After just 16 months, Bruce Arena officially resigned yesterday as the Red Bulls coach and sporting director. Essentially, he was fired.
Managing director Marc de Grandpre said there were various factors that led to Arena’s ouster, and that only winning the MLS Cup would have saved Arena’s job.
“With the amount of resources we’ve committed to this franchise, we expect results quickly,” said de Grandpre, who insists he got no input from billionaire owner Dietrich Mateschitz or players like Juan Pablo Angel and Claudio Reyna.
“Bruce was in charge of the entire soccer operations from soup to nuts. It was his responsibility, and obviously we didn’t attain our objectives.”
Arena, the former U.S. national team coach, had two years left on a guaranteed deal that paid him $600,000 a season. As the MLS’ highest-paid coach, he was bought out by the MLS’ highest-salaried team after a 12-11-7 campaign and a first-round playoff exit.
The Red Bulls will split Arena’s two jobs in their search, and despite de Grandpre denying Fabio Capello is yet on their list, the ex-Real Madrid coach is reported to have a standing MLS offer and is a likely candidate.
Giovanni Trapattoni of their Austrian sister club Red Bull Salzburg, former MetroStar Lothar Matthaus – whom Red Bull fired as Trapattoni’s assistant in June – and Jurgen Klinsmann are possible successors.