Thursday Galaxy Gameday
Claudio Reyna and Bruce Arena in happier times when first reunited as player and coach with the Red Bulls.
Photo by Bruce Hazleton
The one thing players stress about new Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena is his man management skills:
"His best quality is as a man manager and as a team manager," said defender Chris Klein, who has had stints under Arena with the national team. "He's always gotten the most out of players and if you ask guys who played for him many more times than I have, they'll say the same thing - when you play under Bruce, he's going to get the most out of you."
Still, it was notable that a widely reported player revolt in New York likely played a role in his firing from the Red Bulls.
So it will be interesting to hear what former Arena favorite Claudio Reyna - one of the chief revolters, who publicly fell out with his former coach - has to say about him in the ESPN2 booth before tonight's game (live at 7 on ESPN2) against the Chicago Fire.
The former U.S. National Team captain will make his ESPN studio debut as a guest analyst during the pregame show.
It's a game notably short on star power, but Galaxy fans will be more concerned whether Arena can break the team's eight game winless streak.
I will blog from Carson as usual.
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About 100 Percent Soccer
Sportswriter Nick Green has written the 100 Percent Soccer column since 2005 for the Daily News, Daily Breeze and other Los Angeles area newspapers. The blog of the same name began in 2007. A native of England, he began writing about soccer in the mid-1980s and in 2000 permanently exchanged a seat in the stands for one in the press box. He lives six miles from Carson's Home Depot Center, home of the Los Angeles Galaxy, Chivas USA and the training headquarters for U.S. Soccer and is married to a long-suffering soccer widow. Join Nick on FaceBook and follow him on Twitter.
Nick, what did Claudio Reyna say about Arena? Anything notable? Thanks for your blog.
Nick replies: I don't think so, but sadly I missed most of it since we had the sound turned down in the press box.
Ok. Thanks for your reply. I also wanted to tell you that you are doing a great job with the blog and I have become a regular reader. Thanks again.