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Patrick Zeng USA Today This was not how it was supposed to be. We were supposed to be on our way to Russia, on our way to our eighth consecutive World Cup, and on our way to cementing ourselves as a rising power in international soccer. Last night was supposed to be a night of relief and joy, but instead it ended in anguish and failure. And a lot of that comes down to the phrase I've been using, "supposed to". Alexi Lalas said it best a month ago when he dropped his now famous "soft, tattooed millionaires" line to describe this iteration of the United States National Team. And after what was seen from the first half performance last night, he couldn't have been more right. The U.S. entered halftime down 2-0 to a team that had one win through all of their Hex qualifying. The performance was gutless, heartless and underlined everything wrong with the current U.S. Soccer setup. I have been a large supporter of US skipper Michael Bradley, but last n...

Patrick Zeng @Roundtripper891 BleacherReport As of last November the United States Men's National Team seemed lost. Hopelessly adrift in the Hex world cup qualifiers after having their heart strings snapped from a 89th minute winner from Mexican legend Rafa Marquez and the 4-0 dismantling they were dealt at the hands of Costa Rica. That brought Jurgen Klinsmann's competitive record in 2016 to six wins and six losses which was enough to send the German packing. Then USA soccer announced that Bruce was back. Arena's history of success along with his familiarity with USA soccer made him the perfect candidate to help steer the USMNT back on the right path. The Brooklyn born native has three MLS Cups to his name and also led the US to its best ever finish in the World Cup which was a trip to the quarter finals in 2002. In comparison to Klinsmann who often voiced his displeasure with Americans playing domestically, Arena's connections to MLS where a heavy chunk of t...