Bruce Arena out as U.S. soccer head coach

Head coach Bruce Arena has resigned from his position as head coach of the U.S. Men’s National team.

A crushing lost to Trinidad and Tobago is a low point for U.S. men’s soccer. The loss, coupled with wins from other teams, eliminated the U.S. team from World Cup contention. They are not headed to the global tournament for the first time in over 20 years.

Head coach Bruce Arena announced his resignation as head coach of the team on Friday. The announcement came via U.S. Soccer’s twitter account.

Trinidad and Tobago were already eliminated from World Cup contention and still was able to pull out a victory. Fans around the country have been disappointed by the results. 

Arena did not fare as well in his second stint with the team. His previous coaching tenure lasted from October 1998 until the end of 2006. Arena is the most winning coach in men’s national team history. He was the coach during the U.S.’s most prolific rise onto the national stage.

The second go-round, he took over for Jurgen Klinsman less than a year ago. Klinsman was the team’s coach for five years prior to his firing. Two of the United State’s losses that contributed to them missing the World Cup came under Klinsman.

Arena coached the team to ten wins, two draws and six losses. The 55.56 percent winning percentage is about the same as Klinsman and most other men’s national team coaches but pales in comparison to his previous stint. It does not seem that Arena had much of an impact on the team this time around.

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The national team will now look in another direction in preparation for events other than the 2018 World Cup. With a roster full of a mix of veterans and youth, the right coach will need to come in to resurrect this team after a disparaging loss.