Win in Arena’s return totally alters outlook for USA
A lot happened to PANAMA CITY the U.S. men’s soccer team over the last four months, and swapping Jurgen Klinsmann for Bruce Arena as coach was just the start.
Based on the evidence of Friday’s 6-0 win vs. Honduras and entering Tuesday’s trip to Panama in World Cup qualifying, fear was replaced by fearlessness. Confusion was switched for confidence.
And overthinking, perhaps Klinsmann’s biggest flaw, made way for a new approach that is simple and straightforward but has one great advantage: The players actually like it.
One game doesn’t make a campaign, but Friday’s turned the feel of this one on its head, to the point that it would be a shock if the USA didn’t qualify for the 2018 World Cup with a degree of comfort.
Whereas the two defeats in November that cost Klinsmann his job had supporters of the program nervous the USA could conceivably be absent for soccer’s global spectacle for the first time since 1986, Arena and his troops have a very different target in mind.
Rather than nervously trying to scrape clear of the basement positions — the win lifted the Americans from sixth to fourth in the six-team CONCACAF group that will send at least three teams to Russia next year — the USA wants to renew its status as one of the heavyweights of the region.
“There are a lot of games left,” captain Michael Bradley said. “All week we spoke about this idea that qualifying is never easy. Every World Cup qualifying cycle, there are certain moments along the way when you step on the field having to win; that is just reality. If that scares you, then this is probably not the team or the sport for you.
“Bruce has come in, (and) he has shown no fear. It is not like he looks at the group and looks at our position in the standings and thinks, ‘ Oh boy, we have got to protect ourselves, we have got to have a team that is only worried about structure and discipline and making sure that we don’t concede.’
“It is actually the opposite, and he wants a group on the field that is aggressive and presses and attacks and goes for it.”
Arena’s tactical systems are not overly intricate, but they are easily understood and give players opportunities to express themselves. His formula is one that demands a high tempo and indefatigable work ethic and rewards those who are able to deliver. In short, his ways aim to tap directly into what the USA has always been best at.
“As we continue to grow and continue to work on certain things, I think we have a group that can be aggressive and use our athleticism and physicality and mobility to our advantage,” Bradley added. “That’s something that Bruce has really stressed. You have to have guys who understand that and realize when big moments come, you have no choice but to give everything you have. Play in the best, most fearless way possible. At the end of the day, the chips fall where they may.”
A kind assessment of the end of Klinsmann’s reign would be to say the German coach, who led his homeland to the 2006 World Cup semifinals, was ahead of his time. The current U.S. squad’s strengths lay in its fitness level and tenacity. While youngster Christian Pulisic is a special talent, the USA lacks the quality depth of Brazil, Spain or other powers. Klinsmann wanted to expedite that process, and it simply didn’t work. Dominating the soccer world, if it ever happens, is a long way off. For now, Arena’s group can focus on dominating its region and trying to be competitive at the World Cup.
Arena’s pragmatism did not allow him to get too excited.
“I think this is going to be a knockdown, drag-out affair until October,” said Arena, who is on his second stint with the team. “It will be a battle with all six teams down the stretch.”
But victory in Panama would go a long way toward averting further nervous moments. As much as the USA has rediscovered its natural style and reignited its identity, it more than anything wants to make winning a habit again.