Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club & International Coaching with guest Bruce Arena
Tue, 22 Apr 2025
Bruce Arena is an American soccer LEGEND! On Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard, the guys are joined by current San Jose Earthquakes head coach Bruce Arena to discuss his coaching career, the current state of the U.S. Men’s National Team, and what he sees as the future for soccer in America. Our hosts also discuss an INCREDIBLE quarter final round of Champions League competition, plus BREAKING news about Carlo Ancelotti’s future at Real Madrid. In the AT&T Mailbag, Tim & Landon are talking Major League Soccer from New England to San Diego and what’s stopping the league from being the BEST in the WORLD! New episodes of Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim drop every Tuesday. Subscribe to the show on YouTube and follow on all your favorite podcast platforms. For bonus content and to send your mailbag questions in to the show, follow on all social media platforms @UnfilteredSoccer. (https://www.unfilteredsoccer.com). Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard is presented by Volkswagen. Learn more at https://bit.ly/4g8bZG3. Thank you to our additional sponsors: AT&T. Connecting Changes Everything. Visit https://att.com/guarantee to learn more. Coors Light. Choose Chill. Get Coors Light delivered. Go to CoorsLight.com/USLNT Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: Who is Bruce Arena and what is his impact on American soccer?
Hi, Bruce. That was very nice of you to say, Tim. Good to see you as well. Two great people.
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
So Bruce, let's jump in. I want to take people back just to start. So I find in our country now there are a lot of new soccer fans, which is great, but they have no context of the history and what this sport has been through. And for Tim and me, We reference it basically from 2000 on, but you've seen it from much earlier days on. And we were just reminiscing about the early days with DC United.
Chapter 2: What was the state of Major League Soccer in its early days and how has it evolved?
Last weekend, you guys beat DC 6-1 in what was a commemorative game for the 30th year. First of all, can you remember back that far to that first game and what it was like then and what the league was like then in 96?
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
And I really think there's a bright future for the game in this country.
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Chapter 3: Did MLS ever face the risk of folding and how was it saved?
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.
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.
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.
I want to touch on all that because we've talked a lot here. about the lack of, it's funny you use these words, pride that we see now with our current national team. And it's hard to get inside their minds and know exactly, but it doesn't, when I watch games sometimes with the national team, it feels like there's a lack of pride or enough pride. And then the other one is leadership.
And when I think about 0-2 team, 0-6 team, we didn't play well, but we didn't lack that. 2010, even 2014, to some extent, there was pride and there were good leaders. You've seen it all. So is that an accurate assessment of what you see too? Or what is it?
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.
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.
Yeah.
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.
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Chapter 4: How does Bruce Arena view the current US Men's National Team's culture and leadership?
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.
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.
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.
the Germany game, I wasn't on the bus, but I saw the scenes. I mean, that answer gave me goosebumps and Bruce, you, I mean, look, you are the lucky one, but all of your players who have played for you are, you know, we're, we're fortunate.
And again, as I said, to be a, to be a living legend and be able to give you your flowers in front of our audience who absolutely adores you and the U S men's national team. It's really special for us.
Well, thank you. And I'm, I'm hopeful that we, we have a lot to celebrate next summer.
Amen. Before we go, I want to share a story and we'll let you go do your real job. You were just talking, it just reminded me, you were talking about the 25th player as important as the first player. In 2014, my last game, we played New England at home with the Galaxy in the MLS Cup Final.
And I will never forget this, and I'm getting goosebumps talking about it, I will never forget this till the day I die. The final whistle blew. And we had a player on our team who might have played 100 minutes that year, Raul Mendiola. You remember, Bruce? And the final whistle blew. And I looked kind of around, whatever, was aware of what was going on.
And Raul Mendiola was sprinting over to me to hug me. And the guy played maybe 100 minutes all year, Tim. Maybe. And he was so invested in it the same way that me and Robbie Keane were. I mean, it was no different. And I think that kind of tells you everything you need to know about how you build a team.
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Chapter 5: What coaching philosophy and leadership style has made Bruce Arena successful?
And it's just such chaos. And the one thing that stood out to me, because I think, you know, we both played at such a high level, but these players rarely make mistakes. I'm thinking about like... I think it was Nuno Mendes' goal for PSG. Not 100% sure. But anyway, the ball gets squared across. He takes a touch to open up his left foot and smacks it, right? Like, just tucks it inside the post.
We did the highlights for NBC yesterday in the studio, and I looked at this replay, and I'm like, the ball wasn't even sitting for him. Like it rose up, but he realized it was, it was going to be kind of like on the half and he just slapped at it. And I was like, the technique and the execution of players at this level is like mind blowing.
And to watch it, like the play out over the course of the, of 90 minutes or 180 minutes, it's, it's special, man. Love knockout football.
And the beauty of it is it's the top teams, obviously, at this point from their leagues. And so there's the top players, and they're used to playing a certain way, and they're used to having all the ball. So when those two types of teams clash, it just becomes a free-for-all, tons of goals.
For people who are not the most diehard of soccer fans who are more new to this and are listening, can you imagine, I'm just thinking this out loud, Let's say the Lakers and Warriors were playing and they had a two-game series like this, home and away. And it wasn't who won the games. It was the total score of the games, right?
And that's what you get in the second half of these second legs because it doesn't matter if you could be losing 3-0 in the game, but one goal and you advance. And so it makes it so fun and it's so exciting to watch. And there was a moment during the Arsenal-Real Madrid game, and Arsenal, big credit to them for putting on a show, really.
Mm-hmm.
But there was a moment in the game where Arsenal are attacking. And Madrid literally have their four defenders and a six. And everyone else is just hanging out up the field because they needed goals. They needed three or four goals. And so it was just this back and forth. It's worth the risk. Yeah, it was worth the risk. And you just knew there were going to be tons of goals.
In the end, Arsenal got two. Real Madrid won. And I mean... I know PSG are the odds-on favorite, but it'd be hard to bet against Arsenal right now. And they have all their focus. These other clubs have to worry about their league and making Champions League and the title. And they're just like, don't matter. They're going to rest players. That's right. Everything's going into this.
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Chapter 6: What are Bruce Arena's goals and expectations for the San Jose Earthquakes?
Maybe expect it a little bit, but I didn't think it would come that fast. Did you?
Kind of. Did you?
Maybe it was always in the works.
If you don't advance, then... Yeah, there's been some rumblings of kind of like turmoil in the background. I know there was... Things just haven't been right there. And... You know, look, the bottom line is at these big, massive clubs. Yeah, you're right. I mean, we've seen managers win titles and get sacked. Like these big clubs, there's no room for error.
And so things just haven't gone according to plan. Obviously, getting knocked out against Arsenal was probably the final straw. So, yeah, you know, hopefully for them. they can produce a performance in the Copa del Rey final, which is April 26th, I believe. So yeah, a very short stay for Ancelotti. Shame for him.
What people forget too, Tim, about these things is these are human beings making these decisions and there's big egos involved. So I'm not saying that was the case here, but there have been lots of cases. I remember in the early days of MLS, Ziggy Schmidt, rest his soul, was in first place with the Galaxy and got fired.
And you don't know exactly what happened, but if there's just a clash in egos, it's like, all right, well, you're out. I'm the boss here, you're out. Wow, really interesting to see what happens now going forward. The other side of the bracket, we'll see Barcelona, who got by Dortmund. They lost, but they got by Dortmund. And they will play now Inter, who drew at home to Bayern Munich.
So Inter's an interesting team. They're the one team in this whole thing that people don't really talk about. They're the one team. But all of a sudden now they're in a semifinal against Barcelona and they can absolutely win that tie.
You know the interesting thing? You remember when Inter did it with Jose Mourinho? If you don't follow Italian football, Italian football is tailor-made for knockout football. They know how to manage moments. They know how to take the sting out of the game. Oh, you want to sit in a deep block and have eight behind the ball? No problem.
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Chapter 7: What are some key moments and stories from Bruce Arena's coaching career?
So you're just like, now it's kind of open, which I like better because everyone has a chance. Before, no one had a chance. They didn't. They didn't. It was great. You knew it was one of those. It was Messi, Rinaldo, and maybe one other token guy they threw in there. Now, no, it's true. And third place was a distant third. So I'm excited to kind of see how that pans out.
All right, let's take another break. When we come back, we will dive into all your questions, a lot of MLS questions this week in the AT&T Fan Connection, right here on Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim, as always, presented by our friends at Volkswagen. Please stay right there.
It's time for the Fan Connection presented by AT&T. Every week, we invite you, the listener, to connect with us by submitting your questions. The best way to grow the game of soccer in the U.S. is to keep asking questions and keep talking about the sport we all love. At AT&T, connecting changes everything. And on USLNT, our connections with you will help grow the game.
Welcome back into our AT&T Fan Connection. Everyone's favorite time of the week, including our very own Jordan. Welcome in, Jordan.
Thank you very much.
Hello, JR.
Hello. We put out a graphic on Instagram asking people for their MLS questions, and we have a bunch of them. So shall we dive in? All right. Let's talk about the Revs. Chris via Instagram says, will the Revs right the ship? I don't think they're far off, despite the mood of the supporters towards the coach in the front office.
No. Give us context on the mood there.
What do I think the mood is there? Not great, Bob.
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Chapter 8: What are the hosts' reflections on Bruce Arena's legacy and the latest Champions League news?
Okay.
Yeah.
Can you imagine?
Let's move across to the other side of the country. Callan via Instagram said, is it time for people to start taking San Diego FC seriously?
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Here's San Diego FC is they, this is why, and I was talking to someone recently about this. They have a playbook from Norseland, which is their sister club. It's same people started an own Norseland own SDFC. They said, here's the playbook. Here's the type of players. Here's the profiles we want. Here's the way we're going to play. Go. And when you have clarity in that early on,
the Sounders had that early on, and that's why they were successful, and a few other teams early on have had that, then it's going to start well. Does it sustain? That is the question. We're going to see. And once people figure out that playbook and what they do, They will start adjusting to them.
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