MLS said in a statement that in his third full season as LA head coach, Arena led the Galaxy to one of the best regular seasons in MLS history, capturing the Supporter's Shield for the second-consecutive season and recording the second-best point total (67, 19-5-10) since the league's inaugural year in 1996.

　　Statistics show that the LA Galaxy ran away with the Supporter's Shield behind the consistent and stingy play of MLS' best defense. The team had 17 shutouts in 34 games, tying the all-time record set by Kansas City in 2000, and allowed the fewest goals in the league (28). They had the best goal differential in MLS (+20), while also registering the third-best goals against average (0.82) in league history.

　　Voting was conducted among MLS club management, media, and players based on regular season performance. Arena collected the majority of the vote in each category,becoming the first person to win the award three times (1997, 2009, 2011).

　　Seattle Sounders manager Sigi Schmid finished second while Sporting Kansas City's Peter Vermes came in third.

　　The 60-year-old Arena is a former coach of the United States men's national soccer team as well as a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

　　During his time as national team head coach, the United States rose in the FIFA world rankings from being 19th to being fourth. Bruce Arena's 71 wins as national coach from 1998-2006 are by far the most in U.S. history, making him the most successful Men's US National Team Coach in history.

　　On August 18, 2008, the Los Angeles Galaxy hired Arena as head coach. He inherited a team which had failed to make the playoffs since 2005.

　　Under his coaching, the Galaxy went to the playoffs in 2009 and Arena was selected as the 2009 MLS Coach of the Year Award accordingly.

　　Arena was first awarded MLS Coach of the Year in 1997 when he was the head coach with DC United.