The Revolution announced Arena’s hiring on May 14, but Arena did not begin working with the team until this week, and said he would not be on the bench during a game if he considered himself “a distraction.”

Arena made the decision before departing for Los Angeles Thursday; the team was set to fly out Friday.

Bruce Arena did not exactly jump into coaching the Revolution with both feet. But more than two weeks after being named the team’s sporting director/head coach, Arena will be guiding the Revolution for the first time when they visit the Los Angeles Galaxy Sunday.


If the situation seems unusual, that’s because it is.

Since the Revolution fired Brad Friedel following a 5-0 loss at Chicago May 8, they have compiled a 1-0-2 record. Crucially, they have regained their composure and have patched things up defensively. The turnaround began in the days before Arena was hired. And since he arrived in Foxborough, Arena has mostly kept a low profile, allowing interim coach Mike Lapper to continue.

But after being on the practice field with the team for three days, Arena determined he would take on the coaching role on game day, according to a Revolution spokesperson. Lapper also will be on the sidelines, though the status of newly named assistant coach Richie Williams for Sunday has not been determined.

Arena, who began his professional career with D.C. United in 1996, has not coached a game since guiding the US in a 2-1 loss at Trinidad and Tobago in a World Cup qualifier on Oct. 10, 2017.

Related: Revolution hire Richie Williams as an assistant coach.

Arena made it clear he is in charge during his first practice session Tuesday. But he also wanted to be careful not to interrupt the slight momentum the team has gained.


Asked Tuesday if he would be coaching the team, Arena replied, “I’m always coaching. Coaches always coach. In the last year and a half, I’ve been the best NBA coach, NFL coach, baseball coach, and hockey coach.

“I’m like you guys. You know how smart you get when you’re not actually doing it every day and you can sit in the press box or in front of a television? You become a genius.

“The only thing I’ve failed to do is get on social media and really be a critic, but I’ll get there one day. Will I be on the field [Sunday]? I don’t know yet. If I think I’m going to be a distraction to the team, I won’t do it.”

That’s Arena. He’s not going to settle for a simple reply if there is a commentary to be made.

Behind the scenes with Bruce Arena on his first day with the #NERevs pic.twitter.com/X1BgvpoRB7 — New England Revolution (@NERevolution) May 29, 2019

The Revolution have usually hired coaches with little experience, but in Arena, they have the most successful coach in league history (five MLS Cups, three Coach of the Year awards, in between having guided the US to a quarterfinal finish in the 2002 World Cup).

Since reaching their fifth MLS Cup final in 2014 (a loss to Arena and the Galaxy), the Revolution have declined, failing to win a postseason match, their attendance falling off. Arena’s influence could reverse that trend. If so, this could also help the team gain relevance in a competitive sports market.

“From the beginning, he definitely wants to make sure this team is connected, everybody is a group, a family,” Revolution forward Diego Fagundez said. “And we’re going to try push each other to the limits on and off field.


“We want to make this club grow, be better every day, and little by little, we’re going to do that. Like he said, he’s going to bring everything he knows to the team, to each of us.

“But at the end of the day, we’re both going to make mistakes, and that’s part of the learning. He’s won a lot of MLS Cups, we all know exactly what he brings, we all look forward to learning from him and, hopefully, we can bring a cup to New England.”

Chelsea unfazed

In the last month, Chelsea FC played six games, including three in three countries outside England, requiring about 13,000 miles of travel. But the down-and-up time did not seem to affect the Blues as they took a 4-1 win over Arsenal in the Europa League final in Baku Wednesday.

Belgian winger Eden Hazard keyed a dominant performance by Chelsea in what could be his last game with the team before a transfer to Real Madrid.

The layoff between games seemed to affect Arsenal, which had not played since May 12. Chelsea, meanwhile, raised questions about preparation as it visited the Revolution for a charity match May 15, losing midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Achilles’ tendon rupture).

Chelsea’s travels did allow owner Roman Abramovich to witness the team first-hand, since he has been barred from Britain because of visa issues. He was in a Gillette Stadium suite for a 3-0 win over the Revolution and also at Olympic Stadium in Baku.


The time between competitions also could affect the Champions League final, Liverpool meeting Tottenham in Madrid Saturday.

Spurs striker Harry Kane (ankle) has recovered and could play for the first time since early April. But Tottenham has fared well without Kane, as forwards Fernando Llorente, Lucas Moura, and Son Heung-Min led dramatic comebacks in the quarterfinals and semifinals.

Moura, whose second-half hat trick made the difference in a 3-2 win over Ajax in the semifinals May 8, represents Spurs’ last major transfer. The club has not added any significant players since Moura, who arrived on a 28 million euro transfer from Paris Saint-Germain on Jan. 31, 2018.

When Moura was growing up in Sao Paulo, he was named after his club coach, Marcelinho Carioca, and his career path might have been gone differently had Marcelinho’s plans to move to MLS succeeded. In the late ’90s, Marcelinho believed he had little chance with Brazil’s national team (Ronaldo, etc.), so he hoped to play in MLS and would have been willing to take citizenship to be eligible for the US national team. However, there were no takers from MLS, so Marcelinho remained with Corinthians, winning two Brazilian titles and a World Club Cup.

Local ties

Former Boston Breaker Fabiana da Silva Simoes came out of retirement and has been selected by Brazil for the Women’s World Cup in France June 7-July 7, adding to the number of former Breakers in the event. She joins Rose Lavelle, Kelley O’Hara, Alyssa Naeher (US); Alyssha Chapman, Adriana Leon (Canada); Aya Sameshima (Japan); and Rosie White (New Zealand).


Former University of Connecticut goalkeeper Stephanie Labbe (Canada) and Hanson’s Sam Mewis (US) will be contesting for starting roles. Jamaica qualified for the first time, with central defender Allyson Swaby (Boston College) in the starting lineup and Toriana Patterson (UConn) in a reserve role.