The U.S. national team closed out the year with a 2-1 loss in Morocco. Bruce Arena reflects on his first full year as coach, the year in MLS and the U-17 world championships. He also peeks ahead at American soccer in 2000.

SOCCER AMERICA: How was Morocco?

BRUCE ARENA: It was very good. It was a good trip for us; it was a good way to cap off the year by getting a look at a few players we haven’t seen in a while and play against a very good team.

SA: Who stood out in the game?

BA: Eric Wynalda showed that he’s still a guy that we need to keep an eye on, and if we get him fit, that can help, I hope. It’s an area we certainly need some help. In the back, David Regis showed that he’s a good player, and Gregg Berhalter is steady. He’s a guy who will help us in the back in some fashion, as well as Frankie Hejduk. In the midfield, again Claudio Reyna played well, and Chris Armas, after 15 minutes, was good. But Chad Deering was a pleasant surprise. That was a real plus.

SA: Looking back on your first year as coach, can you give us an overview of how things went?

BA: I was pleased with the fact that I’ve had the opportunity to look at a number of players. As I head into 2000, I really feel comfortable with the players I feel should be in our top group and the way we have to play. That comes from a year of really looking. We’ve given basically everyone an opportunity. I still haven’t seen John O’Brien, which is a disappointment because we were going to have him in for the Morocco game, and he got injured.

But after a year, we’ve built a little momentum, we’ve put the World Cup behind us and now we’re setting our sights on qualification. Obviously, 2000 is a year when we can really be measured on where we are because 1999 was just basically a honeymoon year for the program, and we all realize that.

The year also demonstrated to me that foreign clubs could care less about the U.S. national team program, and releases are always going to be an issue. The nucleus of our team has to come from MLS. MLS is very cooperative with the national team, and we realize that we’re good for each other. The situation in Europe is not the same.


Record in ’99 campaign is insignificant

SA: Given that ’99 was pretty much a year of looking at players, do you care about the record at the end of the year?

BA: Yes and no. I think it’s important that we’ve at least demonstrated that we can be competitive. Whether it was five wins or 10 wins is probably insignificant. I think we’ve developed a pretty good sense for each other and how we need to play. In all honesty, I can’t remember the record.

SA: It was 7-4-2.

BA: So if we won all 13 games, it wouldn’t mean anything. If we lost all 13 games, I think that would say something. So, it’s important that we put some wins on the board, but it wasn’t critical. I think the way we ended up is pretty fair. At the same time, we got to play on the road a lot, which is big for our program. We need that.

SA: What did you think of MLS Cup?

BA: I thought, given the conditions, with the narrow field and the poor surface, that the game was pretty good. I think the best team won. There will always dispute on maybe that penalty kick that could have been [for Los Angeles], but I think regardless, D.C. probably would have prevailed. They demonstrated they are the best team. It caps off a year that was a little bit shaky, but the last week, with the announcements the league made and pulling off the game like they did, it was good.

SA: What do you think of the rule changes?

BA: I think they’re all positive.

SA: What about the MLS season in terms of the quality of play and individual players?

BA: I think the league is still about developing the American player, and the young ones are still the ones we see a lot of improvement in. Whether it’s a Ben Olsen or a Chad McCarty or whatever, it’s still a league that’s developing American players. It’s attracting some of the young ones into professional soccer, such as the Beasley brothers and Chris Albright, etc., and it’s rejuvenating or maintaining careers of players like Jeff Agoos and Richie Williams. So the league has just been great for the American player.

The problem is that it is still being compared to the NFL and the other sports. Think back to what the NFL was like 30 years ago, what the NBA or the NHL were like 20 years ago. This league has done very well in its first four years. Unfortunately, it’s compared to the NFL, the NBA and Major League Baseball every day, which is unfair.

SA: What do you think about the U-17s and how significant is what they’ve accomplished?

BA: I think it’s great. I think just the team getting out of the first round was a major plus. Anything they did after that was just icing on the cake. What championships at the U-17 level mean, I would say probably not a whole lot. We’re certainly not going to ignore the fact that it’s a great accomplishment, but this is youth soccer, so it doesn’t necessarily say where you are in terms of your development. It’s just the fact that we’ve been able to put together a pretty good age group of players to compete internationally. It doesn’t tell us that this will directly influence the national team program or anything else.


Next U-17 team will go into residency

SA: But does it, perhaps, directly influence plans for youth national teams in the future?

BA: When you say youth national teams, you have to be more precise because you can’t do this with U-20s. You’re not going to stick college kids in residency. … As you go up further [in age], those guys should be in professional clubs, not residencies. Down the road, whether it’s 10 years, 15 years or 20 years, all of our top players will be apprentices for an MLS club or full professionals. We know that’s where we have to go. What we’re trying to do is kind of put our fingers on the hole in the dam until we get the whole thing fixed. Right now, the way to develop at least our top [U-17] group is a residency, and we’re going to do it again with the next under-17 team. This time around, our U-23s are all professionals, as opposed to four years ago when they were all college players – so that’s progress. We’re moving in that direction, but really, in every country in the world, the leader for developing your players is your professional league, not your soccer federation.

by Soccer America associate editor Will Kuhns