The New England Revolution’s training session on Wednesday morning felt a lot like any other. Tucked away in the wetlands that border Gillette Stadium in exurban Foxborough, Ma., the training fields feel cloistered, surrounded by tall maple and poplar trees. On a picture-perfect summer day, players laughed as they ran through drills and small-sided games the day before the Revolution’s Leagues Cup match against LigaMX side Atlas on Thursday night.
The voice shouting out instructions and offering insight from the sidelines, though, was notably different. Bruce Arena, the Revolution’s head coach and sporting director — and the winningest coach in MLS history — was nowhere to be found, replaced on the training field by his longtime assistant Richie Williams.
Arena, the former D.C. United, LA Galaxy and U.S. men’s national team coach, is away from the Revolution after being placed on administrative leave on Sunday. In a statement on Tuesday, the Revolution said Arena is alleged to have made “inappropriate and insensitive remarks.” Major League Soccer is currently investigating that complaint. Williams, the statement said, will assume Arena’s responsibilities as head coach for the time being while Curt Onalfo — another longtime disciple of Arena’s — will handle his responsibilities as the club’s sporting director.
It’s not unusual for MLS players, coaches, and administrators to be investigated for all manner of misbehaviors. However, Arena’s outsized profile in American soccer makes this an especially notable case. There has been a near-complete lack of public information about what he said and who he said it to, along with a days-long delay in informing the public of his removal from the team. Even the players Arena coaches every day seem to have little idea of what, exactly, is going on.
Rumors of Arena’s absence from training and the investigation into his conduct started to spread within MLS circles on Sunday afternoon. Later on Sunday and Monday, after it became apparent that Arena was absent from club activities, the league and the Revolution did not answer calls and texts requesting comment explaining his absence. On Tuesday, after being informed that Arena’s absence was going to be reported by The Athletic, MLS released its statement.
The league and club have since declined to comment on additional reporting, citing the ongoing investigation. Asked why there was a delay between Arena’s placement on administrative leave and the public statement, a Revolution spokesperson said “The club cannot comment on an ongoing investigation, or the processes involved in that investigation.”
Arena’s representation also declined to comment.
Club Statement: pic.twitter.com/CqyRt1tisg
— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) August 1, 2023
The Revolution, along with the league, first learned of the complaint last week, multiple sources familiar with the investigation said on Wednesday. Sources were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about an ongoing investigation.
On Sunday, players were informed by Revolution president Brian Bilello in a meeting that Arena would be away from the group for an unspecified amount of time. They were told that the absence wasn’t due to a health issue. They have been given no additional information beyond what the club provided publicly. Within the Revs front office, only a very small circle of employees are familiar with any of the details of the complaint against Arena — ”it’s essentially Bilello and the legal team,” said one well-connected source.
Arena has had no official contact with his players and is not currently involved in the day-to-day operations at the club. Arena was present on Monday evening at a wake for Olivia Knighton, the daughter of former Revs goalkeeper Brad Knighton who tragically died in a boating accident last Wednesday. Many Revolution staffers and players were also there.
As of Thursday morning, Arena himself had not been informed as to the nature of the allegation or allegations made against him, said multiple sources familiar with the investigation.
The uncertainty surrounding the entire situation has been felt by his players, many of whom have made calls and sent text messages this week trying to ascertain what Arena is alleged to have said. As of Wednesday, the locker room largely remained in the dark in regard to the investigation.
The allegations made against Arena and the ensuing investigation are private by nature and feel similar to how you’d imagine any “HR”-type complaint might play out. In a locker room, though, a place where information — even private information — is so often widely disseminated and discussed, the element of mystery surrounding the entire situation has sometimes felt bizarre.
“It’s strange for us, for me it’s the first time that I have (been through) something like this,” said Revolution captain Carles Gil. Gil also noted that in his four years playing under Arena, he hadn’t heard the 71-year-old say anything he’d deem inappropriate.
Revolution midfielder Mark-Anthony Kaye, who joined New England after being traded away from Toronto FC last month, mirrored that sentiment.
“I didn’t know what to think about it (when we first heard about the investigation,)” Kaye said. “I don’t know much. I don’t know any information.”
Williams (left) will lead the team in Arena’s absence (Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Arena is a formative figure in American soccer. He became the winningest coach in MLS history last year and is the only coach in the history of the league to win 250 games. He has won more championships than any other coach as well: five MLS Cups, four Supporters’ Shields and a U.S. Open Cup. A four-time MLS coach of the year, Arena has also been a staple at the international level. In 2002, he guided the US men’s national team to its best World Cup finish since the tournament’s inaugural edition in 1930. He also shepherded the team during the 2006 cycle and again for a short spell in 2018. In 2010, Arena was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
A former player himself, Arena also has easily the most wide-ranging coaching tree in MLS history, having mentored many of the league’s current and former coaches. With some exceptions, Arena is generally respected and well-regarded by his players, something that has contributed greatly to his longevity.
Arena has also been one of the league’s most outspoken personalities, widely-known for his no-nonsense, blunt approach when addressing any number of issues, from the league’s officiating and roster regulations to the general state of soccer in America. In 2018, not long after Arena took over for Jurgen Klinsmann during the U.S.’ doomed 2018 World Cup qualification cycle, he hit out at U.S. Soccer and a host of others in “What’s Wrong With Us?,” a book he co-authored with commentator and author Steve Kettmann.
“Basically, the same people have remained in control of the sport over the past twenty years,” wrote Arena. “This should not happen. The landscape of the sport has changed drastically, and there is a need for new leaders with technical experience who can bring fresh ideas to the table. There need to be some new blood and new ways of doing things.”
Two years later, Arena served a three-game suspension during MLS’ “MLS is Back” tournament during the COVID-19 pandemic for using abusive language against a match official. He initially received a red card and a standard one-game suspension but MLS commissioner Don Garber extended that penalty by an additional two games.
Williams has a lengthy history with Arena which dates back to his playing days at the University of Virginia in the late 80s and early 90s, where Arena was his head coach. He played for him again at D.C. United during the club’s championship runs in the mid-90s and has coached alongside Arena in various capacities in MLS and with U.S. Soccer. Williams joined the Revolution in 2019.
Onalfo, the club’s technical director and now acting general manager, has his own lengthy history with Arena that dates back to the late 90s as well. Arena has employed Onalfo in some manner for long stretches of the past two decades.
Arena received a multi-year contract extension with the Revolution last summer. Williams, along with much of the Revolution’s sporting staff — former MLS player Shalrie Joseph, goalkeeper coach Kevin Hitchcock, assistant coach Dave van den Bergh and Onalfo — did not receive that same extension, sources familiar with the club’s operations said on Thursday. Arena, Williams and Onalfo have clashed during the 2022 and 2023 seasons, those sources said, over differences between the club’s sporting direction and tactics. Onalfo, those same sources said, has clashed with Arena over player signings in particular.
Now, Williams and Onalfo will shepherd the Revolution in the near term while MLS investigates the allegations against Arena.
(Photo: Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)