Bruce Arena
Bruce Arena
Bruce Arena is a former professional soccer player, and coach of the Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer. Arena is the former coach of the United States men's national soccer team and a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Arena has had a long and distinguished coaching career, and is considered to be one of the most successful coaches in North American soccer history. He was head coach of the U.S. at the 1996 Summer Olympics, the...
continue date excellent group next opportunity shape team together
With only one international fixture date next year, this is an excellent opportunity to get our group together as we continue to shape our team for the World Cup.
carries expect field group guys hopefully sunday together
We've been together as a group for a long time, and I think the group that we get on the field on Sunday is going to do fine. I expect that, I see it out of these guys every day in training, so hopefully it carries over on the field on Sunday.
bit blink bother concentration due games goals group injury miss move player task winning
What this group has managed to do is not let anything get in the way of their goals in qualifying and winning games. We miss a player due to an injury or a suspension, they don't blink an eye, they just move forward. If they're in games where the officiating may be a little bit questionable, it doesn't bother them. They just keep their concentration and get after the task at hand.
fact group played
The fact that we played with a new group this game, the result's OK.
group tough
Any group we're going to be in is going to be a tough group.
against allow among certainly couple difference easily factor form group last looked moment overall style taylor tried
Taylor easily could have been on the roster. He was certainly among the group as we went through the process. He was in and out, in and out over the last couple of months. His form at the moment had a little to do with it. We looked at the overall roster and tried to find the right balance, the right combination to allow us to play a certain style against certain opponents. ... There's not one factor that made the difference in the end.
cap experience fantastic finished five good great group home name nice six team top win wins year
It was a good win and good experience for a lot of players. I've been told that we finished first in the group, which is nice, but wasn't critical. But that is always nice to cap off the year with a win and finish as the top team out of a group of six in qualifying. That's a great accomplishment for our group. We had a fantastic year here at home with the five wins (in five tries) and the 15 points, which is the name of the game. Great year.
based decisions evaluate fact good group liked move played players point road rule three
These are just opportunities to evaluate players as we move forward, but you don't make decisions based on one game. Generally, as a rule of thumb, if you get a point on the road in qualifying, it's a pretty good result. The fact that we played with a new group this game, the result's OK. Would we have liked three points? Sure. But that's the way it is.
basis domestic european games greater improve league rate regular secret top
When you play on a regular basis in top European competition, you improve at a greater rate than you do in our domestic league -- there's no secret about it. The games are more meaningful, more purposeful.
based capable certainly fitness full good johnson match played playing previous question role selecting
The previous match played no role in selecting this roster. It was based on fitness and form. We thought this was a good group. We know Bocanegra and Johnson are certainly capable of playing (a full game), but Beasley is still something of a question mark.
based date europe form opportunity players prior
With only one international fixture date prior to the World Cup, this is an important opportunity for our players based in Europe to demonstrate their form and fitness.
challenge incredible
This will be an incredible challenge for our players.
certain excitement guests hope nice playing
There is a certain excitement here. When we come back in June, we hope to not come back and be such nice guests especially when we're playing such important games.
anybody bad january performance stepped worry
Why? Because it's January and you can't worry about it. I don't think we had a bad performance, but I didn't think anybody stepped up and had a big performance.