Scuffed | USMNT, World Cup, Yanks Abroad, futbol in America - #673: Bruce Arena joins the pod

Episode Date: March 13, 2026

Sanjay Sujanthakumar sits down with the most influential coach in US Men's National Team history and they talk about his exciting project in San Jose, Torsten Frings, the roster that faced Trinidad in 2017, the role of college soccer in American soccer, and much more. Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon and get all episodes ad-free, plus any bonus episodes. Patrons at $5 a month or more also get access to Clip Notes, a video of key moments on the field we discuss on the show, plus all patrons get access to our private Discord server, live call-in shows, and the full catalog of historic recaps we've made: https://www.patreon.com/scuffedAlso, check out Boots on the Ground, our USWNT-focused spinoff podcast headed up by Tara and Vince. They are cooking over there, you can listen here: https://boots-on-the-ground.simplecast.comAnd check out our MERCH, baby. We have better stuff than you might think: https://www.scuffedhq.com/store Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to the Scuff Podcast when we talk about U.S. Soccer. Welcome to the scuffed podcast. Sanjay here, and I'm joined by San Jose Earthquakes Head Coach and Sporting Director and a legendary figure in U.S. soccer history, Bruce Arena. Bruce, thanks for coming on the pod. My pleasure. So everything about MLS has changed. Now we're into MLS 3.0, they say. But Bruce Arena remains. How?

I guess being a little bit lucky over the years, you know, and just enjoying what I do. So at this point in my life, I still enjoy it. So I can be useful to a club still at my age. So hopefully I can do a good job here and at the same time enjoy myself. Yeah, a lot is happening here, and it seems pretty exciting from the outside looking in. This team finished at last and I'm at last in 2024, nearly made the playoffs in your first year, last year. And now you've got three wins in a row with your big game DP looking good. About a year ago you talked about this being a challenging project and you wanted to see things moving quicker.

How about now? Could you assess where you're at right now? Well, we're making progress. We're still not where we need to be. But that's, you know, all part of the challenge and the project here at the club. And, you know, we're moving forward in the right direction. So that's a real positive. Your thoughts on how roster has progressed going to this year?

We've made progress in a different kind of way. It's addition by subtraction. And I think, you know, we move that some players that, good players and good people, don't get me wrong, that it just wasn't the right mix. And I think we have a group now that's more united, easy to coach. They understand better.

A large number of our players are domestic players, which is kind of unique in the league right now. So we'll see how we do over the season. We're only three games in, so there are a lot of unknowns, and it'll be interesting to see how this roster holds up, and we still have the ability to add players, but they have to be the right kind of players.

Yeah, so in your book, you touched on how America, players could have been getting more opportunities in MLS, right? This is a while ago, back in 2018. Today, your San Jose team is averaging the highest number of Americans starting per game so far this season. And you're up there too with you 23 players and new top of the league, and you're winning. So has playing young Americans become more of a priority for you over time, or is that just a function of how the teams are built where you've been at recently with New England now? Well, you know, I was the national team coach for nine years, so I believe in the American player. But that isn't the project here, the development. It just happens to be the case here, that we have American players that I think are well qualified to play in the league.

And I also think that our league has gone largely international and really good for a lot of reasons. But at the same time, there should be room for the American players. So I'm happy to see that we can utilize Americans here. and hopefully that continues to be the case in the league. I don't think we should be a league that's totally dominated by international players. Are you concerned about that at all as looking forward? There's talk about roster rules being loosened and obviously spending going up. Do you think there's always going to be that tension or is it?

There's no tension, but I do think that after this World Cup, they're going to be players from all over the world that want to play in MLS. And that's going to be a positive. But we still have good American players. Look at our American players that are playing abroad now. And playing for big clubs and doing very well. So I think some of those players will come back as well. But this is going to be a league where the top players in the world want to be here.

Yeah, speaking of which, Timo is obviously a big signing. Do you see his influence rubbing off on younger players already? I know it's early. Yeah, I think so. only time will tell. He's only been here for a couple of weeks, but he's been very influential in a short period of time, and his quality is clearly there, so, you know, hopefully it ends up being a good marriage. Nico Shakiris is a young player. You've shown a lot of faith in this season so far.

What did he show you in preseason that you felt he was ready for this kind of responsibility? He came in very fit, and he's a player that's struggled with injuries in the past couple of years. I haven't been here, obviously, that long, but he's been a player with injuries, and he's healthy now. And from day one in our preseason camp, he's shown well. And he's earned the position he has now on the team, and I think he's a young play with a lot of potential. What is his ceiling as a player? Do you think, like, does he remind you of any top attacking players you've worked with in the past? You know, he's a playmaker.

He has a little bit of Carlos heel in him, even though I wouldn't say he's close to Carlos now. And he also reminds me a little bit of Marco Etcheveri, who I had in D.C. United. So he's a player with a lot of potential. He's certainly not at the level of Etcheveri or a heel right now, but he's a player with a lot of potential. Could you pick a three-man midfield, like the best midfield? you could put together out of the men's national team players you worked with in the past. So guys like, well, clearly, you know, John O'Brien, when he was healthy in the 2002 World Cup, was very good, outstanding player.

A defensive player like Paulo Maastriani in 2002 was very good as well. Depending on where you play Landon, we played Landon as a second striker or a 10. He's very good. Obviously, players like Claudia Raina as well. Christian Policich, I played a little bit underneath the Shrikeer at times, a very good player. I never worked with Wesse McKinney, but he's certainly a very talented player. Michael Bradley was a very consistent number six and a very good player. So there were a number of American players that had quality for sure. So I can't nail you down with just three.

I don't think I could name. I mean, it's like saying, give me the best five NBA players of all time. After Michael Jordan, I don't know what you say. There's another 30 guys you can mention. So those are never easy questions to answer. So looking back on your experiences with the team, the 2006 World Cup is not as memorable as Eldon. from a men's national team perspective, but you guys took a point off of the champions Italy

at that tournament. What sticks out to you about that match going head-to-head with? Well, the only team that got a result against Italy in the World Cup. It was a difficult game and difficult conditions. It was very warm that day. And there were a couple of, we had two red cards, and Italy had one. And we were battling right till the end, 10 against nine. And it was just a battle. And, you know, we had to get something out of that game because we lost the Czech Republic in game one. And that positioned us to advance at a group play if we had beaten Ghana. So we were fighting for our lives. Italy, you know, had won their opening game as well.

And it was a battle. And I just remember the mentality of our players, a player like Brian McBride playing hurt. and just the mentality the U.S. team had then. I would say this, that team wasn't nearly at the level of our 2002 World Cup team. So the results didn't surprise me. The Czech Republic was an excellent team. And then we had Italy who ended up winning the World Cup. So we had a tough draw.

But our guys gave their best effort. You know, we fell short against Ghana in a game where I think, We were treated a little unfairly by the referee and a penalty kicky cult at the end of the half. And it's kind of like 2002 where we weren't treated properly in the game against Germany. You know, and at that time, the U.S. still wasn't getting the kind of respect they deserved. And I think there were a couple of crucial calls in both of those World Cups that probably impacted our ability to go further in those tournaments. Yeah, at day in 2002 against Germany, what's your

did you talk to the rest after the game was there no no just do you even address that with the team after losing that way or no nothing we could do it was over with you know national teams you know they

they pack up and go and sometimes you don't see them again how much do you think about that handball call it all oh i just think it's it was you know I never said any publicly at the time This is probably the first time I've ever spoken about it. It was ridiculous that that call was unmade.

It was so clear and obvious that you would think that a referee or the linesman could be aware of that handball. As you've said, managing a club team and a national team are two different jobs, right? Is there a phase or part of the game that is toughest to install with the national team in the limited sessions that you have relative to a club team? environment. Well, you've answered the question because the short period of time and not the same roster each camp, it's difficult. The only time you really have to get together and develop any kind of continuity with the national team is camps before World Cups, where you may be together for 30 days. And that's highly unusual in a four-year cycle. So it's very challenging. So that means that you have to

have a lot of communication with players when they're with their club teams. You have to watch a lot of games and really appreciate the qualities of your players. So when you bring them in, you already have a plan. As opposed to a club coach, you can work at it every day. But with a national team coach, you pretty much need to have a plan in place and have the right understanding and evaluation of your players. Yeah, so what do you think gets lost the most in that difference in time? Is it cohesion with the ball progressing from?

Oh, not cohesion with the ball. It's just simply getting everyone on the same page and having the right blend of players. Players that will complement each other. And that's challenging. Is there anything that's easier about it because the time is limited? Like, is there... There's nothing easy about it, no.

Compared to a club team, there's nothing. The easiest part you might say is unless you coach in a Real Madrid or whatever is the quality of players is better. You've talked about what you would have done differently for the World Cup of 2018 if you guys had qualified, how the group would have changed. But what would you have done differently if you had more time to work with that group from the start of the Hex? That would not have been on roster. It was a poorly pieced together group of players in that four-year cycle. And we knew when we started in January 2017, we knew, you know, we were owing two at the time in group play. And we knew that if we qualified, we'd have to make some changes.

And the whole year, you know, we saw some of the deficiencies we had. So the thinking was if we qualified, obviously at the end, and I think it was November 2017, we would work real hard to try to get the right kind of games in 2018 to prepare the team for the World Cup and realize that we had to bring in a lot of new players, which would have been very challenging in itself. But we felt that we could have replaced half the roster. How much of that do you think of,

do you think was a matter of where the pool was at that point in time versus how things could have been done differently before you were the manager? I'd say a little bit of both. You know, it's not, it's not fair for me to be critical of, you know, as a former coach and all. But I just simply would have done things differently. What are your thoughts on homegrown territories? You've had a lot of success with the Galaxy, and both L.A. clubs are known for their ambition rather than bringing kids up to the first team. But now you're in another talent-rich region of the country where other teams are coming to look and recruit, right?

So what do you think about that and how it impacts how you build rosters? I think competition is good. You know, you can't say that just the clubs in California own well, the California players. You know, so it's fair. It's competition, you know, obviously in a perfect world or in a world we would like is we would say that no one can touch any players in a radius of, you know, X miles or hours or whatever you want to do, and they're all ours. But I don't think that's fair either.

So competition's good. It's better for the players as well, you know. They get a variety of options, and they can choose where they want to go. So that's a positive. So you like to see restrictions totally relaxed? I don't spend a whole lot of time thinking about it. There's people to do that, and, you know, I'm not spending a whole lot of time on how you divide up the different territories of the youth soccer. Let's talk about another aspect of the development pipeline.

College sports are in a very different place now than back when you were coaching at Virginia. Do you have an opinion on what's going on in the role of college soccer going forward? Well, it's not college. It's college athletics. I don't like it personally. I think when you go to college, it's for an education. You know, I'm a season ticket holds of Virginia basketball. And right now they brought in 12 players last year for their team. And they're ranked 10th in the country, and it's great and all, and they're doing very well. They're 28 and 4, but half of those players will be gone in one year. I think going to university, it's gross. growth for people educationally, culturally. There's a lot of positives, coaches in the pre-NIL era. The responsibility is to help grow players. Young men into potential leaders and just advance them in their lives. All that stuff is gone now.

It's pay me, play me. If you don't play me, I'm leaving. And I think that's crazy. And when you hear all of this stuff today, you don't hear anything about education. And I think it's personally ridiculous. I hope somehow they find a way of changing that. You know, I'm okay with players being paid. I don't think you need to pay a quarterback or center, $3 million, $8 million to play for your college.

I think that's ridiculous. But that's my opinion, but I have no issues with players being paid. In terms of the outlook for soccer, the U.S. Soccer Federation is trying to do something to modernize it. Do you still think college soccer can be a big experience? U.S. soccer is modernizing what? They're talking about a new competition structure maybe. Extending the season right is generally whatever it wants to see. The U.S. soccer, in my opinion, shouldn't be involved in college soccer, but that's, whatever.

Why not? Because they're not part of the educational process. You think from a competition standpoint, if there's a way for it to, like extending the season in general, do you think that could do a lot for college soccer going forward as development pipeline? Yeah, I mean, college soccer is not supposed to be a development pipeline. You go to college, you get an education and play a sport, right? Whatever develops out of that enhance your soccer career is great. But that's not the function of colleges. So I disagree with that.

If you want to be a professional soccer player, be a professional soccer player. Don't go to college. So you think it should just be a fallback, to be clear? Just be what? A fallback plan for, like you said, guys who aren't going to be pros? You can be pros coming out of college. My whole team here went to college. Yeah.

So let me correct that. I mean elite player development. We have our elite American plays don't go to college. Where did Christian Felicit go to college? Where did Weston McKinney go to college? Where did Raina go to college? So they didn't? We have those options, yeah.

Yeah. So what I'm asking? So it can't be... Where did Nico Secaris go to college? Think about it. What are we talking about? U.S. soccer doesn't need to get involved in college soccer. That's my opinion.

Okay. So, yeah, I'm asking if you think it could complement a lead player development, but you're saying it's two different tracks. I think when you go to a college or a university, education is the priority. Gotcha. That's my opinion, you know. And obviously a lot of people don't agree with that. But, you know, like, how many of these college football players make it professional?

Out of that whole numbers playing college football. How many make it professionally? Not a lot. Less than 1%. How many of these kids go to college are going to make it professional? So the education is important. I do think it's not a great setup that you only play competitively for three months in college. I understand that and appreciate the fact that that that's a lot of the

for player development. However, at the NCAA level, you know, you also have Title IX. Right. And if you extend a college soccer season, you have to do it with field hockey.

You have to do it with lacrosse. Yeah, a lot of challenges, yeah. Yeah, whatever. There's a lot of issues that come into play. Yeah. We have a big, diverse country in every possible way,

and now it's increasingly common for young players. Some of the guys you just mentioned to go to Europe pretty early in life. Some have even lived there early in life. There's obviously a lot of dual national, still involved in the national team program from a young age. Taking all that into account, you've talked about the advantage an American coach can have, coaching the national team and understanding the player and the culture.

But do you still think that's an enduring thing, given how different the upbringing is for the players now? Like, is there enough that still binds the American player psychologically? There is, I think, and I haven't studied this at all. My general understanding is most successful countries in the world in our sport. The national team coach is a citizen of that country. And obviously, there's changes now. There's Ancelotti with Brazil.

There's our coach now and others. But generally, you see the national team coach as a citizen in that country. And I think there's a lot of advantages to that. And, you know, that's all I have to say there. You know, I think there's advantages, you know, being a domestic coach. You're talking about the countries that have won the World Cup, right? You're referring to that. Yeah, I would say, again, I haven't studied this this year.

Who coaches Italy? Is it an Italian? Who coaches Spain? Who coaches Spain? Is it a Spanish coach? Who coaches Germany? I know the English coach is a German. Who coaches France? Who coaches Argentina?

Yeah, so those are countries that I won, but they also have huge advantages over us, right, in other ways beyond the... And what advantages are those? I mean, culturally, the talent base that they have for a long time. The sports in a different place, right, in those countries, wouldn't you say? Yeah, we'll close in the gap, though.

It's not, we're not that far away anymore. What are your thoughts on players making comments about things off the field? Like recently, Tim Wea, that was a big thing when he talked about affordability and availability of tickets. But generally speaking, what's your approach to that as a coach? I think you, I think it's, I think on a bill of rights. and all that in this country, you're allowed to say what you want to say, right? Yeah. I don't see anything wrong with it.

I think you need to be respectful in all, but you're allowed to have an opinion. What player on the current men's national team roster would you like to have on your team right now in San Jose, if you could pick one? I'd like to have Policich and McKinney. If you can get them for me, I would appreciate that. Oh, I'll put in a word, yeah. and you see what the roster is looking like, you see the draw, you see the friendlies they have to prep. What are you thinking about? Well, I'm going to tell you this.

I'm going to be very honest with you. I'm not spending a whole lot of time examining the U.S. roster. It's not my job. You know, I have enough headaches on my own. I do think that there's an issue with they haven't played enough competitive matches in this four-year cycle. obviously they didn't have to qualify for the World Cups and I think that's going to be an issue however the advantages they have now is they're a host country

they'll be seated the World Cup has expanded to 48 teams which is going to make some games in group play ridiculous in my opinion so they're easily getting out of group play I don't see any issues there they'll be in the round of 32 likely they'll go to the round of 16.

Then the big boys show up. And we'll find out what's happening. Bruce, thanks so much for coming on the pod. You're welcome. Thank you.