CARSON, Calif. – Bruce Arena is the greatest head coach in American Soccer history, but the LA Galaxy head coach is way more complex than that.
Four Four Two USA’s Scott French recently wrote an incredible 8,000-word oral history to understand Arena’s coaching style. To do so, French spoke to a number of different personalities from around the soccer world.
Check out my five favorite quotes from the story.
U.S. Soccer Head of Communications Michael Kammarman: Working with Bruce is a life lesson in humility.
Robbie Keane: Some managers I've played with, some of them wouldn't even speak to the players. They separate themselves a little bit. Bruce has always been interactive with the players, and you can go out and have a beer with him. Which in Europe doesn't really happen that often. But with Bruce, you feel comfortable. You wouldn't feel shy about having a conversation, having a beer, having a chat with him. I think that's a good strength to have as a manager.
Landon Donovan: What makes him so special, in my opinion, is he knows when to get after me, and he knows when to stay away. And depending on what’s going on in the game, he certainly blows up from time to time, but other times you expect that he's going to come in and kill you, and he'll say, “Not bad, let's just do a few things better, but you're right in there.” I think he's very measured in how he does that. And most of all, he's authentic. So even though he's measured and he's calculated with it, it's not fake.
D.C. United head coach Ben Olsen on how he moved in with Bruce Arena at the start of his pro career: How I ended up living there? I don't know. It was never real formal with Bruce. There weren't any sit-downs. “Just stay with us. You'll save some money. You'll eat better this way. You won't be eating that f*ing Taco Bell all the time.”
Galaxy Associate head coach Dave Sarachan: As it stands, he's the American coach that has achieved the most in this sport. I think the legacy is wherever he’s been, he's left it better than what it was. He's raised the bar in how the game should be played and how it should be perceived and how it should be moved forward. He's been the pioneer. He's done it at all of the levels, so whether it was UVa, then D.C. United, then with our national team, then back to the Galaxy, managing a big club with big names. I think when you look back, he was the Godfather.
