Bradley vs Arena: Different Styles

Eddie Johnson and Brian Ching celebrate a goal against Barbados, the only game which a current US striker has scored a goal in the last 14 months for the national team.

Bob Bradley’s tenure as United States National Team manager has gone about as well as can be expected: A CONCACAF Gold triumph, several victories in the “old world” and thus far a smooth run in qualifying including an elusive win over Guatemala. So with this in mind, clearly their will be no coaching change for the US in the next several years. But Coach Bradley unlike his predecessor Bruce Arena seems to be reluctant to use current club form as a guide to player selection. Arena, almost to a fault felt it necessary even during World Cup qualifying to call in any in-form American player to give him a look.

Bradley seemed to take the Arena philosophy early in his tenure. Bradley’s first year and change on the job saw the call ups of about 70 players. However since the March friendly with Poland, Bradley’s selections have become less and less creative and more and more predictable. Thankfully some of this predictability has been the now routine call ups of Frankie Hejduk and Eddie Lewis both of whom spent a year without being called in after World Cup 2006 when younger players tried and ultimately failed to fill their positions. Unfortunetely this also means the continued routine call ups of Eddie Johnson, now playing his trade in England’s second division, Clint Dempsey who has scored one club goal in the last nine months, DaMarcus Beasley whose role should be filled by Lewis until the later retires, and Ricardo Clark who has looked completely out of his depth in his last four matches for the United States.

The return of Clark to the national team for critical qualifiers is totally unjusitifed. Despite playing on MLS’ dominant team, Clark’s confidence is in the tank. He has been most unimpressive to me while playing for the Dynamo this year other than in a few glimmers. Eddie Johnson and Brian Ching the current US strikers have scored goals in only one match for the US in the last fourteen months: that match was an 8-0 thrashing of Barbados. Had Arena still been managing the national team, in form Kenny Cooper or Charlie Davies would have surely been called into this squad if for no other reason to judge them in camp.

Clint Dempsey not only has played poorly for the US, but seeing him in person now in several US matches over the last 12 months I fear he has gone from having a monster killer instinct to disinterest in the national team. This probably comes from being overworked at Fulham and now confused about his role there, thanks to Manager Roy Hodgson’s tactics. DaMarcus Beasley is a player whose hustle wins him accolades from American coaches and whose Champions League experience gets him love in the press, but whose utility on the international level appears to be waning. Beasley’s first touch and creativity are completely devoid when he needs it the most and I personally am much more comfortable with a wily veteran like Eddie Lewis on the pitch than Beasley whose mistakes and poor positioning are more likely to cost you points than win you anything.

Bradley’s call in of Marvell Wynne is long overdue. For some reason with Wynne available for matches against Mexico and Barbados earlier this year, Drew Moor was called in ahead of him as the first choice right back. Also the call up of Mexican-American fullback Michael Orozco who hopefully can earn his first full US Cap is a welcome sign.

The omission of Kenny Cooper, and Freddy Adu the most creative player the US has are glaring. Arena most certainly would have called both players in to camp in a similar situation. Only time will tell if Bradley’s decisions are justified.

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Arena's Demise Long in the Making

Bruce Arena is the only American born coach to reach legendary status. In spite of his many detractors, he is by far the most accomplished manager our nation has ever produced. However since 2003 when the US flamed out of the Confederations Cup with a last place group finish, Bruce Arena has lost his way, his edge so to speak.

The same troubles that ailed Arena's last few years as US National Team manager ailed his short tenure with the Red Bulls. The late Arena years on the National Team were typified by a non merit based system for player selection and a clear bias towards players who played their club football in the domestic league (MLS) or in England. Arena allowed many quality American players to drift off the radar who happened to play their club football in places like Denmark and Norway. While every spot on the national team was open for competition in the 1999 to 2002 time period, including during World Cup 2002 when Arena played all but one field player he took the World Cup, in 2006 Arena took several players to Germany who either weren't fully fit or had no hope of contributing positively to a World Cup campaign. While I would argue that the talent pool of Americans had regressed between 2002 and 2006, no doubt exists Arena bungled the team selection badly.

As Red Bull manager Arena immediately added John Harkes and Jeff Agoos favorites from his time at DC United and the University of Virginia. Neither Harkes nor Agoos were ready for the roles thrust upon them and when New York used their initial designated player spot to sign Claudio Reyna another Arena favorite from UVA and the National Team it was obvious that crony ism was reigning supreme ahead of merit in Arena's eyes.

Much like World Cup 2006, Arena's lack tactical savvy was exposed in MLS 2007. He often times couldn't figure out how to play with Jozy Altidore and Juan Pablo Angel together. This was surprising since Arena found a way to use Raul Diaz Arce/Roy Lassiter and Jaime Moreno together with DC United, but then with the USA was so impressed with what either Landon Donovan or Clint Mathis could provide that he liked to use a withdrawn striker behind Brian McBride. Also Arena didn't seem to understand how to instill an organized defensive system into his backline. Throughout much of the season, it appeared the Red Bulls didn't have a clear structure on the pitch and many of the players did not understand their roles.

MLS is becoming a much more tactically sophisticated league as Juan Carlos Osorio and Preki among others have taught us. Bruce Arena's greatest qualities were his player/talent evaluation and his ability to motivate his team. But from a tactical standpoint, we already see his former Assistant Bob Bradley as more tactically savvy in his year as USA manager. The US National Team is actually running a clear organized system instead of the shambolic mess that Arena's later USA years yielded.

Bruce Arena's contribution to soccer in this country have been invaluable. But what we learned this season is that National Team program and MLS itself have both moved past his abilities. Give Red Bull management credit for recognizing this and cutting their losses after a disappointing season.

Arena Leaves Red Bulls by Mutual Consent

In a shocking move, former DC United and US National Team Manager Bruce Arena has left Red Bull NY "by mutual consent. " Stay tuned to the site for more details.

Mathis and Arena Reunited

I must admit, I never saw this coming. It seemed perennial bad boy Clint Mathis had found a home in Colorado where Fernando Clavijo seemed more capable of controlling him than his previous coaches. Now Colorado has traded Mathis to Red Bull New York coached by none other than Bruce Arena, the same Bruce Arena who ran Mathis, arguably the 2nd most talented American player off the national team in 2003. Mathis enjoyed his best professional seasons in New York after being acquired from the LA Galaxy in 2000. Mathis also was one of the best American national team players between 2000 and 2002, scoring a notable goal versus South Korea in World Cup 2002, but Mathis' bad behavior and poor work ethic ended his stay with the Nats in 2003.

Arena and Mathis never saw eye to eye in the past but with the Red Bulls desperate for some scoring punch, acquiring Mathis is likely a sign of the times for Arena. Unlike unproven young MLS players, Arena knows Mathis can produce if he is motivated. Leave to Arena and the Red Bull staff to push the right buttons and hope Mathis makes an impact this year.