Cosmos Federation

New York Red Bull

NEW YORK (Reuters) - It is not easy living in the shadows of Pele and Franz Beckenbauer.

Even former United States coach Bruce Arena, the new manager of the Red Bull New York soccer club, knows that. He is under no illusion that he might soon be presiding over a return to the glory days of the New York Cosmos.

"If everyone is waiting for the Cosmos to arrive, it's not going to happen," he said. "We're not going to be the Cosmos. We're not a superclub."

To some, those comments in an interview with Sports Illustrated magazine might seem defeatist talk from the latest would-be miracle-worker brought in to New York's troubled Major League Soccer (MLS) club. Arena, though, is a realist who knows no magic wand will bring instant success.

"We'll do our best to bring a good team to this marketplace," Arena said after constant negative comparisons with the Cosmos, who electrified the Big Apple with the artistry and glamour of Pele, Beckenbauer and a host of aging big names.

"I'm not sure it's necessarily different except for these expectations that still exist of being compared to the Cosmos," said the man who led the U.S. in the last two World Cup tournaments.

More than two decades after the New York Cosmos played their last North American Soccer League (NASL) game, the ghosts of the past still stalk Giants Stadium.

In a short, glorious period from 1971-84 they won five NASL titles and were twice runners-up, attracting near sell-out 80,000 crowds and proving to non-believers that Americans would pay to watch soccer.

SORRY BUNCH

Their successors are a sorry bunch by comparison, despite the words of ex-general manager and U.S. World Cup player Alexi Lalas who said the team, which has won no silverware in 10 seasons, was destined to become a "superclub."

In 10 seasons as the New York/New Jersey Metrostars, and now reborn in the 11th as the Red Bulls, the MLS team has only once advanced past the first round of the playoffs.

Their regular season record over the decade is 125 wins, 146 losses and 35 ties. This season they are languishing near the bottom of the standings with more losses (8) than wins (6) and 11 draws.

The club has had nine coaches in 11 years, including Brazil's World Cup winner Carlos Alberto Parreira, Carlos Queiroz, the Manchester United number two, and now Arena, who replaced ex-Scotland player Mo Johnston.

Some big names have also played in the red and black of the Metrostars/Red Bulls, including new Italy coach Roberto Donadoni, German World Cup-winning captain Lothar Mathaeus and, currently, French World Cup winner Youri Djorkaeff.

After his first game in charge, however -- a 0-0 draw at home to MLS league leaders DC United -- Arena was less than optimistic that Cosmos-like glory days were around the corner.

"We're not one of the premier teams in the league, we know that, we're going to get better," he said.

After losing 4-1 in a friendly to European Champions Barcelona last month, Arena was typically blunt: "We don't have world-class players in the United States."

NEW OWNERS

Veteran U.S. goalkeeper Tony Meola, who is in his second spell with the club, said there were signs that the new owners, the Red Bull soft drink company of Austria, were serious about turning things around.

"The lack of stability has made it difficult," he said. "The team has been in the league 11 years and finally we know that the people at the top have a stake in the team. Before, we didn't know from day to day what was going to happen."

He hopes the new owners, who bought the club for an estimated $100 million from the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), will bring a change in fortune. The company purchased an Austrian team last year and Red Bull Salzburg is currently top of the Austrian league.

Red Bull has already invested in bringing Arena to New York -- he will not reveal how much his contract is worth -- and is bankrolling a practice facility, something the Metrostars never had.

The company will also invest in the new stadium to be built in nearby Harrison, New Jersey, where crowds of 20,000 will not look quite as lost as they do in the 80,000-capacity Giants Stadium which was built for American football.

These are the kind of changes Lalas talked about last year, when he was named general manager under AEG.

"We have a lot of work to do," Lalas said on joining the front office of the club he had played for. "But I feel we have the potential on and off the field to become world-renowned. I think we can become the first superclub in MLS."

Nine months later, Lalas was gone, becoming GM of the Los Angeles Galaxy, as the Metrostars were sold to Red Bull.

Arena, not a man given to hyperbole, poured scorn on Lalas's comments. "If I told you this was a superclub, are you going to believe me?" he asked in the New York Times.