April 23, 2025, 12:55pm
Former US men’s national team coach Bruce Arena has criticized the appointment of current head coach Mauricio Pockettino, saying that non-Americans lack the necessary understanding of the country’s culture.
Argentina manager Pockettino was appointed last August and was appointed on the task of leading USMNT to the 2026 World Cup. This will be held jointly by the US, Canada and Mexico.
He’s far from the USMNT’s first non-American coach. Germany’s Jurgen Klinsmann led the team between 2011 and 2016, while Serbia’s Bora Mirczynovic took charge of USMNT before the 1994 World Cup.
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However, arena, now MLS’ San Jose Earthquake coach, has revealed that he is not a fan of the approach.
“If you look at all the national teams in the world, coaches are usually domestic coaches,” the Arena said on a “unfiltered football” podcast with former USMNT stubborn Landon Donovan and Tim Howard.
“And I think there are coaches that are difficult for us, our culture, our environment, our players, we think we are very good coaches, but coaching international football is not like club football, it’s a completely different job.
“And when you’re a national team coach, you need to know your environment, you need to know the animals you coach, and we think we’re missing that. If you’re an American coaching an American team, you know how pride and the national team is.
Mauricio Pochettino oversaw two disappointing results against USMNT in the CONCACAF Nations League Final. John Dorton/ISI Photos/ussf/getty images for ussf
USMNT left the disappointing two games last month in the CONCACAF Nations League final, losing to Panama in the semi-finals and falling to Canada in the third-place playoffs.
During the international window course, Pockettino openly questioned the team’s mentality and personality. He reflected those feelings in an interview released Tuesday, saying talent alone isn’t enough to appear on the Gold Cup roster this summer.
The focus remains for the next summer. This is when the Arena led to the quarterfinals in 2002, when the US was trying to match the best World Cup performances of the modern era.
The Arena, which ended with a short second spell in 2017 being unqualified for the 2018 World Cup, has expressed concern about whether USMNT is ready to challenge the world’s best.
“I’m shocked to see if we’re not proud of it. I’m shocked that we can’t beat Panama and Canada,” he added. “That was shocking to me.
“I don’t want to be rude, I want them to do great things at the World Cup. There’s no doubt about that. But we only have a year left now. Time runs out and they’ve moved on.”
