What's Wrong with US?

A Coach’s Blunt Take on the State of American Soccer After a Lifetime on the Touchline

By: Bruce Arena, Steve Kettmann

Narrated by: Fred Sanders

Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's Summary

Every four years, Americans turn their attention to the world’s game - soccer. As recently as 1998, the USMNT merely made up the numbers at the biggest sporting tournament of all, but once Bruce Arena took over the team, American soccer started to find its footing. In the 2002 World Cup, a highly-fancied Portugal team, featuring the great Ronaldo, lost to Arena’s US team in a shocking 3-2 victory, and but for a handball that wasn’t given, they could well have knocked off eventual winners Germany. But that quarterfinal appearance proved once and for all that the USMNT, like the women’s team before them, deserved to be considered a worthy opponent - and that’s all thanks to Bruce Arena.

When he took over the USMNT, Arena was already the most successful club team coach in US history, having led DC United to the first two championships of the fledgling MLS. Arena - known for his tactical acumen and no-nonsense approach to coaching - inspired and instilled just enough fear into his teams to make them overachieve. By 2016, however, the national team was in a funk - coach Jurgen Klinsmann had brought the team to near elimination during the qualifying rounds for Russia. Cue Arena’s return to the stage, and the team’s return to form.

Arena’s audiobook will teach fans what makes this hugely successful coach tick. And the thousands of coaches around the country will turn to What's Wrong With US? to see exactly how they can instill Arena’s blueprint for success on their own bands of young players.

©2018 Bruce Arena (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers

Misleading Title

I bought this book hoping for insight on what is wrong with US soccer. I had the impression that I would learn something that I could apply to my coaching.

This is merely a biography of Bruce Arena's coaching career.

More a memoir than a condemnation of USS

The narrator was not good, would have preferred Bruce Arena's long island inflection. The stories told are fantastic, great insight.

Sanders doesn’t live up to Arena’s snark

Overall, the audiobook is good. But this book would be much better if read by Bruce Arena. Sanders has a fine voice and good reading cadence, but his lack of familiarity with pronouncing soccer players names or team names makes the gap between his deliver and Arena’s words rather large.

Very insightful

A biography of Bruce Arena that covers his whole career while giving the reader insight into what is right and what is wrong with US soccer. The reader may not have had Bruce's trademark New York accent but he did a good job nonetheless. I could have done without some of the foul language, especially one or two f-bombs but thankfully it wasn't too pervasive.

Must read

Incredible content. A must read if you follow soccer in America. Unfortunatley very difficult to listen to. Narration is monotone, robotic, and soft spoken as if he is in a cubicle in a library trying not to disturb anyone.

Heavy on Biography Light on Solutions

The book title is somewhat misleading. Most of the chapters are devoted to Mr Aren’s biography. That’s ok, but the listener doesn’t get a lot by way of solutions and why his suggestions would work. One understands that the English and Mexican leagues changed their rules to get more of their own players heightened experience, but where’s the analysis of how that’s working out? Mexico didn’t have a brilliant World Cup in 2018, but what about their youthful players? Have they progressed? The English had a very good run, and it was no accident-most of their starters regularly play in the EPL. Is that a result of the FA rule changes or no? This book could have used more of this as well as further development of “American” solutions for an “American” problem.

Good Book by Great Coach With Vibrant Voice Read by a Non-Coach With Sleepy Voice

Excellent Book!
Arena’s story is at the heart of a key era in the history of the sport’s development. One star deducted because he didn’t take time to read it to us himself. One of Arena’s great legacies is that east coast voice rising up on American soil to become a world class coach in a sport where none seemed to exist on that stage before him and Bob Bradley. I mean, fellow Long Islander John McEnroe read his own book.And if you write a book you expect others to read can’t you take the time to read it to us yourself.
Love Bruce Arena. Love this book. But Coach—next time do us the courtesy of narrating your own story yourself, please.

Very Enjoyable!

It's definitely more of Bruce's autobiography, than a complete manual to overhaul US Soccer. But, it is a good reminder of his succeses, and what he's done for the growth of the game. Narrator missed pronounced a couple names.. shame he himself doesn't know who the are. However, I thought he was a good choice to represent Bruce. If you are a US Soccer fan, this is a must!