Bruce Arena Lay Quotations

What this group has managed to do is not let anything get in the way of their goals in qualifying and winning games. We miss a player due to an injury or a suspension, they don't blink an eye, they just move forward. If they're in games where the officiating may be a little bit questionable, it doesn't bother them. They just keep their concentration and get after the task at hand.

Landon is an experienced player. He's a player we will look to not only lead us but to be important in our attack.

I think Donovan and Beasley once again are players that we will count on. Bobby Convey (Reading) has the potential to help us in a World Cup, Eddie Johnson (Kansas City Wizards ) has the potential to help us in the World Cup.

He enjoyed what we did. He liked our methods, and he felt the things we do are what players like. And when he reinforces that to me, that helps me. Soccer aside, he's a friend. . . . I did my best to get him involved back in the game again. He was in kind of limbo a bit.

We want to give some promising players some opportunities and start to formulate some strategies for 2006. There is no easy way to establish a player at the international level. The easiest way is to get them on the field.

We were able to use this game as an opportunity to see some players. The part that I felt was valid was that we watched our players have to deal with coming from behind, being down a goal.

It's an opportunity now for a number of players who haven't received a whole lot of minutes in the first three games to show us what they're about.

I don't think too many players played themselves onto our World Cup roster tonight, to be honest with you.

I don't think too many players played themselves onto a World Cup roster tonight. There were some good performances for some, others were not so good.

I don't think too many players played themselves on our World Cup roster tonight. There were some solid performances, but nothing that would make a strong case for a variety of players. It was okay for some players, others not too good.

I sat in the stands in Italy and shook my head. And not to disrespect the performance of our players, but it was so obvious to me at that point in time that we had a long way to go, and 16 years later we get to replay these matches. So it will be interesting to see where we are.

Look, they're attacking players so they need to create goal-scoring opportunities. Those are my expectations of attacking players and they're players who are capable of getting goals. It would be nice to see one hit the back of the net.

The results in Guatemala and Costa Rica were not that critical to me. This one (against Panama) is. This is the one I want to win so we can end the year on a high note and at the same time, give some promising players some opportunities to play and start formulating some strategies for 2006.

It's like going from college basketball to the NBA. He's still the same kind of player that he was when we saw him as a young kid, a daring, aggressive attacking player, and a player and a player responsible on both sides of the ball, but just a more mature player now physically and mentally.

The thing we wanted to accomplish with these games on Sunday and Monday (was) to give a number of players 90 minutes for the first time in a long time. Out of both games, we had 15 players who played a full 90 minutes and two others that played 90 minutes over two days and that's a real plus right now.

Canada is traditionally a very solid team, and this game will be a good test for our domestic players as we begin the critical process of building a roster for the 2006 World Cup. We are looking forward to playing in San Diego, a city with a rich soccer history. It should be an excellent event.

There are other players who could be here who aren't here because of their positions in the league. To get some favors in return ? that means a lot to send those players back. This is a time we could do it.

Looking at this pool of players and still being competitive, our objective is still to win.

Over the past week he's finally physically and psychologically recovered from his turf toe injury. That has been an obstacle for Eddie for a good six months or so, and that's completely past him. ... I think over the next couple of months Eddie should be back in full form and be a player who's challenging certainly for a spot on the World Cup roster.

My suggestion is that a better way to manage the game is just tell the player to take the jewelry off. That's hard to do when you have a young referee. Maybe a little more experience, maybe he'll disregard what the rule book says there and use maybe a little more common sense.

Some of the players are on the fence, so to speak, and have their last opportunity to show - basically the European-based players. For our players it's also very good for them to be in a venue where they also get to play Italy and feel somewhat comfortable in this venue before we actually come back for our final preparations.

I thought it was a well played game for both teams. Both teams had chances in the second half. I thought our team had a much improved effort in the last 45 minutes.

I thought he's had a tough go at it. But I think you see today he's a player with a really great upside. We're going to move him around as best we can and put him in a position to make the World Cup roster.

With only one international fixture date prior to the World Cup, this is an important opportunity for our players based in Europe to demonstrate their form and fitness.

For the first time ever, we are going to demand players have the discipline and commitment to actually maintain fitness. We have seen a wide range of attitudes and actual physical conditions with MLS players in the past, and if that is the case next time around they're not going to be eligible to make the World Cup roster.

Some were hunches, others were potential, others, we have until June 12 and think we can turn this player around.

When you cut to the chase, that's what defenders are supposed to be about and that's his strength. Any time you have a solid presence in the heart of your defense that gives confidence to the goalkeepers and the players around him.

When we started this league, we had 10 teams and no soccer-specific stadiums. Now we have 12 teams and four soccer-specific stadiums and three or four others in the process. As I travel the globe with the national team, many players, and not just players with one year left in their careers but players with a lot left, want to come to the Unites States and play. Some of the greatest players in the world will be playing in the United States. I really believe that.

There is a certain excitement here. When we come back in June, we hope to not come back and be such nice guests especially when we're playing such important games.

We have a number of players who are forcing my hand and remaining in the picture. It is pleasing that we will have a number of choices. We need to watch over the next couple of months. It's still early. But I think a number of players tonight made a statement.

Despite the fact we've had a rash of injuries and some conflicts with clubs, we feel this game is an excellent test for our veteran players in Europe as well as some new players in the team.

Nothing is set in stone. But for the most part, I think we have a nucleus of 14, 15 16 players who we could pencil in now. ... We'll just have to wait and see.

Sometimes that's how you're graded as a striker. Taylor is getting used to what we ask out of our forwards. He played well.

He's an extremely graceful athlete. He's a player with an excellent first touch and great vision. He has very good attacking qualities. But we've seen him in what I would call an amateur level.

He's a talented kid who is very inexperienced and young so you can't expect too much at this point in time. He's 16 years old any way you look at it. You talk about patience, he clearly needs that. He needs to get a couple of good years under his belt with his club team where he fits in as a regular and sees a bunch of 90-minute games and plays well and deals with all of that. Right now, he has a long way to go.

Our domestic players, who are still out of season, are very unfit for games at this level. You could see the fatigue set in for a number of our domestic players kick at about the 65 to 70-minute mark.

I was there, I sat in the stands in Italy and shook my head, and I don't mean that as disrespect. It was clear we had a long way to go. We get to replay those games now, and it'll be interesting to see what kind of progress we've made.

You always need to be patient, realizing the amount of time off these players have had. The expectations can't be too great. We realize it's going to take some time to settle in.

We see in Eddie a player with great potential, and certainly the injury put him back. He acquired a reputation that people expected a lot out of him, and I'm not copping out of that. We do expect a lot of Eddie, but at the same time he's a young player and he's getting there. His best soccer is probably for the next World Cup in all honestly. He's got a bright future, and we're hopeful he's moving forward.

The previous match played no role in selecting this roster. It was based on fitness and form. We thought this was a good group. We know Bocanegra and Johnson are certainly capable of playing (a full game), but Beasley is still something of a question mark.

All in all, to get 16 players in, and getting a win, that's a positive.

He scores goals in big games and that's what a real goal scorer is about. Obviously, he's one player that we have to focus on.

We played very well. I think we felt guilty of perhaps making things a little bit difficult on ourselves. We created a number of good goal-scoring opportunities and came up short, and that allowed Trinidad to hang around for 89 minutes or so when they could have been punished and sent home a lot earlier.

We have probably an additional three, four, five players that we that could have chosen. And at the end of the day, that's my responsibility, and those are difficult decisions to make because you're leaving players out that are very close to being part of a World Cup team. I feel for those players.

We've seen great improvement out of Clint this year. He's a player who is competing for a spot on the World Cup roster and I think he demonstrated he's progressed a lot.

Although we will be playing with a less than full roster, this game will provide an outstanding opportunity for some of our players to show they deserve strong consideration for the World Cup roster.

The Guatemala game will provide us with another good opponent as we continue to prepare and evaluate players for the 2006 World Cup roster.

That was a dominant performance by our team tonight; I'm very pleased. A number of players tonight made statements; hopefully they'll continue to make statements.

The fact that we played with a new group this game, the result's OK.

I wasn't certain how he was going to do, but I can see differences in Steve between now and 2001 when he first came to us. He is a much more experienced player and he is a very good player, and if he remains healthy, there's no reason to believe that he won't be in our first 11.

The issue for Tim, like it is for all of our players in Europe, is how much they play and how well they play.

I'm real pleased with this seven-week camp we've had to bring back players into the swing of things.

The first goal changed the game and once they got the second goal they played very well. Give them credit. They played well. They played with a confidence and, without a doubt, they were the better team tonight.

We have some extra numbers in positions where we can afford the opportunity to look at some of the European players in this game and rest some of the domestic players. An example of that would be Eddie Pope and Jim Conrad. Based on play over the past month and a half, they would be included in this roster if we were simply basing it on performances. But we have guys we need to look at now.

I like the fact that we're not playing at altitude (as in Mexico City), and Columbus is as good a venue as we can select. We have no excuses. We need to step on the field and win.

We know that Bocanegra and Johnson are certainly capable of playing 90. Beasley is a question mark. Therefore, we have not made a decision about his status yet for Saturday.

There's everything here for players and families to both experience the culture of Germany as well feel comfortable that this is a city that is similar to cities in the United States. And it's a perfect match: great restaurants, lots of entertainment, lot of things to do, a great hotel, great training facilities. Everything we want is here.

We have no excuses. We're playing at home. We're playing in a stadium we like. We need to step on the field and win the game.

We look forward to the challenge against Guatemala. Obviously, Carlos Ruiz is the one player we're certainly well aware of. We know from qualifying they have a very good team, so it should be a real good game in Dallas. We look forward to our first visit in this wonderful facility.

We went through an important year in 2005 where neither Eddie Johnson, John O'Brien, Claudio Reyna nor Cory Gibbs were around much due to injuries, and those are four players that you would think are clearly going to be on our roster for Germany.

I think there's some disappointment in some players because it was an opportunity for them to try to convince me that they belong on our roster for the World Cup. Most did not have a strong argument; some did.

I think we need to be patient with Eddie. He's just starting to come back. He's only played a couple of games since his injury in late May, so he's not completely in form at the moment.

Besides Brian McBride (who plays for Fulham in the English Premier League), nobody actually stands out and says 'I belong here' yet.

This match is a great chance for our players to show that they should be nominated for the World Cup.

We have 12 guys who have been to a World Cup. On June 12, we play a team with no one who has played in a World Cup. I'd like to believe that hopefully gives us an edge in this game.

I'm optimistic that we can qualify out of the group, regardless of what anyone else thinks. I think we're capable of playing with any team in the world.

We got beat and we deserved to get beat. This was the USA playing tonight ? it doesn't matter who we were missing.

This is an opportunity for some fresh faces, and we're going to see what they are about at the international level. This game is important because it can eliminate some players from consideration, and it can improve the situation of others.

I don't think the result of the game is that important, as much as is the performance of the players. Some of the players are on the fence so to speak and have their last opportunity.

These are just opportunities to evaluate players as we move forward, but you don't make decisions based on one game. Generally, as a rule of thumb, if you get a point on the road in qualifying, it's a pretty good result. The fact that we played with a new group this game, the result's OK. Would we have liked three points? Sure. But that's the way it is.

Let's give our opponents credit. I think they played real hard and came with a good plan.

I think you can't overreact from one game, the Norway game, and ignore the Canada game. You judge players over time, not over a game. As he continues to move forward we'll have a better feel for the direction he's headed. Obviously, he's getting better. From my perspective, I need to see if he's developing into a guy who should be a player on the World Cup roster and can help us win a game.

If I'd grade us, I'd say a C. We can't worry about it. We have to remember that it's January and a lot of players have been away from the game for a while.

If he's healthy we have two months to see if he can get fit to play in a World Cup. It's not like we need to rush him back into everything. We know the kind of player he is. There's a lot of quality there and if, over the next couple of weeks, we see steady improvement he's obviously going to get pretty strong consideration for the final roster.

Obviously we look forward to the game for a couple of reasons. Mexico is certainly and arguably our biggest rival in CONCACAF and that always makes for a good game. More importantly, any kind of positive result for the U.S. qualifies us for the next World Cup and that's been our objective since June of 2004. We obviously look forward to the game. We love playing in Columbus. We anticipate a great crowd, and one that's very supportive of the U.S. team. I'm confident we're going to field a strong team and play well.

The nuance with the U.S. team in qualifying is always, 'How do we blend our domestic- and foreign-based players? Now it's more complicated because we probably have more players abroad than ever before.

We're not going to ignore anybody at this point in time. The league will be operating in early April and we'll have a chance to look at those games to see if any of those players are a possibility for our April game or are still considerations for our roster.