LAFC faces big test against coach Bruce Arena and his Earthquakes
The legendary American manager has San José off to its best start in franchise history in his second season at the helm.
Coach Bruce Arena has guided the San Jose Earthquakes to a 6-1-0 record, the franchise's best start to a season. (Scot Tucker / Associated Press) No one has coached or won more MLS games than Bruce Arena , so when Arena speaks about the league, it’s probably wise to listen. Except, maybe, when he’s trying to downplay his own team , the San José Earthquakes, which is off to the best start in franchise history heading into Sunday’s game with LAFC at BMO Stadium.
“Well, you know, it’s very early in the season,” said Arena, whose team is 6-1-0 and entered the weekend tied for the MLS lead in wins and points. “You don’t get too crazy in the early going. ” Wins in April count just as much as wins in October, however, and Sunday’s matinee against LAFC (5-1-1) looms as an important test for Arena’s team, which has just two victories over teams with winning records.
When Arena returned to manage in the league for the fourth time last season — he has never actually retired — he took over a team that last had a winning record in 2013 and one that was put up for sale midway through that first season, which only added to the instability around the franchise. Yet the coach has been able to block that out. “There’s a lot of things that are going to probably happen here in the next year,” Arena said.
“There’s a possibility of having new ownership and who knows where that takes us. So my focus is on this team at this time and the next game. I’m not trying to dictate a five-year plan at the moment.