2-MINUTE DRILL

IN NEED OF A KICKSTART

Bruce Arena is once again the head coach of the U.S. men’s national soccer team, and as he surveys the team he left a decade prior, there are a few pressing questions he needs to address.

1. What’s the solution to the central midfield?

Under Jurgen Klinsmann, the U.S. team’s central midfield was a steady presence. More or less every game, it was Michael Bradley and Jermaine Jones, and against good competition Klinsmann would toss Kyle Beckerman in there to provide cover. Jones is now 35 and Beckerman 34, and all three lack creativity.

2. Who’s the starting goalkeeper moving forward?

This is a weird one, and not a question we thought Arena would have to answer. After years of Tim Howard’s greatness, most pundits and fans assumed that backup Brad Guzan would step comfortably into the role of starting U.S. goalkeeper. Now Guzan is mired in a backup role at Middlesbrough, not seeing regular first-team soccer and on the wrong side of 30.

3. Does he bring in the youth?

Arena has been given a simple task as U.S. team manager — get the team to the 2018 World Cup. That’s it. U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati did not hire Arena to craft a bold vision for the future, or overhaul the youth development or any of that. Accepted wisdom says that the way to win now is to trust the established players, the guys in their late 20s and early 30s who have seen it all and know how to get a result. But with this team, Arena might not have that option. His best attacking player right now is 18-year-old Christian Pulisic.