Arena apologizes for comments about U.S. Soccer

	Now head coach of the New York Red Bulls, Bruce Arena had plenty to say recently about his former employers at U.S. Soccer. David Bergman/SI
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I got back from a dinner engagement around 10:30 on Wednesday night, and I had two voicemail messages, one on my work phone and the other on my cell.

They were both from Bruce Arena. He wanted to talk, and from the tone of his voice (and the multiple messages) it sounded like he had something to get off his chest. So I called him back despite the hour.

In 14 years of covering Arena, the New York Red Bulls coach and former U.S. manager, I had never heard him deliver what I would call an honest-sounding apology. Take that for what you will. To some people that's part of his appeal; to some it's a character flaw.

This was the first time.

Over the next 15 minutes Arena expressed his regrets over potshots he had taken at U.S. Soccer and USSF president Sunil Gulati -- the man who showed him the door in July, ending Arena's eight-year term with the U.S. national team -- in recent interviews with SI.com and The New York Times' Web site.

Among other things, Arena had called Gulati a "micromanager" and a "superfan" and said Gulati had "no idea" when it came to justifying any pursuit of a foreign coach to replace Arena.

Those interviews made for great copy, of course, and yet they also revealed an Arena who was astonishingly bitter about the circumstances of his departure from U.S. Soccer. It was as if Arena was suddenly like a pro wrestler who switches from hero to heel overnight, bashing his old friends and supporters over the head with a folding chair, napalming his bridges with glee.

Having Arena play the loose cannon in New York might bring much-needed publicity to MLS -- of that much I'm certain -- but as Arena is learning, there's a cost to that, too.

Now Arena is going through something new: the remorse stage, perhaps realizing that his comments may have done damage to his legacy as the U.S. coach. Taken together, Arena's recent comments (including those below) amount to a very public therapy session for a coach who's still learning how to deal with his rare failures (like the 2006 World Cup), his own anger and its impact on the people around him.

In some ways it all makes Arena more interesting than ever.

"Nobody's telling me to do this, but I think the way the two interviews came out is not appropriate," Arena told me when I called him back. "I think I've allowed my anger and frustration to overcome any kind of common sense I might have.

"In business, in sports, people don't always agree. We accept that. I don't necessarily agree with Sunil's vision, but Sunil and I go way back, and I think he's a real good person and he's going to be a good president. He's a competent person, and if my remarks infer that he's not competent and a quality guy, that's wrong.

"It's the same with U.S. Soccer. Those guys treated me great for eight years, and I have no hard feelings. My comments sound like sour grapes, and it's wrong. As I look at the text of some of the things I've said, I think they're absolutely inappropriate and distasteful."

In the past, Arena has sometimes blamed writers for the way his incendiary comments have been presented. Not this time.

"There's only one person at fault here," he said. "I've got to be big enough to admit a mistake. I've got to move on. We've all got to move on. I had eight great years. I don't know why the hell I don't think I didn't and should express things differently. I'll continue as long I remain in soccer to challenge the direction we're going -- but try to do it better than in these last two interviews."

As I hung up, I couldn't help but think back to something Arena told me earlier this year, before the World Cup and the U.S.' disappointing first-round exit.

"I think there's probably a number of people who might describe me as a complete a--hole," he said. "But I don't attack anybody, I don't do anything against people, I'm honest. If there's an issue with anyone, I talk about it. I'm kind of focused on what I do. I don't respect dishonesty or people who are cheating in any facet of life, so maybe I don't have time for those people or don't respect them. But I'm very supportive of the people around me, and I'm a great friend."

Arena has used the term "friend" to describe his longtime relationship with Gulati, the man who essentially fired him. But then he disparaged Gulati with such force that you had to wonder: With friends like these, who needs enemies?

Now, maybe, Arena is beginning to rectify that. We'll see.

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