SAN JOSE – Bruce Arena has succeeded at four different MLS stops during a Hall of Fame coaching career, including major turnarounds with the LA Galaxy and New England Revolution. Now comes perhaps his biggest challenge yet: Taking over a San Jose Earthquakes team that finished last in the entire league and gave up the most goals (78) in MLS history.
“This is a new challenge in my life, and I look forward to it,” Arena said at a press conference Wednesday. “This is what I do. I’m excited about the opportunity and I’m looking forward to making this team and this organization a very successful one.”
The all-time winningest coach in U.S. Soccer and MLS, Arena was announced last week as the coach and sporting director of the Earthquakes, who haven’t had a winning record since 2013 and haven’t won a playoff game since 2012.
Arena, 73, has had previous MLS stints with DC United (1996-98), New York Red Bulls (2006-07), LA Galaxy (2008-16) and New England Revolution (2019-23).
The Galaxy and Revolution were both at the bottom of the league table when Arena took over. The Galaxy went on to win three MLS Cups under Arena, while the Revolution had the best record in the league in 2021.
“You can’t give a simple answer how we’re going to move forward right to the top of the league,” Arena said. “It’s a lot of hard work.”
Arena said there will also be additional investments by ownership. He first met with Quakes owner John Fisher in August, adding he wouldn’t have come to San Jose if he wasn’t convinced that Fisher was committed to winning. Fisher also owns the Athletics, who spent the least on salaries in Major League Baseball during their final season in Oakland by a wide margin.
“John Fisher has already assured me they’re dedicating resources to help improve the club,” Arena said. “We don’t expect to be Inter Miami, believe me, but we’re going to move our club up the ladder to position ourselves to be a much more competitive team, and I believe there’s great commitment on the part of the owner as well as the front office.”
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The Quakes are currently 26th in MLS in team payroll ($14.7M), while Inter Miami has the highest payroll ($42M), according to Spotrac.
The Quakes spent a club-record $6M transfer fee to acquire Argentinian midfielder Hernán López in April. They are expected to be active in the free-agent market this offseason – especially to shore up its historically bad backline – and have the No. 1 pick in the Re-Entry Draft and the No. 2 pick in the college SuperDraft.
General manager Jared Shawlee said Wednesday that the off-field commitments include a new film room, dining hall, recovery spaces and an additional training field next to PayPal Park.
“I’m not promising that we’ll win the MLS Cup in 2025,” Arena said. “But I’m promising that we will have a better team and a team that this community and our fan base can be proud of.”
Arena said that the fan base will also be proud of its coach. Arena’s time with the Revolution ended abruptly last summer after he was suspended for making what MLS characterized as “inappropriate and insensitive remarks.”
“The position I hold is one where I’m held to a higher standard than basically anyone in our building, and I need to be smart about the things I say and my actions,” Arena said. “I made a couple mistakes there, I accept the responsibility, and I’m going to move forward. It’s a lesson learned and I can assure you I’ll be a pretty good citizen here in San Jose.”
Arena met with Dr. Derek Suite as part of the process MLS put in place to allow Arena to return to coaching. Shawlee said that Suite called Arena “a model student.”
“It made us feel really comfortable,” Shawlee said. “We feel really good about the process we went through.”
