CARSON, Calif. – Landon Donovan’s omission from the U.S. World Cup roster is still sending shockwaves through the American soccer universe.
In my latest piece for LAGalaxy.com, I get the Galaxy’s reaction to Landon Donovan’s ouster from the U.S. National Team’s World Cup squad.
Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena, who led the U.S. National Team to the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups provided some insight to reporters on Friday about the coaches’ perspective when making cuts for a World Cup.
“When coaches make decisions, you’ve got to support those decisions unless they’re proved otherwise. The last thing that I’m going to be is a Monday morning quarterback like everyone else in this world,” said Arena. “These are hard decisions, I’m sure that Jurgen has his reasons for it and you’ve got to respect that. It’s never easy. If it was my decision, he’d be on the team, but it’s not my decision. I have to leave at that. Only time tells if these things make sense or don’t make sense.
“In all fairness, I’m going to tell you from the coaches’ perspective, I’m not going to listen to one fan about how the team should play or you people [reporters]. Not to disrespect, but it’s our job to make those decisions,” he added. “You make those decisions and you live with them. That’s the decision that he made. He has his reasons and that’s in his realm of responsibility about how he wants to articulate that and move his team forward.”
