Soccer America Q&A with Bruce Arena

‘There aren’t strategies you map out for 90 minutes’

Bruce Arena’s first eight months on the job had a honeymoon air to them with wins over Germany and Argentina. Now he takes the United States to the Confederations Cup to face New Zealand, Brazil and Germany.

SOCCER AMERICA: What’s life like for a national team coach between training camps and games?

BRUCE ARENA: You look at films, scout other teams. You prepare for your upcoming game. Call-ups these days are a major problem. That takes a lot of time.

SA: As far as getting your players released from foreign teams and MLS teams?

BA: Both. Mostly the foreign clubs have been a problem.

SA: What’s the key to dealing with them?

BA: There’s no set answer. Every case is a little different. It’s very time-consuming.

SA: Are you getting everybody you want for the Confederations Cup?

BA: We won’t have Tony Sanneh. A couple others could be question marks that we won’t know about until the last minute.

SA: You’ve played seven games in your tenure, which started last October. How do you feel about where team is at?

BA: We’re in OK shape. It hasn’t been great. It hasn’t been poor. The result against Argentina was good [a 1-0 U.S. win June 13], but there were too many defensive breakdowns from some of our players and I didn’t feel good about that. We didn’t create enough going the other way, but I think our defensive problems hurt our ability to go forward.

SA: What are the goals at the Confederations Cup?

BA: We’d like to advance out of the group. That should be our goal. We’re in a very difficult group. It’s important that we win that first game [against New Zealand] if we have any hope of advancing.

SA: Let’s talk about your opponents …

BA: To say anything definite about any team, it wouldn’t be accurate because we don’t know the roster.

I saw New Zealand play in the game that qualified them for the tournament and they have similarities to Australia [which the United States tied in Arena’s first game, 0-0 in November 1998].

They’re very aggressive and physical, not the most technical, but very hard working. I understand they had an 11-game tour before arriving in Mexico early [July 5], so they’ll have the advantage of having played together and having altitude training. It will be a very hard game.

Brazil? ‘Pretty damn good’

SA: You’ve seen Brazil’s Copa America games …

BA: What I’ve seen of Brazil ù they’re pretty damn good. Whomever they bring, it won’t matter. They’ll be good players.

SA: You beat Germany, 3-0, in February . . .

BA: I believe they’ll bring a stronger team and they’ll be very motivated to play us. That’s not going to make for an easy afternoon.

SA: Is it fair to say that your team plays a style where it pressures the opponents in their half?

BA: Yeah.

SA: In Mexico, will the altitude, opponents and heat affect your team’s ability to play that way?

BA: It will, in part. We played in Bolivia when it was 95 degrees. We played Mexico in tough conditions [2-1 loss March 13] ù heat and with our players not in top shape. So these conditions are not unusual.

Every game looks different. There aren’t strategies you map out for 90 minutes. We need to adjust in every game according how the game’s going, our opponents, and the conditions.

We don’t know how we’ll be impacted by altitude.

SA: Having the team on the road for more than just one game should present some challenges …

BA: Of course, it will present some challenges. What those challenges are remains to be seen. It’s all part of the experience of trying to get better as a team.

SA: So far, all the news from your team has been positive. Players speak highly of you and the atmosphere sounds optimal ù people getting along, being happy. How important is that?

BA: It helps. If they don’t get along and work well on the field, they’ll never have a chance to be good. I think that was part of the problem of the previous failures. Team unity is critical. It doesn’t mean everything. There are teams that haven’t gotten along and done very well. But I think the majority of successful teams are teams that work in a good environment.

SA: How much control does a coach have over that environment? Right now you’re at the beginning of building a team, but eventually players will get upset when they don’t play …

BA: You have a lot of control. Some issues are out of your control, but you have to create an environment in which everyone puts the team first and where players work hard and you make fair decisions.

In the end, if you make wrong decisions, the players are going to know. You have to be fair to everybody.

‘It’s been fun learning’

BA: Everyday is a learning experience. You need to be more aware of soccer globally, obviously. You need to understand some of those issues, and it’s been fun learning and following club teams in countries around the world.

Really, you need to know your players. That’s one thing I think I bring to the job. I know the pool of players pretty well. That makes that part easy.

Communication. Networking with people, not only around the world but in the country.

The part that’s been a little bit time-consuming and not real rewarding is the position of technical director. Our attempts to get Project 2010 going has been difficult. The planning and the struggle behind the things we need to do not only for our young players but for the senior team ù it’s been slow and it’s a process that’s making me understand some of the politics involved in soccer in this country.

SA: How about your daily routine?

BA: I like getting up early and doing my work at home and then getting out. This is the first time in 20 some odd years I’ve had the freedom to do more things, like watch my son play soccer ù this is the first time I’ve ever been able to do that.

But I think nothing of watching games all night either. It’s part of your job and it’s also fun.

All jobs have good and bad sides, and this has that. But it’s been good. I’ve been well supported and I’m just trying to get better at it everyday.

by Soccer America Executive Editor Mike Woitalla