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Forget experimenting – the best thing Bruce Arena's USMNT can do is to start winning
When Bruce Arena was brought in to take over the U.S. men's national team, despite how well-known he is, there were plenty of questions. How would he approach the player pool? What philosophy would he instill?
With Arena's roster cuts announced Friday, however, the answer to both is pretty clear: he going to focus purely on winning and that begins with friendlies. His 23-man roster skews toward proven players. Simply put, they're his best, most reliable guys.
If Arena's unusual mid-cycle take over – something U.S. Soccer has never done in its modern history – made short-sightedness seem likely, Arena left no doubts with his roster.
While players like Taylor Kemp, Keegan Rosenberry and Wil Trapp depart from camp, Arena is holding onto a core of the most proven players he has at his disposal while the European and Mexican club seasons are in session. That's not to say that the young players who depart camp aren't talented or figure to play big roles in the USMNT's future, but Arena is less focused on potential and more on immediate impact. What Arena is left with is the strongest, most experienced roster he could've gotten out of the January camp, barring injuries to players like Matt Hedges.
It's not that the USMNT beating Serbia on Sunday and Jamaica next week is in doubt. But knowing the next matches after these friendlies are World Cup qualifiers, it appears Arena's focus is on wining in convincing fashion to build confidence, momentum and the right mentality.
“There's a real sense of urgency, a real sense that now we've let some things slip and as a result have been punished and find ourselves in a situation in World Cup qualifying where we have little to no margin for error,” captain Micheal Bradley said. “And I think Bruce has come in and has done a very, very good job of setting the right tone.”
Intangibles like confidence and momentum are impossible to quantify in any real sense, yet they can sometimes be the guiding hand that helps teams be the best versions of themselves. The opposite is also true, and the USMNT's stunning 4-0 loss to Costa Rica that led to Jurgen Klinsmann being fired may be a case study.
The Americans, hamstrung by an unfamiliar formation that Klinsmann imposed for the first time, lost to Mexico 2-1 in the opening match of the final round of qualifying. Their next game in Costa Rica, just four days later, was a disaster. Against a beatable Costa Rica team, the USMNT fell apart in their worst World Cup qualifying loss in decades. On paper, there was no explanation for the loss, but the team looked hesitant, nervous and uncomfortable.
Arena seems to recognize these friendly matches against Serbia and Jamaica not merely as opportunities to try out players and formations, which is how friendlies are often used. They are opportunities to get the Americans back into a winning mindset. They are opportunities to win.
“It’s important that I think we get off to a good start, that we play well, that we respond well to the things we’ve been working on in camp,” Arena said about Sunday’s match against Serbia. “And if we can accomplish that and win the game, it’ll be a great day.”
Given that Arena is bringing together a squad that has never played together, there will still be that element of figuring things out. But the emphasis of Arena's opening games at the helm is pretty clear: Win, and win well.
If the Americans can do that, bouncing back in World Cup qualifying should look like an easy task and a spot in the 2018 World Cup in Russia should feel well within grasp.
