Bruce Arena is keeping the gang together.
US Soccer announced on Wednesday that Arena has named former LA Galaxy assistants Dave Sarachan, Pat Noonan and Kenny Arena and goalkeeping coach Matt Reis to the USMNT coaching staff. The news was first reported by ESPN’s Taylor Twellman last month.
Additionally, US Soccer announced Wednesday that former US U-20 national team head coach Thomas Rongen has joined the group as the USMNT’s chief scout.
“The entire staff has a great amount of playing and coaching experience both at the international and professional level,” Arena said in a statement released by US Soccer. “With the need to hit the ground running, it’s even more critical that we have a staff that knows the player pool, shares a philosophy on how we approach the game, and has knowledge and experience in the international arena. In different ways this group ticks all those boxes, and we are already hard at work getting ready for the January camp and the World Cup qualifiers in March.”
The entire coaching staff has been together since before the start of the 2014 season, when Reis and Kenny Arena, Bruce’s son, joined the Galaxy staff. Noonan had been an assistant in LA since 2013, while Sarachan – who served under Arena with D.C. United and the USMNT from 1997-2002 – had been with the Galaxy since 2008.
Noonan and Reis both made their first international appearances during Arena’s initial stint with the USMNT, with Noonan collecting 14 caps in his career and Reis playing twice for the full national team. Kenny Arena made 24 appearances for the U-20 national team and was on the US roster for the 2001 U-20 World Cup.
LA announced in December that Curt Onalfo would take over as head coach for Arena, who left the Galaxy last month to take over the USMNT job.
