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Is Arena Irreplacable?

May 18th, 2006 | By: Daryl | 13 Comments »

If Arena were to leave, who would replace him?

I’d argue that Arena is the perfect fit for the national team right now, as the only American coach savvy enough for the job. A top foreign coach could replace him tactically, but will lack the cultural familiarity and MLS expertise Arena possesses. On the other hand, could you name a US coach big enough to fill Bruce’s boots? I fear that The Bruce is irreplacable.

Tags: Bruce Arena, USA

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Comments

By Pat | May 18th, 2006 at 11:53 am

Steve Nicol

Posted from United States

By Mark | May 18th, 2006 at 11:54 am

If Arena goes, I think we should tap Bob Knight. Just kidding. Kindof.

Posted from United States

By Azeglio Vicini | May 18th, 2006 at 12:33 pm

I second the nomination of Steve Nicol… he is a great tactician and knows the MLS…

Posted from United States

By Cajun Nick | May 18th, 2006 at 12:53 pm

Bring back Bora!

Posted from United States

By Razzle | May 18th, 2006 at 12:54 pm

Cultural difference isnt that important. If a portugese coach can do well in an english country, then a spanich or german coach can do well in USA.

What do you think of Klinsmann? Hes already in California – if he does well at the WC 06 then he should be a potential target. Has he ever coached at club level?

Posted from United States

By Steve | May 18th, 2006 at 4:41 pm

there is no question that BA is irrecplacable both now and looking ahead past this WC toward 2010. I think more than ANYTHING, unless US wins this WC (which is um… a REALLY LOOOONG shot at best)- we need BA to return with confidence for 2010… I will confirm this or repell it after this WC but, if US does well, I would like to see BA coach for as long as I am alive…

A replacement… Steve Nicol is of no calibur at all on the world stage to replace BA and hasnt had the successes at the lower levels that BA had…

I think that if anyone were to replace him, it would be Klinnsman (given that he is a success this year)- the friendship, the living situations etc all seem critical to me that the next choice is the old German.

Posted from United States

By Mahdi | May 18th, 2006 at 6:14 pm

I’ve read that Bob Bradley is widely tipped to be our next National Team coach. He was Bruce Arena’s assistant when the Bruce was D.C. United’s head coach.

There are alot of current and ex-MLS coaches we could try: Ray Hudson, Dominic Kinnear, Frank Yallop, Bob Gansler, Sigi Schmid, etc.

Or we could try Sven-Goran Eriksson and see how that works out, but I fear he’d play our players out of position as he tends to do with his National Team players (For example, he had Wayne Rooney playing right mid for a number of games). But he does have the experience, and is fluent in English, so communication should not be a problem.

I don’t know, just a thought. As long as we don’t hire Steve Sampson again.

Posted from United States

By Mahdi | May 18th, 2006 at 6:16 pm

Also, I forot to add:

A good possibility would be John Ellinger. He’s been the coach of the U-17 team and had a significant role in developing Youth players.

Look at some of the players he has coached or influenced:Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley, Bobby Convey, Eddie Johnson, Chad Marshall, Freddy Adu, Eddie Gaven, Danny Szetela, and Jonathan Spector.

Posted from United States

By Seamus | May 18th, 2006 at 6:55 pm

I believe Sigi or Ellinger will be the next coach. And I don’t see a problem with Arena leaving after this World Cup. I’d really love to see him coach a club abroad. And I don’t think he’s the only man capable of coaching the National Team. In fact, lots of American coaches could use experience abroad or internationally. Let Bruce move on and let some other American coaches establish themselves. Not many people believed Arena would be as successful as he’s been. It’s time for someone else to step in and perform beyond expectations.

Posted from United States

By chuck | May 18th, 2006 at 10:58 pm

Hey, why not Eric Wynalda?

He seems to know everything…

Posted from United States

By Bidemi | May 19th, 2006 at 4:10 am

I hope he gets replaced by a coach with experience in the European game. I’d love a hard-nosed, tactical European coach to take the helm of our National Team. It’s the only way we are going to get up to speed with the rest of the world in my opinion. I think an English coach would suit us best.

Posted from United Kingdom

By eric | May 19th, 2006 at 9:46 am

I think Yallop or Kinnear were the favorites a couple of years ago. That was figuring that Arena would retire after this cup. Klinsmann is only a good option if he does well this world cup but if that happens he would probably stay with Germany. I think Arena is nor irreplacable. But I do think he will always be one of the best US coaches because he has had success at every level he has coached.

Posted from United States

By mike | May 21st, 2006 at 8:05 pm

helloooo…

i would think that big phil might be looking.

he certainly won’t have an issue with the media getting all into his shit here in the US.

Posted from United States

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