And listen, if you talk to the commissioner today, he might deny the whole thing. Sure. What do I know, you know?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
I do to a certain degree. I mean, Marco Echeverri and Jaime Moreno could play in the league today. I don't question that at all. You know, maybe the... our lineup could go, I'd say six, seven, eight players strong. I think, I think maybe at the bottom of the first 11, they'd be a little weaker than they are today. The American player today is so much better than it was in 96. I mean,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
We have a bunch of good players. I mean, even here in San Jose, which is not a perfect situation yet for developing players, we have some very good young players. I am just amazed watching these kids every day. So, you know, the American player is better. I mean, I don't want to drop names, but I had some guys playing at D.C. United that probably wouldn't play for San Jose.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
But our top players were terrific. Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
I was on a phone call, not that I wanted to be, but I ended up on a call on a speakerphone with a U.S. player in France during the World Cup, complaining, and I'm listening, and I'm pissed off. And I'm, I'm saying that, what are we doing? Yeah. And the 98 team, not being critical, they didn't advance, but they embarrassed us.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
And I, and, and when that opportunity came about for me to become the national team coach, I said, I want to bring pride back national team. And, and we built that. And, uh, And, you know, I knew Landon from, I don't know, I think I've mentioned this to Landon. In 1997, I had DC United at Bradenton in preseason. Oh, no. And Landon was pretty damn good.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
And Beasley was playing, and Landon was shooting his mouth off. Yeah. Marco Echeverry wanted to punch him out. This kid has some balls. But I knew he was confident. And I remember watching him and DeMarcus. And then I do remember two days before we played Portugal in 2002, I told you and DeMarcus you were going to start. And you guys didn't blink an eye. And I was amazed at that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
Our two 20-year-olds. You guys were great. Yeah. It was exciting for me as a coach to be part of that, to have young, promising players. And then, you know, to this day, I always think about the leadership that Ernie Stewart gave us and Kobe Jones and and how it all blended in to make that whole thing work.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
You know, if you look at every national team in the world, the coach is usually a domestic coach. Yeah. And I think when you have coaches that don't know our culture, our environment, our players, it's hard. And, you know, and listen, I'm sure our coach is a very good coach. Coaching international football is different than club football. It's a completely different job.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
People ask me all the time, hey, what did you like this or that? What'd you like better? I go, they're two different jobs.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
They're two different jobs and people don't understand that. And I think when you're a national team coach, you need to know your environment. You need to know the animals you're coaching. And we're lacking that. And if you're an American coach in the U.S. team, you know the culture, you know the pride and how important a national team is.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
I think when you bring in somebody from the outside, they don't understand it. And especially in our country.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
because we're so different so you know you ask me uh you know do we lack that kind of i mean i'm watching i'm shocked i'm shocked that we can't beat panama and canada it was shocking to me and and i don't want to be disrespectful i want them to do great in the world cup there's no question about it but uh uh we only have a year left now yeah time is running out and they got to get going
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
I know. I know.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
I'm pretty close to being the same, but it is different. I'll tell you, all the clubs I've worked for, the players have been great, great professionals. The part that's kind of interesting today is the young American player. They all think they should be playing right away. We have 18-year-olds here that think they should be starting. And I always tell them, your time will come.