CARSON, Calif. – The LA Galaxy are saying farewell to head coach and general manager Bruce Arena.
On Tuesday, the club announced that Arena will be returning to his old post at the helm of the U.S. Men’s National Team in hopes of helping the U.S. qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Arena’s move ends a phenomenal eight-plus years with the Galaxy that saw the club win three MLS Cup trophies, a Supporters’ Shield and qualify for the postseason in eight consecutive seasons.
Having covered Arena’s teams since the 2010 campaign, I had a front row seat to many of his accomplishments, but also to his press conferences which were entertaining for fans and –occasionally – reporters alike.
As Arena’s time with the Galaxy comes to a close, I take a look at some of my favorite quotes from his tenure.
On Questions: "Really? That’s the question that you asked. Are you serious?"
On Hysteria: "Hysteria is the fault of social media."
On statistics in soccer: We won the game. That’s what you do in soccer games. We were on the road in a venue where the team does pretty well at home. What are we complaining about? Then some moron will write that they had more shots than us thinking that’s important. Actually, analytics in soccer, if no one here has figured it out, doesn’t mean a whole lot. Analytics and statistics are used for people who don’t know how to analyze the game. I’ll be very honest with you; this isn’t baseball or football or basketball. We have a very important analytic, and that’s the score. That distorts all the other statistics.”
On if losing was a learning experience: "Whatever. Learning experience. These are adults. They should learn this stuff by now."
On a past history with a team: "You’ve obviously not been part of an athletic team before. Those things have nothing to do with this game Wednesday, nothing to do with it. I don’t know how you can think of rivalries, three playoff series that’s going to mean anything Wednesday. It has nothing to do with it."
On a difficult game: "The game was crappy. The whole game was crappy.”
On refereeing: "We need to publish law eighteen and make a lot of copies of that and send it off to everyone involved. Do you know what law eighteen is? Law eighteen is common sense. That’s the law we definitely violate in every game."
After a scoreless draw: “It had all the makings of a 0-0 game. And that’s what it was.”
On a losing streak: “We’re probably going to fold our franchise."
On a win: “The goal tonight was to get three points. That was accomplished.”
On dumb questions: "Ask a dumb question, get a dumb answer."
On short memories: *I think athletes and coaches’ jobs ought to have short memories. If you live like that you’d kill yourself thinking the way you’re proposing that question. Who even cares about last year? It has nothing to do with the result today."
On if he ever gets frustrated playing with a short-handed roster: "It’s all part of it. If it’s frustrating then you turn into a morbid, depressed person."
On recovering from a last-second loss to Montreal: "I’m fine. I’ve slept pretty well the last couple of nights."
On formations: It makes no sense that people spend time on this formation or that formation. At the end of the day, there’s 11 players on the field. And once in a while it’s 10."
On any rivalry with New York: "Rivalry makes absolutely no sense. You guys put that tag on every team we play anyway, but this is as absurd as most of them."
On clinching a playoff berth: "I won’t be doing any cartwheels."
