Bruce Arena is always good for a quote, but sometimes he puts the cart before the horse.



That's to say a reasonable point can be misconstrued when juxtaposed with another idea that might not "come off".

Case in point – Bruce's comments about foreign-born U.S. national team players.

He's spoken in the past about the idea that an American should coach the national team, and that American-born players should make up the squad. Those comments were understandably met with both skepticism and confusion.

After all, this is a coach who used Dutch-born Earnie Stewart during his first run as U.S. manager. He played Tab Ramos and Pablo Mastroeni and Carlos Llamosa. Bruce's comments never really made sense because they directly contradicted actions that he took more than 15 years ago.

Arena clarified on Tuesday afternoon during a conference call to introduce him as Jurgen Klinsmann's USMNT replacement.

"If I made those comments, I certainly don't believe that that's my attitude," Arena said. "As a starting point, one of my most favorite players in my eight years as national team coach was Earnie Stewart. I believe anyone that has a passport in the United States is certainly eligible for play for our national team.

"I embrace all players that are eligible to play. I just want to make sure that their heart is in the right place, that when they place the U.S. jersey on, they're playing for the crest on the shirt. It's important to me. I have a great passion for this national team and I expect the same out of our players. I'm all for any players that are eligible for play for us, and I really look forward to working with, using your term, our 'foreign nationals' as well as our domestic players."

The reason people became disenchanted is because he's not a great coach. They didn't understand Matt Besler at left back. They didn't understand playing a three-man defense against Mexico. They didn't understand call-ups for players like Chris Wondolowski, Brad Davis, and Michael Orozco. They didn't understand leaving Landon Donovan at home in 2014.

That was always my interpretation. I didn't see Bruce's comments as xenophobic. Maybe they were myopic, or confusing, or poorly worded, but I didn't sense a disdain for foreigners. I didn't see Clint Eastwood telling people to "get off my lawn", ala Gran Torino.

His point is that we, as Americans, need to produce our own talent, which U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati expounded on in an unsolicited follow-up.

"(Bruce) and I have talked about that, not just in the last 24 hours, but quite often," Gulati explained. "And I want to reiterate what his views have been and what mine certainly are. If you're eligible to play for the United States national team, you are available for selection. After that, coach makes those decisions, but we are open to anyone, whether they're born abroad or born here. The discussions, and maybe that's how some of this got interpreted, some of the discussions we've had in the past is that if we have players who are primarily developed abroad, then, while they are still absolutely eligible in every possible way to play for the national team, they don't reflect in the same way on the development programs we're going through in the U.S.

"So, if we're trying to evaluate our own development programs, then a player like Jermaine Jones or Fabian Johnson is different from some younger players or some players who have grown up here. They're both eligible to play for us. There's no thought pattern that one has an advantage over the other as long as they're committed to the national team, which Bruce has reemphasized."

Hopefully, that debunks a number of bogus assertions, namely this one from a Guardian story entitled "US fans wanted Jürgen Klinsmann out but they may come to regret his exit".

Regarding bias shown towards Klinsmann, and his subsequent firing, the author writes:

"The volatile politics in America also played a role, even though many fans will not admit it. As the recent presidential race signaled an inward turn for the country, many fans had become distressed with Klinsmann’s perceived focus on German-American players. This attitude was seen up and down the development ladder, and parents at the youth and ODP levels seethed, feeling their children would never get a fair shake under Klinsmann’s regime. Their discontent was vocalized when one of the biggest stars in the women’s game, Abby Wambach, criticized the immigrant members of the squad, drawing some angry rebukes – but in hindsight, she was merely expressing a current coursing the nation as a whole."

That's one hell of a stretch to say that Wambach's comments represent "the nation as a whole".

For starters, most of the soccer community leans politically to the left, which is natural considering the global and multicultural nature of the game. American soccer fans are exposed to different ideas and different cultures and different people, and therefore tend to position themselves far to the left of baseball and football fans.

Wambach, who talked about Klinsmann "bringing in these foreign guys," was widely condemned by the greater soccer community and the American sports community as a whole. I didn't come across many people who agreed with her, and even then, I highly doubt there were folks hiding underground like the moderate white suburbanites who allegedly swung the election in Donald Trump's favor.

I don't get the sense that there was a "silent majority" of U.S. soccer fans who felt a disdain for Fabian Johnson, John Brooks, Timmy Chandler, or Jermaine Jones.

The Guardian article also talks about upset parents, which also seems like a stretch. If they really "seethed,", then I guess they haven't noticed the 18-year-old Pennsylvania native playing alongside four German-Americans. Maybe they didn't notice the New Jersey-born Michael Bradley, or Illinois native Brad Guzan, or Notre Dame alumnus Matt Besler. Maybe they were so incredibly angered by the Germans who made up 36 percent of the starting lineup, that they were completely unaware of the fact that foreign influence has forever been prevalent in the ranks of the USMNT.

That's what we are.

We are the melting pot, a nation of immigrants, and our soccer team has always reflected that. The German-born players on team USA have the blood of American military members running through their veins, which is good enough for me, and should be good enough for you.

But Arena and Gulati are right; we do need to continue to produce our own talent. We need more players like Christian Pulisic. We need our system to produce a player that has the skill of a Danny Williams or Terrence Boyd. Our use of "dual nationals" needs to be complemented with a youth setup that is equally competent to the German system or the Mexican system. We can use outsourced talent as long as we're also getting the job done domestically.

There's nothing wrong with Jurgen Klinsmann, or any "outsider," entering our bubble and offering new and different ideas. Remember, most people wanted change in 2011 when Bob Bradley's tenure became stale. An injection of foreign influence was seen as a positive for U.S. Soccer, which had made many strides on its own but probably needed a fresh perspective, just like the 2012 Philadelphia Flyers.

It was never about Jurgen being German. He loved the United States and still does.

The reason people became disenchanted is because he's not a great coach. They didn't understand Matt Besler at left back. They didn't understand playing a three-man defense against Mexico. They didn't understand call-ups for players like Chris Wondolowski, Brad Davis, and Michael Orozco. They didn't understand leaving Landon Donovan at home in 2014.

Those decisions had nothing to do with being a foreigner. Jurgen made poor personnel and tactical choices, of which we were forewarned by Phillip Lahm and Toni Kroos, who played for him at Bayern Munich and with the German national team.

I value the opinions of those players much more than any European Twitter troll who feels like Americans "don't know" anything about soccer. It doesn't take a genius to realize that Alejandro Bedoya is not a number six.

You can say that Jurgen needed better players, and that's certainly true, but it's also a stupid comment. All coaches would like to have better players. It's what you do with those players that defines your legacy, and Jurgen definitely had the talent to beat Mexico and Jamaica on home soil.

At the end of the day, we should give a @#$! if we win at Holland or the Czech Republic in an international friendly. You have to beat CONCACAF opponents in the games that matter.

It wasn't about Jurgen being German. He just didn't get the job done.



