With World Cup qualification at stake, U.S. still seek development answers

After being appointed U.S. head coach, Bruce Arena discussed what he hopes to accomplish in the role.The U.S. men's national team finds itself in a decidedly uncomfortable place these days.

The Americans have opened the final round of World Cup qualifying with two defeats and sit dead last in the Hexagonal. Combined with other subpar results over the past 18 months, all the hope and promise that symbolized the start of the Jurgen Klinsmann era has been scrapped.

Now, with Bruce Arena in charge for a second time, qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia is the only thing that matters.

There are other problems as well. Recent weeks have revealed fissures within the squad that threaten to…