In a time of need, U.S. Soccer turns to a familiar face in Bruce Arena to try to salvage its chances of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.

Arena, who coached the U.S. from 1998-2006, returns to replace Jurgen Klinsmann, who was fired after the U.S. lost to Mexico and Costa Rica in the opening round of the CONCACAF hexagonal qualifying phase.

The first step for Arena is the annual January camp that opens Tuesday at StubHub Center, followed by the first on-field session Wednesday morning.

The 32-player roster consists of only Major League Soccer players and features nine players with World Cup experience: DeMarcus Beasley, Jozy Altidore, Alejandro Bedoya, Michael Bradley, Benny Feilhaber, Jermaine Jones, Nick Rimando, Chris Wondolowski and Graham Zusi.

The U.S. has a pair of friendlies set, first against Serbia (Jan. 29) and Jamaica (Feb. 3).

“We want to evaluate these 32 players and try to project ahead to the qualifiers in March and see if any of these players can position themselves to help our team in those important games,” Arena said. “The last couple of games of qualifying didn’t go well, so we’re looking for some players that are eager to get on the field and make some contributions.

“When you look at the entire pool of players, not only in Major League Soccer but aboard as well, we have enough talent to win games. We can score goals, defensively we can be strong and our goalkeeping is solid.”

European and Mexico-based players are not available for this camp.

Beasley is an interesting name on the roster. He’s a four-time World Cup veteran (2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014), but announced his retirement from international competition in 2015.

“He’s an outstanding player,” Arena said of Beasley. “His experience can help our team and his enthusiasm.”

Arena was pretty clear on the type of personality and mentality with which he wants the team to take the field.

“We want to be aggressive,” Arena said. “When we have the ball, we want to be aggressive going forward. And when our opponent has the ball, we want to get around it real quick and try and get it back.

“We lost some of that aggressiveness in the qualifiers and want to build on that as we begin this camp.”

The U.S. resumes the process of qualifying for Russia in March with games against Honduras (March 24) and Panama (March 28). Their journey begins with them in last place with zero points.

“Obviously, we’re not positioned great as we enter 2017, but I have a lot of confidence in this group,” Arena said. “We’re going to work hard to qualify for Russia in 2018.”