Finally, the United States Men’s National Team has reportedly sacked Gregg Berhalter after the team went out in the group stage of the 2024 Copa America tournament. The tournament, which was played at home in the United States, was a telling tale of the direction the team was going to continue to go in if they were to continue with Berhalter at the helm.
Gregg Berhalter’s highlights as manager
It is not all negative on Berhalter of course, he has done plenty of good for the USSF in rebuilding the culture of U.S. Soccer in general after failing to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. He took the team through to the knockouts of the 2022 World Cup with some impressive performances in those games including the 0-0 draw against England where really they looked just as dangerous and deserved to win that game just as much as the Three Lions.
Berhalter also brought home trophies including multiple CONCACAF Nations Leagues titles (2020, 2023, and 2024), and also collected the 2021 Gold Cup with the ‘B’ team.
Why the USSF and USMNT are going a different route
It is no secret that, under Berhalter, there were a multitude of things that led to his eventual sacking. Berhalter did not collect a victory over a top 25 FIFA-rated team (outside of CONCACAF) during his tenure as manager and had some shocking results as well. This is also a failure to mention his off-the-field problems which had his integrity questioned with an allegation of domestic violence came up after the 2022 World Cup.
When strictly talking about on-the-field problems, the team blew a 1-0 lead to an average-at-best Wales side in the first game of the group stage of the 2022 World Cup but then followed it up with a good performance in that draw against England. After beating an Iran team that lost 6-2 to England only 1-0, they then proceeded to get absolutely throttled 3-1 by the Dutch. That game was never close and was a good indicator of how the team would perform against these elite sides in Europe and South America.
This isn’t even talking about the 2024 Copa America where the team got bounced in the group stage. This has been coming and is a great step forward for U.S. Soccer. Getting grouped in the Copa does stink, but if it means the overall direction of the federation will change for the better then I am willing to wait until the next World Cup to try and compete with these elite teams again. Not to mention that one will be on home soil. For that, Tim Weah we salute you for getting that red against Panama.