Gregg Berhalter needs to be fired, like after the loss to Panama. Something has to change especially after crashing out of the 2024 Copa America Group Stage. The United States Men’s National Team has been “grouped” at a major tournament, the first time in 20 tournaments, on home soil, and against a very favorable group. Whether or not Berhalter should have been given another cycle after his contract was up after 2022 is a different story, but the reality is that every major footballing nation would move on quickly from their manager after being embarrassed at a tournament. This is one of those moments. The USSF has to move on from Berhalter or else not only will it alienate fans, it will also set the program back.
Berhalter has never been that coach for U.S. Sure, he helped stabilize it and helped recruit overseas players who were eligible, but thats as much as that can be said positively about him. Watching him coach is hard to watch as it’s very clear he has no feel for the game. His tactics seem off, lack of any adjustments, and his substitutions left fans scratching their heads. This is supposedly the golden generation of players for the program and what exactly has he accomplished with them? There really has not been any signature wins and even with the matches he’s had against top 30 nations according to ELO (not the best rankings, but better than FIFA), it’s not an impressive record especially against sides like Iran and Ecuador and even against a Mexico side that is the worst it has been for a while. The record is 6-8-10. Does that suggest anything good? It’s ok to say that this country is not a top ten side in the world because it’s true, but that doesn’t mean the record should be that bad. In 2002, 2010, and 2014 (even 2016), with sides that had less talent, which is a bit harsh to say but true, the U.S. had made progress and even had signature wins. Even in 2016, under Jurgen Klinsmann, this team made the semi-finals of the Copa America Centenario. What has been done under Berhalter? Nothing of significance. With this supposed golden generation, you’re supposed to get the best out of the talent you have and at least compete with sides that are just as good or even better, yet there is no signature win. Five years and have done nothing.
What we just saw was a colossal failure. Berhalter has managed to do the bare minimum in his tenure and when you’re not even doing that then you are not doing your job and when you’re not doing your job then it’s grounds to be fired. But if this federation wants to see the country improve at the sport then it’s time for a new voice and that should signal Berhalter’s departure after the 2022 calendar year, yet they brought him back a second time and the team has actually regressed. So it seems to be status quo for the USSF and they seem fine with it all, but seemingly they are complacent with all of this.
What is hysterical is that even at club level Berhalter hasn’t proven much either especially after Swedish club Hammarby fired him for “lack of attacking play”. Isn’t that what Berhalter lacked coaching for the U.S.? One of the biggest criticisms of Berhalter was also the squad selections, though admittedly they got significantly better in his second tenure, however, he would constantly take MLS players onto the squad when they had no business playing against international competition. That is not a knock on MLS as simply the quality of play is not better than most international competitions and it is improving, but no one from an MLS roster should be on the national side especially when there are players from Europe. However, even with those players from European sides, they have not produced results and this result from the Copa America just proves it. They had to play the likes of Panama and Bolivia, teams they should win with ease, in their group yet they struggled. You cannot lose to those sides. But to show even how much Berhalter doesn’t get it is that he flashed a “1-1” hand signal right before a set piece against Uruguay signaling that all they need is a draw to advance. First of all, you cannot rely on Bolivia to help you out and two, that’s a crucial moment to which Uruguay scored 30 seconds later. What was he even thinking? He should’ve tried to add more of an attack once that update occurred. To speaking of which, he also at one point was getting Shaq Moore, a back, warming up to come in which made no sense tactically.
One problem Berhalter has is he created a culture with no accountability. The players have exclaimed how much they like playing under him and they wanted him back. With their performances the last couple of years outside of the England match in the World Cup, it’s clear there is no accountability. Yes, the players that Berhalter typically fields out there are the best eleven possible, but the problem is these players know their jobs are safe. You need competition. He should be giving Yunus Musah and Weston McKinnie competition for the job, but instead Musah is on the inside looking in while McKinnie continuously puts up bad performances at the international level. McKinnie is actually a great player and when he turns it on he’s lethal, but if he’s not putting in the effort nor putting up good performances, then Musah should be getting chances. Every national side has competitions for the starting jobs, yet somehow it’s not the U.S. that does that. The only time it has happened was the goalkeeper’s job when Matt Turner essentially overtook Zack Steffen as the number one choice. Turner might be the best choice at the moment, but he doesn’t get enough playing time in the Premier League and is prone to make mistakes. Berhalter should be having someone like Gaga Slonina or even Ethan Horvath compete for the job. Why can’t someone like Brandon Vazquez or Jordan Pefok get an opportunity over Ricardo Pepi whose form has not been great lately? Coddling these players is not going to do any good and it shows when you freaking bow out of the Copa America in a favorable group. Berhalter seemingly creates chaos in the locker room too as he has shown to have disputes with players. One for sure was John Brooks who was a solid centerback for the team, but continuously left him off the squad despite putting up good performances. Probably because Brooks challenged his tactics. Then another and more known dispute was with Gio Reyna. While Reyna’s parents were a bit ridiculous about the situation and eventually the two reconciled, it does show there was favoritism which is very toxic. And to the point of the situation, while not going into too much detail, it was about a domestic situation between Berhalter and his now wife. While they dealt with the situation and it’s part of the past, the fact he did something like that is still bad enough. Even former player Maurice Edu expressed concern saying something along the lines of having issues with rehiring him as the coach considering that could have been his sister whom Berhalter got physical with. That situation in itself should have caused a red flag in whether he should come back or not, yet seemingly it did not matter.
Let’s also talk about the USSF here. It’s clear they are in cahoots with MLS. Commissioner of MLS, Don Garber, should have no power here. It should be in his best interest to promote the league and American soccer as much as possible, but outside of the Olympics and Gold Cup, Garber should have no say. There are likely to be a lot of young and promising players in the league that could contribute for the senior side in the future like Duncan McGuire, Benjamin Cremaschi, Jack McGlynn, Caleb Wiley, John Tolkin, Roman Celentano, and Drake Callender, but keep those players for the Gold Cup and Olympics as getting international exposure might be important, but not when it’s at a major tournament such as the Copa America or World Cup as that should be reserved for players at the highest level of the competition. Which was something Jurgen Klinsmann pointed out. Klinsmann might not have been the best manager, but he was spot on for what America needed to do if they wanted to take the program to the next level and to become a consistent contender at the world stage. When he was fired, and deservedly so, they replaced him with Bruce Arena, who was the manager for the 2002 and 2006 cycles, which again shows status quo as Arena was an MLS coach. Berhalter likely got the position due to nepotism as his brother works for the USSF as they needed a “yes” man and didn’t like Klinsmann challenging them. The USSF is not comfortable with change and it’s showing. Something has to change because the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. Guess what? Those results got worse. Just went from mediocre to worse. Yeah, something has to change.
If the USSF really wants to move on from mediocrity, it starts with the head coach. While who should replace Berhalter is for another topic to write about, moving on from him is the best course of action. Enough of the status quo. Enough of the nepotism. Enough of the lack of accountability. Enough of the complacency. Enough with the lack or not willing to change. This is what normal federations do and the USSF does not do it. For the sake of the fans and progress, the USSF needs to move on from Berhalter. This country has 330 million people living here and enough money to make progress to the point that contending for a World Cup is a must. Sure, that will take time, but the goal should be to be a contender and a starter here should be to change the head coach.
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