The King Is Dead...

Will Klinsmann be the next U.S. Coach?
According to the Magic 8-Ball, "All signs point to Yes!"


...long live the king!

Yeah, it's cheesy, but appropriate under the circumstances, wouldn't you say? Bruce Arena's 8-year tenure as Coach for the U.S. National Team is officially done, as U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati declared via press conference today that they would not be renewing Arena's contract. It's not surprising, and I think it was probably the worst kept secret in the soccer world. Still, it's going to be a little weird that the next time we see the boys of the red,white, and blue, it will be under new leadership.

I've been fortunate enough to have covered this sport since 1999, less than a year after Arena took over. At the time, I thought hiring him was a no-brainer, and I also thought he would take the team to the next level. He not only did that, but took it another 2 steps. NOBODY thought the team of 2002 had a chance to get out of their group. They did that, and on less than 3 days rest, knocked the crap out of our mortal enemy in the round of 16. Nobody thought THAT was possible either. They almost did the unthinkable as they outplayed a German team that ultimately wound up sending the U.S. home, but a statement, and most importantly, a new attitude, was made. The U.S. would not be a pushover anymore. Sure, lots of people will say the 2006 Cup was a miserable failure for the team, and without a doubt one of the few times Arena hasn't been successful, but before the tournament began, many observers figured this was a team to reckon with. Although the play didn't live up to the hype, expectations are now in place that simply wern't around in the mentality of U.S. Soccer and its fans before 1999. A large amount of credit should go to Arena for that.

Yes, I admit I was harsh on him in some of these columns, and I stand behind my criticism. That should not, and will not, take away the importance of the Bruce Arena era over the past 8 years. His dedication to his country and this sport cannot be overlooked. He's going to be a 1st ballot Hall of Famer, and whatever he decides to do (*cough* New York Red Bulls *cough*), chances are he'll be successful there also.

To Bruce Arena, thanks for everything you've done for U.S. Soccer. Although we might not always admit it or show it, we always appreciated it.

Now let's go ahead and bring Klinsmann on board and get ready for next year's Copa America...

Some quick-hitters before I go:

1. One of the things that came out in today's press conference with U.S. Soccer was that Arena was in fact offered a job to coach a European team. Nobody would comment or elaborate, so we don't yet know if it was a club team or country. Regardless, the offer was made before the Cup started, and has since been withdrawn.

2. Clint Dempsey, you're really hurting your image by your inability to control your temper. Between the fight w/ teammate Joey Franchino back in March and your dustup w/ Segares in the Chicago game the other night, European teams are not going to spend money or time on a kid who has the temperament of Wayne Rooney but without the skills. Keep your cool and play your game.

3. Game of the week Saturday is in L.A., as Chivas USA and the Galaxy meet for the 3rd time this year. Chivas is better than their record would suggest, and L.A. has won 3 straight since Landon Donovan and Chris Albright came back from the Cup. This should be a great matchup, so if you have HDNet, be watching it at 10 PM EST on Saturday.

4. After DC's demolition of Celtic in Wednesday's exhibition, I had the chance to chat w/ a couple of Scottish media members from Celtic's contingent. Really nice group of guys, and they were quite impressed w/ DC. They thought Freddy was awesome (he was), they really liked Ben Olsen, and were also asking about Josh Gros and Bobby Boswell, who both had terrific games. Should be interesting to see how those 2 progress over the next few years. Maybe some time in the next U.S. training camp is in order?

I'll be back on Monday with a review of the weekend 's action and other info as I gather it.