Catanese: Gregg Berhalter's Firing Should Not Be Celebrated
The USMNT are in trouble, and the federation have a massive decision ahead of them that needs to right not just the coaching position, but the direction and ambition of the USSF as a whole.
On Wednesday, U.S. Soccer dismissed Gregg Berhalter as the men’s national team coach after a group phase exit from the 2024 Copa America.
The USMNT’s loss to Panama and/or failure to get out of Group C might be the prominent immediate cause of Berhalter’s termination but in reality, it is a culmination of many things. It is sometimes difficult to gauge progress within international soccer outside of winning, but it was clear to a lot of fans at the end of the 2022 World Cup that Gregg Berhalter had reached the pinnacle of his ability with the U.S. side. It is now finally clear to those higher-ups in the USSF as well.
Let’s not hide what Gregg Berhalter’s tenure should have been, a largely successful turnaround of an entire generation of players to one of the youngest national teams in Qatar 2022 that made the Round of 16 only to be completely outcoached and outplayed by a superior Netherlands side. The loss to the Dutch should have set off significant warning bells about giving Gregg a second cycle/contract. A naive tactical gameplan and adjustments that were predicted easily and/or backfired spectacularly.
Make no mistake, Berhalter laid a solid foundation for this player pool. I did not like the brand of soccer the USMNT played largely during his tenure as it was too rigid and relied too much on individual creativity and brilliance but there were benefits to it long term. From a technical standpoint, the focus on building out of the back and possession was likely sorely needed for such a young group even if tactically we never saw enough progress or evolving attacking elements. That stagnation and comfort within CONCACAF spilled over into Copa as poor a tournament performance we’ve seen out of the MNT since 2018 qualifying.
I wrote ahead of the MNT’s game against Panama that there needed to be a sense of urgency going forward that they lacked against Bolivia for much of the match. The mentality and gameplan of the U.S. has been, is, and was always going to be far too passive under Gregg Berhalter. It was not Tim Weah’s red card, or Ricardo Pepi’s not scoring in Copa, or Gregg’s record against Top 20 teams not named Mexico or whatever happened with the Reyna clan in Qatar that got Gregg sacked. It was a repetitive nature of underwhelming attacking performances from Bolivia to Jamaica in the Nations League semifinals and in major tournaments with just three goals in four games in the World Cup and just three goals in three games in this Copa.
Berhalter’s coaching style with the MNT will always default to being possession or defensive-orientated and we’ve seen what his team can’t do when forced out of their 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 comfort zone. You can argue he was the right coach after the disastrous 2018 cycle, but he was not the head coach the USMNT needed after the 2022 World Cup. His rehiring showed exactly where that lack of urgency is coming from and it is the top of the federation that failed the USMNT for the last two years more than anything else.
Now Matt Crocker and the powers that be at U.S. Soccer have to do an immediate excursion from the status quo and find a head coach with enough experience and ambition to try and do something that has only happened three previous times in the history of organized men’s soccer: Get a non-South American/European team into a World Cup semifinal. Morocco ‘22, South Korea ‘02, and USMNT 1930 is the list of the most successful runs outside of the two dominant continents and should be the goal of the the ‘26 MNT as well.
This is a borderline Top 10 team in the world as a host country that absolutely has a chance to add their squad to that incredible list of greatness. This is no longer a program that is rebuilding, or worrying about long-term development, the players who lost to Panama will largely be here in 2026.
This is a team whose only priority should be as successful and deep of a World Cup run as possible in two years time.
I will leave the head coach prognostication to people with far more knowledge than I - surely a blank check needs to be offered to Jurgen Klopp first before testing the waters with what I think has to be a foreign-based head coach - Patrick Viera, Pochettino, Herve Renard, and even Thomas Tuchel are names being thrown about. David Wagner and Hugo Perez would be my top American coach choices ahead of someone from MLS though I would completely expect Steve Cherundolo to be the head coach of the USMNT by 2030 at the latest.
And no trying to poach Gareth Southgate from England, I think you’d end up with the same tactical issues. Just, no…
U.S. Soccer did a disservice to the MNT by bringing Berhalter back for a second cycle when it should have been very evident the USA was not likely to progress further with him at the helm. Now the incoming MNT head coach will have just two years of friendlies and one Gold Cup to ramp up the USMNT into a team that is capable of a strong knockout stage run after the U.S. essentially wasted half the cycle dragging their feet on the hiring process and crashed out of the most competitive tournament they’ll see before the World Cup on home soil.
Copa America 2024 was supposed to be a test run for the USA’s ability to be the fourth team on that illustrious list of non-continental powers to make a World Cup semifinal. What the USMNT showed is that they are far closer to 2018 then they are to the hopes this fanbase had for 2026 with a federation that still hasn’t realized its pricing said fans out of everything from tickets to merch on a regular basis.
And that is not something that we should be celebrating. Nor is that something that should be placed entirely at the feet of Gregg Berhalter on his way out the door. Those above him in the federation and his players are culpable as well.
U.S. Soccer has taken the necessary first step towards improving ahead of 2026, but their next step and hire will be far more important and far more telling to just how ambitious this federation is as far as on-field success in two years.
This, 10,000x!