Back-to-wall USA opts for familiarity
Arena looks to veterans in bid to advance
Bruce Arena has a simple target in mind for the first few months of his second reign as head coach of the U.S. men’s national soccer team, and it is entirely built around repairing the team’s stuttering start to the 2018 World Cup’s qualification process.
Arena inherited a squad that finds itself with little wiggle room left after it lost to Mexico and Costa Rica in its first two finalround qualifying games in November.
In a reflection of that reality and also his no-nonsense approach, the 65-year-old went heavy on experienced names and faces Wednesday.
Announcing his squad for qualifiers at home against Honduras on March 24 and away to Panama four days later, Arena packed his 24-man group with stalwarts such as goalkeeper Tim Howard, forward Clint Dempsey, captain Michael Bradley and defender DaMarcus Beasley.
Dempsey’s return is especially notable. A popular and sometimes talismanic figure for the squad, the Seattle Sounders player missed eight months last year with an irregular heartbeat and only recently returned to action.
“Clint has a history that is almost second to none,” Arena said. “We know there are some good days still ahead for Clint. He’s made great progress in preseason and in his first two games with Seattle.”
Already, the program has a different feel to the one Jurgen Klinsmann left behind when he was dumped from the job. The dismal November week that saw Mexico secure a deserved win in Columbus, then Costa Rica deliver a 4-0 demolition days later quickened Klinsmann’s departure, though, in truth, there had been growing skepticism about his approach for some time.
Klinsmann had the noble aim of building a strong national program at all age levels and the slightly more questionable one of recruiting relentlessly from a pool of German-raised players eligible to play for the USA through nationality.
One of those, Timothy Chandler, was left off the squad selected Wednesday because of a one-game suspension and might not be back for other qualifiers.
“Our approach to these games is simple,” Arena added. “We want to win.” The USA needs to. CONCACAF’s qualification process is forgiving, part of the reason the USA has participated in each of the last seven World Cups. However, getting off to such a poor start in the final, sixteam, hexagonal group stage from which at least three teams will get to Russia next summer has made things a little tricky.
Anything other than a victory at home to Honduras at Avaya Stadium in San Jose a week from Friday would be a huge disappointment and another opportunity squandered.
The visit to Panama a few days later is even more critical. The USA is at the bottom of the CONCACAF region with zero points, while Panama claimed four from its first two games and figures to be one of the teams capable of threatening the Americans in the top three.
The first three finishers are granted automatic passage to the World Cup, and the fourth-place team must negotiate a playoff. A home win for Panama would leave things looking decidedly shaky for Arena’s group.
Arena was brought in for overall stability, and he is looking for that within his own unit. He is not without headaches, though.
The reliance on those who are tried and tested can be shown best at the goalkeeper position, where the selected trio of Howard, Nick Rimando and Brad Guzan are the same group that represented the USA in the 2014 World Cup.
This time, Arena’s choice is not straightforward, though, with Howard having just returned from a long injury layoff and Guzan low on playing time with his English Premier League club Middlesbrough.
Arena’s blueprint is one that relies on age-old principles of toil, discipline and common sense. Whether that is what’s needed will start to be answered next week.
“Our approach to these games is simple. We want to win.” U.S. men’s national team coach Bruce Arena, on the team’s upcoming qualifiers