On Nov. 2, the United States men’s national team fired manager Jürgen Klinsmann and replaced him with Bruce Arena, its manager from 1998-2006.
Ever since Klinsmann took over the USMNT in 2011 the highs have been high, like the near miss by Chris Wondolowski that could have sent the US to the quarterfinals of 2014 World Cup. But the lows were far too low, with the most recent struggles being back to back losses to Mexico and Costa Rica in high-stakes World Cup qualifying games, the latter of which was a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Los Ticos. The players had no interest in working hard for their current coach and so that coach had to go.
The U.S. is looking to right the ship of those losses by going back to what is an assumed quantity. He piloted our nation’s team to its best World Cup showing in 2002. A key reason Arena was brought in was that he did not struggle in either of his attempts to qualify for a World Cup, while Klinsmann was already on thin ice before the losses earlier this month due to struggles in the previous round of qualifying. On the other hand, Arena was fired after a poor showing in the 2006 World Cup, one in which the United States managed two goals in three games.
The issue I have with bringing back Arena is it seems to be trying to put out a fire by spraying at the top of the flames. The team falls short of its lofty goals and expectations not because of poor management, but because of poor players. Klinsmann was let go due to a strict difference of opinion between him and the United States Soccer Federation on the quality of Major League Soccer (MLS). Klinsmann took the harsh but true thinking that the quality of MLS was not high enough to push his players, most of whom play in the MLS. He was vocal about wanting his players to play in the more competitive European leagues, and when two of his key players (Clint Dempsey and Michael Bradley) came to play for teams in MLS, instead of staying in Europe, he said, “It’s going to be very difficult to keep the same level that they experienced at the places where they were.”
Klinsmann has the mindset that the best national teams have players who play in Europe. That’s why bringing in Arena as his replacement does little to push the team forward. The U.S. has the resources at its disposal to be the greatest soccer team in CONCACAF. Yet they have not advanced in any identifiable way since the last time Arena was coach. They achieved the lofty FIFA ranking of 4th in the world at one point during Arena’s run but this was an anomaly of epic proportions. The team can’t achieve consistent greatness, which is what the USA expects of all its sports teams without investing in its league and developing soccer at the youth level.
The MLS must follow in the footsteps of better European leagues and introduce a relegation system, which would force every team to have something to play for, and not let teams as bad as the Chicago Fire keep being terrible with no incentive to keep playing games at the end of the season. MLS’s contract with ESPN could also be used to greater effect. If the MLS had a more consistent schedule and a marquee game every Thursday, then more attention could be given and more money could be added to make the teams, and hopefully, the players better.
Because at the end of the day Arena is likely to be fired after the 2018 World Cup. And that’s not his fault. It’s just how the current system is trying to put out the fire.
Matt Kelly, a Contributing Writer for the Voice, can be reached for comment at MKelly17@wooster.edu.