Arena did not comment on the nature of the remarks.

“I made a few mistakes there. I accept responsibility and will continue moving forward,” he said.

“I will say this about my experience in New England: I’m very proud of the work I did there. I enjoyed the players as much as any team I’ve ever had, some really good people in the organisation. The fan base was good. The people in Boston were great.

“Overall it was a really positive experience for me. And I’m disappointed it ended that way. But I learned from it.”

Arena, 73, is the most successful coach in US soccer history and was inducted into the US National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2010. He has won five MLS championships and is the winningest coach in MLS and the US men’s national team.

He will face challenges in turning around the Earthquakes, one of the league’s founding teams. San Jose finished last in the league last season with just six wins.

“I think there’s potential and certainly when you take over a team that finished last, I think you can only go one way… When we start in late February, we’re hoping we’ll have a pretty competitive team and we can turn that around.

“I’m not promising that we’re going to win the MLS Cup in 2025, but I’m promising that we’re going to have a better team and a team that this community and our fan base will be proud of,” he said.

Arena managed the United States in two World Cups; these included the quarter-final in 2002; This was the first time the country had managed to get this far since the first tournament in 1930. The USA failed to make it out of the group stage in 2006. The World Cup and Arena’s contract was not renewed.

Arena won two MLS championships with DC United and three with LA Galaxy in 2011, 2012 and 2014. His 262 regular season wins and 35 postseason wins were the most in MLS history. He also coached the New York Red Bulls and most recently New England from 2019-23.

He said Quakes owner John Fisher promised him the tools to build a competitive team.

“My discussions with Mr Fisher strongly indicate that he will support the club. Believe me, we do not expect to become Inter Miami. But we will move our club up the ladder to position ourselves as a much more competitive team,” Arena said. “And I believe there is great commitment from both the owner and our front office.”