I had mixed feelings when he was gone. I was sad, but I knew it was time. But I think a lot of people are delusional to think that we’re going to get some amazing coach now. I think the last thing this team needs is someone who’s here for 4 years or less and then bails, which is certainly what we’re going to get with a big name coach. I just don’t think there’s someone out there who’s going to come in, stick around for awhile and help this team create its own identity, and lead us to success.

I really expect the next coach of the national team to be a downgrade from Bruce. But we’ll see.

Josh over at Throughball had some key things to take away from Bruce Arena’s now infamous SI interview with Grant Wahl. Lets just say with Bruce’s well known ‘way’ with the media, they weren’t positive. But the real fun st…

But really, with the new generation coming in adding to the best of the previous generation for the U.S., the truly need someone like Klinnsman to come in and instill the confidence they’d need to reach their potential in Africa.

–WKW

“Bruce Arena is the BEST coach in the HISTORY of US Soccer.”

That’s like being the best curling coach in Saudi Arabia.

/me rolls

I guess it’s all about your perspective. HAHAHAHA.

That was aimed at Arena, BTW, not Brian, the poster

“Bruce Arena is the BEST coach in the HISTORY of US Soccer.”

That’s like being the best curling coach in Saudi Arabia. No one cares. Hooray, he beat Mexico in 2002 and took the U.S. as far as Ukraine went this year. The U.S. needs a world-class type coach and leader if they want to field a world-class team. Not some overaggrandized college coach.

–WKW

Screw Arena. He was thoroughly outclassed in Germany, and like every other coach that led their country to failure there, he was canned. Did he want to have his hand and groin held as he was gently showed the door? Take some personal responsibility for god’s sake and show a tad bit of class.

He’s where he should be: a coach in 8th or 9th best soccer league in the world. And I doubt he’ll last too long there.

–WKW

However, I’ll make you a deal. I’ll respect the man if you will dry those tears, put your pants back on, and take down all of the topless Bruce Arena posters in your bathroom.

OMG – That made my day, HAHAHAHA Cept now I have to permanently block the mental image it formed in my brain. Ow.

Look, nobody can argue that Bruce Arena did a hell of a lot for US Soccer. When he says the USMNT suffers from a lack of talent, he’s right and we’ve all said the same at one time or another.

But, the bottom line is, Bruce is an ass. His interactions with the media are always confrontational and he’ll fit right in in NYC I think. But he never takes responsibility for anything. There is plenty of blame to go around with all this, but Bruc esure as hell needed to take some himself (which when he tried to make the fine print SO small you could hardly read it). US Soccer may have micromanaged him (though I thought his whole setup with the USMNT was to have pretty much free reign), but US Soccer had nothign to do with the conservative formations and matches the USMNT played. Period.

Suck it up Bruce – you had a great career, but it ended in a train wreck. No fans were so delusional to think we’d win the World Cup, but damn – when you spend years building up a team and expectations, what do you expect when the team implodes on soccer’s biggest stage? We expected to make it to the knockout rounds and that was not unreasonable. We lost to frigging Ghana and only tied Italy because they scored for us. Yes, we played our hearts out against Italy, but 1 out of 3 doesn’t cut it.

Ah Bruce fanboys – don’t ya love em? Their so cute when they get agitated.