In his first month on the job as coach of Red Bull New York, Bruce Arena has lived up to his media reputation: frank, crass, providing smug assessments of his players and the league. He’ll be the first to tell you his club isn’t New York Cosmos. “If everyone is waiting for the Cosmos to arrive, it’s not going to happen,” he said. “We’re not going to be the Cosmos. We’re not a superclub.” There’s something likable about Arena’s realism. If nothing else, it comes across as refreshingly honest. “We’ll do our best to bring a good team to this marketplace,” he said, after dismissing any notions his team could be the Cosmos, a team that enjoyed a short, glamorous stint at the top of American sports from 1971-84, winning five NASL titles and attracting near sell-out crowds at Giants Stadium. As Reuters’ Steve James says, “their successors are a sorry bunch by comparison, despite the words of ex-general manager and U.S. World Cup player Alexi Lalas who said the team, which has won no silverware in 10 seasons, was destined to become a ‘superclub.'” In 10 years as the Metrostars, the team now known as Red Bull New York has made it past the first round of the MLS playoffs just once. Their record: 125 wins, 146 losses and 35 ties. This season they remain near the bottom with six wins, eight losses and 11 ties. The team has had globally recognizable coaches, from former Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira to Carlos Quieroz, former coach of Real Madrid, as well as world-class players like Lothar Matthaeus, Roberto Donadoni and now, Youri Djorkaeff playing in the twilight of their careers. Things are always changing in New York, a bad thing, says Arena, who hopes first to bring an aura of stability to the club.