Getting Back on The Bull

With Arena in charge, the Red Bulls will have a distinctive Washington personality: Assistant coaches Richie Williams and John Harkes played for Arena at Virginia and United, and another former pupil, Jeff Agoos, has been mentioned for a possible front office position. (Williams was the interim coach before Arena's hiring, while Harkes, who lives on the same Fairfax street as Arena, recently resigned as United's director of youth development to join the Red Bulls.)

The top goalkeeper is Tony Meola, whose ties to Arena go back to their days together in Charlottesville in 1988 and '89. And last week the club acquired Ukrainian midfielder Dema Kovalenko, who played for United from 2003 through 2005, and former D.C. prospect Shawn Kuykendall.

Although his national team position drew him to dozens of MLS games each year, including many United matches at nearby RFK, Arena has not coached in the league since 1998, when D.C. advanced to the title game for a third consecutive year and later beat Brazilian club Vasco da Gama in the Interamerican Cup.

Since then, MLS has gotten itself onto firmer financial ground, but, in Arena's view, the quality of play has stagnated.

"I don't think it has moved along as well as I would've thought," he said. "It doesn't seem like it's that critical at the league level to produce top-quality teams. People want to see good soccer and I don't know if the league has given it to them. We've got to work harder toward that and take an aggressive approach to make it happen."

Replicating the early success he had with United will be difficult, Arena said, because "the rules concerning players and making moves are really tight. When the league got started, there were no rules, or the rules that were in place were meant to be broken."

While the Red Bulls formulate a plan to acquire major European or South American talent this offseason -- French superstar Zinedine Zidane and Brazilian forward Ronaldo have been rumored -- Arena will attempt to get the most from his current roster, which includes former French World Cup star Youri Djorkaeff and Honduran playmaker Amado Guevara, the 2004 MLS most valuable player.

Those who have played for Arena think the club's mentality, if not the talent level, will change right away.

"He wasn't a negative guy and he didn't berate you, but he was always the type of coach who left you thinking, 'Could I have done more?' " said United assistant coach Mark Simpson, Arena's starting goalkeeper in the inaugural MLS Cup in 1996.

"I could play a game and have a shutout and have 10 saves and he'd ask me about a cross I misjudged. He just left that question in your mind: 'What could I have done better?' That's how he motivated you to play, and then he would walk away with a little smirk on his face. That's the way he is. That's Bruce."

United Note: Argentine midfielder Matias Donnet, who has agreed to contract terms with the club, arrived in Washington yesterday to meet the team and undergo a physical. If the deal is finalized, it will take at least two weeks for his work visa to be approved.