Quakes reign could define ex-USMNT boss Arena's complicated legacy

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The San Jose Earthquakes had just gone up 3-0 over Real Salt Lake in their season opener when a chant emanated from the San Jose Ultras' section. The accolades weren't directed at Ousseni Bouda, the goal scorer. Rather, they were in honor of the architect of the evening's feel-good vibe at PayPal Park.

"Bruce A-re-na! Bruce A-re-na!"

Arena, for his part, was nonplussed for much of the evening. The most emotion he showed was when he broke out his golf clap following an earlier goal by Quakes' defender Rodrigues. But the manager with the most wins (299) and MLS Cup titles (5) in league history, was clearly in his element, back on an MLS sideline for the first time since July 2023.

When asked after the match if he had heard the chants from the San Jose fans, Arena said he hadn't. When asked if he'd ever heard his name chanted, his trademark wit emerged.

"I've heard my name spoken, and with a lot of four-letter words in front and behind," he quipped.

That Arena, 73, finds himself coaching in San Jose can be filed under "News of the Weird." Nineteen months ago, Arena was ensconced with the New England Revolution, with the 2022 Supporters' Shield already in his trophy cabinet and the Revs in contention for more honors.

Then, Arena's tenure in New England imploded. In August 2023, he was put on administrative leave by MLS for making "insensitive and inappropriate remarks." He resigned a month later, saying in a statement that he "made some mistakes" without elaborating.

San Jose, meanwhile, has been muddling through a brutal decade-plus stretch that has tried the patience of even its most diehard fans. In the 12 years since claiming the Supporters' Shield in 2012 -- and getting ousted in that year's playoffs by the Arena-led LA Galaxy -- the Quakes qualified for the postseason only three times. During 2024's ghastly last-place finish -- a season in which the club won only six of 34 matches and conceded a league-record 78 goals -- about the only thing San Jose fans had a reasonable hope of seeing their team win on a given Saturday was the pregame coin toss.

That Arena, a serial winner in MLS, would be attracted to the job in San Jose seemed incongruous for other reasons. Quakes owner John Fisher is known around the league for having one of the lower player payrolls -- his almost universally despised ownership of Major League Baseball's Athletics driving the club out of Oakland in search of a more lucrative home elsewhere -- with San Jose's routinely in the bottom third of the league. Arena was accustomed to his owners spending whatever was necessary to make the team a winner. Yet Arena found it difficult to get a job, with D.C. United -- whom he led to MLS Cups in 1996 and 1997 -- among those deciding to look elsewhere.

As for San Jose, the organization clearly needed to do something different and once they zeroed in on Arena, did its due diligence. The Earthquakes spoke with MLS, the MLS-appointed person who conducted the restorative process, New England Revolution executives, former players and coaches and other references.

What has emerged is the ultimate marriage of convenience, with Arena signing on last October with assurances from Fisher that money would be spent to upgrade the organization. Yet it's worth noting that some marriages of convenience actually work, and that certainly seems to be the case so far. Even with last weekend's 1-0 loss to Minnesota United, San Jose has two wins in three games. Arena seems at ease with the arrangement.

"What else am I going to do?" Arena said during a January interview. "I played a lot of golf in the last year, I can tell you that. I'm very comfortable in doing this. I think it's something my family wants me to do -- they're probably more eager for me to do it than I am sometimes -- but I enjoy it and I often end up with challenges and every job I've had has been a challenge. So it's all part of it."

Yet Arena acknowledges there was a deeper reason why he came back to work: he didn't want the end of his career to be defined by what happened with the Revs. It's clear the manner of his exit still grates at him, and he indicates that he felt betrayed by how everything went down in New England.

When asked how, he referred vaguely to the process that led to his resignation, stating, "Because it was dishonest; dishonest and not accurate." Arena didn't elaborate as to who was dishonest, nor did he expand upon what he said that sparked his exit.

The Revolution declined to comment, but MLS released a statement to ESPN: "The League's investigation into allegations that Bruce Arena made inappropriate comments was comprehensive, unbiased and in accordance with League Rules. Bruce never disputed that he made the comments at issue. We are encouraged that, having completed a restorative practices program, Bruce has been able to reintegrate into the League and expect that he will continue to meet the League's expectations on professionalism and workplace conduct."

The incident further complicates Arena's legacy.

Arena has often jousted with the league, and was fined in 2014 for telling the Washington Post that the Galaxy's failed attempt to land Sacha Kljestan was "because [the league office] are children and there have to be adults in the process, and we didn't have enough of them."

That can certainly rub people the wrong way, but players, in particular, speak highly of him.

In 2013, Robbie Rogers came out of retirement to sign with Arena's Galaxy. He joined the club only three months after publicly coming out as a gay man. Reached by phone, Rogers emphasized that he didn't know the details of what happened in New England, but when it comes to his own experience, he gave Arena top marks.

"He's just deeply human and empathetic, and understands the emotions of a locker room and the team," Rogers said. "And I found that really rare because Bruce -- I think he's good tactically and he surrounds himself with the right people and brings in the right players, I think he really knows the league -- but I think his greatest skill is really understanding, first and foremost, the balance of a team emotionally, the characters, and then also the balance of an entire season."

That said, Arena was fully engaged when it came to locker room banter.

"Bruce has been around for a long time, and I think guys that know Bruce, know that he says things that are par [for the course] in a locker room," Rogers said. "Locker room banter, as you know, is part of sports culture. I can tell you, I was in a locker room with him for many years and he messed with everybody. He joked with everybody, and it never came with any kind of cruelty or trying to diminish anyone. I joked with him, he joked with me, and that's just kind of the way it was."

Arena's on-field legacy is complicated as well. Coaching the U.S. men's national team to the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup remains the high-water mark in the modern era. He also was at the helm when the USMNT failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, although in that situation, there was plenty of blame to go around.

In MLS, though, Arena remains unmatched. His five MLS Cups are still the most by any manager. Ditto for his four Supporters' Shields. And while he acknowledges there is still a long way to go in terms of what happens this season with the Quakes, two wins from three games is an encouraging start. Last season, the Quakes didn't get their second win until May 4.

Finding success with San Jose would prove to be an impressive capstone to a managerial career that has produced plenty of success, although Arena says -- at least initially -- he doesn't think about his legacy.

"I don't think it's my job. I don't even think of that," he said. "I have people come up to me almost every day and say something nice, which is kind of rewarding, but I never think of it that way."

That assessment is left to others, although there is near universal praise.

"[Arena is] in that very upper echelon of the best coaches ever that have come into our league," said Seattle Sounders manager Brian Schmetzer, who has squared off against Arena numerous times, both during his time leading the Sounders as well as an assistant under the late Sigi Schmid. "What I always liked about Bruce was he's always had a way with bringing one or two veteran guys that know the league and all that into his teams. He's done that with his two center forwards, and he's brought other guys back, and he just seems to have a knack of getting senior guys to help him with the new team. They're just organized and they don't quit."

This much is apparent. Arena remains elite in terms of knowing how to put a team together.

In January, just two weeks into training camp, Arena could already see certain themes emerging. He remarked that the team's goalkeeping and defense were among the Quakes' biggest strengths, despite those 78 goals conceded last season. Yes, it's early, but those observations have so far proved to be the case with only two goals conceded in three matches. He also sensed that frontline acquisitions Chicho Arango and Josef Martínez would work well together, continuing a trait of Arena's in which he has an uncanny knack of determining players who will have good chemistry.

"They have a beautiful relationship," he said then of Arango and Martínez. "So you see that and we look at the characteristics of the different players and we try to see what makes sense and playing them together in different spots. You could see that they like each other, they work together with each other and you can check off that box."

Other areas of Arena's legacy are often viewed in black-and-white terms, such as his reputation for not playing younger players. The reality is a bit more nuanced. A look at his history reveals him bringing in the likes of A.J. DeLaGarza and Omar González with the Galaxy. In New England, it was Tajon Buchanan. There's a thread there with the college game, where Arena had his start, managing the likes of John Harkes and Claudio Reyna.

"I look back at all the jobs, I still find my days at Virginia are the most rewarding because not only is it the competition side, but you play a role in the growth of people," Arena said.

It's why Arena remains a staunch believer in the American player, even as he acknowledges that bringing in more talents from abroad would raise the playing standard in MLS. He has certainly stocked the Quakes' roster with American vets such as Ian Harkes and Dave Romney, and gave Beau Leroux his professional debut against RSL.

"It's important for the game in this country that we have domestic players that are growing and are factors in this league," he said. "It's important for the growth."

So how long can Arena keep going? "As long as I want," he said. "But I can promise you we're not going to be here in seven years talking about this."

And how will he view himself when he eventually stops coaching?

"I think at the end of the day, I'd like to be known as a successful coach, and players liked to play for me, and we worked in an enjoyable environment," Arena said. "I think we overdo ourselves in professional sports. We're very fortunate people. Other people have real jobs. We come in and have fun and enjoy what we're doing, and somehow there are people that can't be happy with that. I find it ridiculous. I am very fortunate in what I've done in my life."

The Quakes are hoping Arena's coaching encore affords them a slice of that fortune as well.