CARSON, Calif. – Bruce Arena guided the LA Galaxy to another MLS Cup championship last season, his record fifth as head coach in the league, and admits the idea of stepping down crossed his mind during the offseason.
Not for the reasons you might think.
“Not based on winning a title or not winning a title,” Arena said following the Galaxy's first training session of preseason Friday at StubHub Center. “You kind of reflect every year.”
He's still limping a bit from a knee-replacement operation 10 days after the Galaxy overcame the New England Revolution in the Dec. 7 title game at StubHub, and “when I had the surgery, I thought about it a little bit.”
“You always think about whether you have the energy to continue to do what you need to do,” he said, “so once I come to the conclusion I can keep doing it, then I do it.”
What brings him back?
“Well, the fact that I'm planning on living a while longer, I need to have something to do, you know?” Arena said. “What do you suggest I do? It's not going to continue for the rest of my life, that's for sure, but in the short term, this is what I do.”
Arena is MLS's second-winningest coach by number of victories, with a 176-114-64 mark in all or parts of 12 seasons with D.C. United, New York and, since August 2008, the Galaxy. He won MLS Cup titles with D.C. in 1996 and 1997 and with LA in 2011, 2012 and 2014.
He also was the most successful US national team coach in the modern era, guiding the Yanks through two World Cups and into the quarterfinals in 2002.
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He was announced Thursday as this year's recipient of the Werner Fricker Builder Award, the most prestigious honor given by U.S. Soccer, and called it “the greatest honor I've ever received.”
“To be recognized like that is very special, and I've just been fortunate I've been around a lot of good people for a lot of years that have allowed me to be successful,” he said. “It's a great honor.”
He says some years he enjoys being back on the field at the start of preseason, other years less so, but the challenge always is inviting.
“I'm in-between right now,” he said. “We didn't have much of a break this year, but it's good. We've got a good group, good first day of training. ... Every year everything changes, so it's a different challenge every year. Different set of circumstances and variables you deal with, so, you know, it's enough to keep you challenged, believe me.”
