Arena Out At USA Mens Soccer Head Coach

By Robert H. Kelly

In a copywrited article from the Houston Chronicle, USA Soccer men’s head coach Bruce Arena’s contact will not be renewed by the U.S. Soccer Federation at the end of the year.

Arena, who has been the most successful coach in USA Soccer history, began the job in 1998, coached the men’s team to 71 victories and a quarterfinal appearance at the 2002 World Cup.

Now, three weeks after the Americans' disappointing first-round exit from the World Cup in Germany, Arena is out despite an apparent wish to return to the team.

Everyone knows the drill. If the team wins, it is the players. If the team loses, it is the coach.

I watched all the USA games in this year’s World Cup and it was obvious to me it wasn’t Arena’s fault they lost.

These guys played like they were out there for themselves and couldn’t have cared less about team goals.

I am sure they wanted to win, but they didn’t have the fire and enthusiasm of past teams. It was eleven guys playing as eleven, instead of eleven guys playing as one.
So USA Soccer personnel will find some big name coach from Europe, give him the reins of the program and say “Gitty-Up.”

Don’t be surprised if we don’t see Team USA any better in four years.
In fact, we could possibly be worse off.

I say “Good Bye to Bruce Arena. You did a GREAT JOB with what you had to work with. You will be sorely missed.”