ClapThere are some names in this game that you just instantly think of alongside a given team, league or potentially even nation. That’s primarily due to the nature of the beautiful game as we know it, because most folks tend to stick to what they know. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, of course, because familiarity can help out.
One such gentleman that he think of when it comes to things like that is Bruce Arena. The 67 year old coach is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame, he’s coachd three different teams in the MLS, and has won five MLS Cup championships. Oh, and did we also mention that he coached at the Summer Olympics back in 1996 and also at two different World Cups?
A veteran of the game
The guy may be moving into his later years, but let’s not pretend like he isn’t an absolute legend at this level of the game for the Americans. He’s been a guiding light for longer than we could possibly remember, and now, a famous comeback could be on the cards.
As reported by Goal.com and The Boston Globe, there’s a chance that the New England Revolution are looking into the possibility of bringing him to the club. Nothing has seemingly finalised up to this point, but if they want their man bad enough, then there’s a good chance they’ll get him.
It’s no secret that Arena has been less than stellar in recent years in comparison to the early years, and to be honest, it’s kind of pointless to pretend otherwise. Instead of doing so, we think that this should be seen as a last chance saloon for a man who has given so much to ‘soccer’ in this nation. The Revolution are currently stranded at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, and while they aren’t all too far away from their competitors, it’s not like they’re prime candidates for the playoffs right now.
No pressure?
The pressure is well and truly off their shoulders, to the point where they could probably afford a crazy appointment or two. We aren’t suggesting that they should make this a regular habit, but we do think there’s no reason to think this is going to be an immediate failure of an operation. Arena has some feathers in his cap and he knows Major League Soccer better than most, and there’s a lot to be said for having experience at this level.
The Revolution haven’t been an elite level club for quite some time now, and it’d be interesting to see whether or not they can get back to those sorts of levels. It’s going to take time and they need to put all of the right pieces in place before doing so, but maybe, just maybe, they’ll be able to turn things around.
For the meantime it’ll be interesting to watch the media circus surrounding this potential appointment, regardless of whether or not it actually comes off.
Spoiler: we can totally see this happening, and boy oh boy is it going to be fun.
