Former United States men’s national team coach Bruce Arena has criticized the appointment of current head coach Mauricio Pochettino, saying that a non-American lacks the necessary understanding of the country’s culture.
Argentine coach Pochettino was appointed last August with the task of leading the USMNT into the 2026 World Cup, which will be jointly hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
He is far from the first non-American coach of the USMNT. German Jurgen Klinsmann led the team between 2011 and 2016 and Serbian Bora Milutinović took charge of the USMNT the previous time it hosted the World Cup, in 1994. Coaches from England, Poland and Greece, among others, have also led the team over the years.
But Arena, now coach of the San Jose Earthquakes in MLS, made it clear he is not a fan of the approach.
“You know if you look at every national team in the world, the coach is usually a domestic coach,” Arena said on the “Unfiltered Soccer” podcast with former USMNT stalwarts Landon Donovan and Tim Howard.
“And I think when you have coaches that don’t know our culture, our environment, our players, it’s hard. I’m sure our coach is a very good coach, but coaching international football is different than club football, it’s a completely different job.
“And I think when you’re a national team coach, you need to know your environment, you need to know the animals you coach, and we’re lacking that. If you’re an American coaching the U.S. team, you know the culture, you know the pride and how important the national team is. I think when you bring in somebody from the outside, they don’t understand it, especially in our country, because we’re so different.”
The USMNT is coming off a disappointing two games in the Concacaf Nations League Finals last month, when it lost to Panama in the semifinals before falling to Canada in the third-place playoff.
Over the course of the international window, Pochettino openly questioned the team’s mentality and character. He echoed those sentiments in an interview published Tuesday, saying talent alone would not be enough to earn a place on the roster for this summer’s Gold Cup.
The focus remains on next summer, when the U.S. will be looking to at least match its best World Cup performance in modern times — when Arena led it to the quarterfinals in 2002.
And Arena, whose short second spell in 2017 ended in failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, expressed concern over whether the USMNT would be ready to challenge the world’s best.
“You ask me if we lacked pride, I’m watching and I’m shocked. I’m shocked that we can’t beat Panama and Canada,” he added. “It was shocking to me.
“I don’t want to be disrespectful. I want them to do great in the World Cup, there’s no question about it. But we only have a year left now. Time is running out, and they got to get going.”
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