Arena’s return faces mounting challenges
Bruce Arena was brought in to patch up the USA’s faltering World Cup qualification campaign. His first task? To try to patch up his ailing squad.
Arena was charged with a much-needed rescue act in November after Jurgen Klinsmann’s struggles put the USA at the foot of the six-team CONCACAF qualifying group and cost the German his job.
Yet as the first two meaningful matches of Arena’s second stint approach, the veteran coach and his roster have been hit with an untimely injury plague.
Friday’s clash vs. Honduras and next week’s game in Panama must be the start of a revival for the USA as it aims to ease fears the team could fail to reach the World Cup for the first time since 1986.
While Arena announced his squad Wednesday, he was content and confident with what he had to work with.
“We put together a roster that we think has balance and one that gives us an option (of ) playing a number of different ways,” Arena said. “It’s a roster where the primary rationale is to help us be successful in these two games. … Our approach to these games is simple: We want to win.”
But each day has brought a new dose of bleak news.
Forward Bobby Wood, in fine form with Hamburg in the German Bundesliga and increasingly a trusted and energetic anchor, was ruled out Sunday for both games with back problems.
A couple of days earlier, Fabian Johnson, arguably the most accomplished and versatile player Arena had at his disposal, was pulled from the roster after suffering a thigh injury in Europa League action.
Goalkeeper Brad Guzan will also be absent, in order to be with his wife as she gives birth to their second child, and suddenly extra nerves are jangling among U.S. fans who have no wish for the qualification process to turn into a nail-biter.
Defeats at home to Mexico and on the road vs. Costa Rica in November were disappointing but far from terminal, as there are eight games left and the top three in CONCACAF are ensured a World Cup place, while a fourth goes into a playoff.
Any more setbacks, though, and things start to get twitchy. Costa Rica leads the qualifying standings with six points, Mexico and Panama have four, while Honduras has three. The USA is pointless.
The injuries leave Arena facing a set of tricky decisions. He has not had time to see most of his first-choice players in action for the national team, and the months of tactical plotting that began when he replaced Klinsmann will have been seriously affected by the absences.
With Guzan out, Tim Howard will likely start. Howard has been the USA’s first choice for the best part of a decade but recently returned from a grueling rehab, so two games in four days will test him.
The right side of defense is one spot that is particularly fraught. DeAndre Yedlin and Eric Lichaj would have been viable options but are hurt, and Timothy Chandler was not called up — either because he is suspended for the first game, because Arena isn’t convinced of his worth or maybe a bit of both.
Johnson, who can play a variety of positions well, would have likely slotted into that role before his own physical setback.
Arena might now go with Geoff Cameron of English Premier League team Stoke City on the right. But while Cameron is serviceable there, he is possibly Arena’s best central defender.
Clint Dempsey, having missed the final four months of last season with an irregular heartbeat, was a surprise choice and is not sure he’s fit enough to go 90 minutes.
“I don’t know if I’m there yet,” Dempsey said. “I’m not at 100%, I would say, but I’m getting close.”
Arena could be tempted to try to get a little extra out of Dempsey or throw in emerging youngster Jordan Morris.
A lot of options that would have been forefront in Arena’s mind are no longer there. How he handles this will go a long way toward determining his early success and could shape the team’s fate as the campaign progresses.