The "unique" Bruce Arena can be a "breath of fresh air" as the new United States manager, despite taking over the team for the second time, former U.S. international John O'Brien says.
O'Brien, who earned 32 caps with the U.S. before injuries ended his career in 2006, said Arena is one of those coaches who makes his squads feel they "could beat any team on any given day."
Arena included O'Brien on both of his World Cup squads. He served as a key player in the 2002 team that reached the quarterfinals, scoring the first goal in the 3-2 group-stage win over Portugal -- before injury limited him to one appearance in the less successful first-round exit in 2006.
Speaking to ESPN FC about U.S. Soccer's decision to replace Jurgen Klinsmann with the 65-year-old, O'Brien praised Arena's range of qualities, and doesn't feel a return will be an issue because there are so few players who played under the New York-born coach before.
"I think he can be a breath of fresh air for sure," the former midfielder said. "I think Tim Howard is the only one that played under him 10 years ago [Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey and Brad Guzan did as well]. So it's a new selection... I think it's great.
"I really admire him as a coach. He respected the players a lot, had a good sense of what he wanted to do, great at getting everyone on the same page. The players really enjoyed playing for him. I'm hoping the team can put a really good product on the field. I think we've got some talented players now.
"He cares about his players, he respects his players, he's good at the big picture, who he wants on the field, the tactics to play, and motivating the players -- the players being in a place where they want to play well, being connected to the team, feeling a part of it.
"I think he's really good at being personable but at the same time being the boss as well. This is how I think about it and this is the way it's going to be. I think that makes his quality unique and really good."
The former Ajax player also pointed to how Arena successfully moved to a 3-5-2 formation to bring a historic 2-0 round-of-16 win over Mexico in the 2002 World Cup, in contrast to how the approach provoked such difficulties and debate for Klinsmann.
Asked what stood out about Arena's management in the 2002 World Cup, O'Brien specifically pointed to the formation switch in the knockout stage.
"Well Mexico, he made a tactical change," Arena said. "I believe we played 3-5-2 and we had been playing 4-4-2, so that was pretty remarkable. That worked out well, as opposed to this recent 3-5-2 tactical shift [in a 2-1 World Cup qualifying defeat to Mexico this month].
"[Arena] also had us on the same page, in terms of working hard and working for each other.
"We believed we could do it, that we could beat any team on any given day."