So 95% its Berhalter as the new coach. Its been rumored for quite awhile. Grant Wahl seemed pretty confident during the last game. Bernie wants to make an announcement by November 1 and they haven't started pushing that date out. Timeline-wise, that means they would have to have not only selected a coach, the coach likely would have to have accepted AND contract negotiations would have to be pretty significantly underway. Further evidence would be Berhalter's assistant coach working with the team on these friendlies and even the move to a 4231 after almost a year at the 4141 (that's the weakest area of support but I think fits) If any of those things hadn't happened, they would be pushing the date back publicly. I think with all of the rumors about him for the last few months, he's been the likely choice since Earne was hired. I know there's a threat on coaching speculation but its getting drowned out with complaints on the timeline. I wanted to talk tactics. Let's assume its Berhalter... what can we deduce will be the team's starting line up and tactics going forward. I've tried to catch a few Crew games but have mostly been unsuccessful. Mostly what I know about his tactics are articles I've read and this youtube video. Without doing the mentally lazy thing and plugging in Crew players- what players (based on skill sets and USMNT player pool) will he mostly likely choose? I could see the following things happening: The dominant formation being the 4321 I think we'll see a commitment to interchanging attacking front 4. These will obviously change with availability and form, but from what I've seen I would expect to see a heavy dose of Weah, Pulisic, & Sargent, paired with one currently unknown. Those three are dynamic. They need about 3 more players to fill in the fourth spot and for rotations. He wants a creative center and two interchanging wingers. I actually think the team would be better if those wingers were Weah and Pulisic but I imagine an experiment going forward will be whether CP belongs as that central creative fulcrum and who are the other two partners. I think Sargent makes his way into one of those 4 pretty quickly from what Ive seen. He's dangerous every time he's out there. I could even see a similar dilemma with him. He's a natural 9 and his best position (similar to CP's at winger), but for the USMNT he may be asked to play wide more. This could especially be true if Berhalter requires more energy and positional sense at the 9 position and less play making or holding ability. Given Berhalter's success of plugging and playing #9's including Zardes- I imagine this is true. So we could see Sargent and Weah as wingers, Pulisic as the 10 and a hustle tap in player as the #9. That could bode well for Wood as that seems to describe him well. I'm not a fan of Wood at the #9 but if Berhalter can have success with Zardes- Wood would be likely upgrade in terms of talent and he fits that oppornustic, high energy #9. There are lots of options though that could potentially fill that fourth role. Nagbe should't be forgotten. Saief, and maybe this Annon are possibilities. There are also guys in the pool that aren't getting hard looks but maybe fit a gap in the Berhalter's system. There are also some young guys that are on the bubble of getting minutes and potentially breaking out- such as if Carleton can start to get minutes. Berhalter is known for being able to plug and play. He will need to. Rarely ever does a national team have its top 11 without some form or injury issues. He'll need another set of 4 interchaning attackers. I am very interested in his first call ups and to see who could fill in those roles. I doubt there are any major surprises but one can always hope. I expect two central mids. Maybe that's Mckennie and Adams. I would expect a rotation of McKennie, Adams, Acosta, Bradley, Trapp, and perhaps Nagbe. He obviously likes Trapp for his leadership and organizational skills. He wants nearly a 3rd cb in one of those dmids. That is Bradley's game. That to me says its probably a combination of either Bradley or Trapp paired with one of the other two. He likes the the other central mid to get forward and connect to the attackers. That could fit either Mckennie, Adams, or even Nagbe. I expect it could even by at his suggestion that Bradley was called up. People will hate it, but Bradley is likely going to be a fixture of the squad for the next couple of years at least. I could go into a lot on Bradley but I don't want to get side-tracked. I think the Bradley- Acosta pairing was a fill in for a Bradley -Adams/McKennie fill in. One will be the starter with Bradley and other the sub- probably for Bradley. Trap becomes the obvious replacement of Bradley through the cycle. Berhalter doesn't really deploy that destoyer role that many like. So excpect a Beckerman type sitting there. The other is my dynamic and a more creative passer. The backline is the backline. I don't think there are any revelations. By settling into a mostly back 4, the backline fills in itself. The obvious ones are obvious. The left back is still question with the hope that Robinson continues to develop. Its not much in terms of revelations from a potential new coach. Does anyone have a better feel for Berhalter? What do you think we will likely see?
I find your characterization of how Berhalter's Crew might translate to the national team to be quite plausible. What I just don't see, at all, is why Bradley can be viewed as the one to play the role you've delineated--and I mean now, never mind through the next two years +. Bradley has played poorly, defensively and as source for his team-mates play, for well through the past year and a half. and he seems to keep getting worse. So I hope that Sarachan's use of Mikey is more homage to the past than a deference to what Berhalter would want for the future. Because if Bradley had been playing for the Crew during Berhalter's tenure I'm convinced Jay would have sat him down.
Bradley is a horrendous defender and always has been. Can't track back anymore and will never win you an aerial battle. Our defense has looked terrible since our last true #6, Dreads. MB exposes the CBs with no central cover. He gets defaulted to this role because MB 1.0 was a box to box CM who got in the attack. He can't cut it anymore so he maintains his autostart role because he is captain and it's the only feasible position for him. It is quite simple, if he wasn't captain he would have been benched years ago. Can US Soccer send out a highlight reel of Kante to every youth soccer team in America and say.....do 80% of that and you will play in the World Cup.
A few important things change when Berhalter starts: The 3 CM formations of the past year are done. In Columbus, Berhalter uses two CM’s to cover defensively. He uses 4 attackers in front of them. He expects the 2 CM’s not to create, but to distribute to the attackers. The forward is not a traditional target forward. Zardes does not get a lot of touches in Columbus. He is there to finish, not hold up the ball. Wood has been asked to do a lot of hold up play with Sarachan. His role changes significantly with Berhalter. The fullbacks are critical to the attack in Berhalter’s system. Critical. They get forward and provide the width, as members of the “3” line are often cutting in. So expect to see fullbacks much higher up the field. There is no one in the US pool who plays like Higuain. It is not hard to imagine Pulisic and Weah as the outside attackers, but finding that central creator is important. There is a kid named Efra Alvarez who would be perfect for the job, but he is currently playing for Mexico.
Bradley looked like a shell of himself yesterday. It will be interesting to see if they find anyone else to replace that role. Trapp would be the obvious one but we'd need more than one option. Who else could fill that role? Its not a destroyer role. Its a steady, organizer who is good at distribution and becomes a CB when the fullback pushes up. Its more of dmid in a 352 than a dmid in 4231. McKennie might fit it but I don't think so. He's not that calm, organized distributer. He's more of a high press, chaos creator. I think he and Adams play the same role to be honest. Its an either or with them and not both.
The problem with Berhalter's system this year is the wingers. Columbus has scored the second fewest goals in the league. The good news the forward is a pure finisher and asked to press high defensively. We have had three main forwards in the system (Kamara,Kamara,Zardes) and all have scored 15 goals respectively. Trapp is a link between the CBs and mid but that may change as Columbus CBs are poor distributing the ball. Artur is more advanced but is not stuck to one side or the other. USMNT does not have a 10 as mentioned already but the system is not 10 dependent. Pulisic and Weah would thrive as wingers but the outside back position is worrisome. Another problem with Berhalter is he is stubborn about benching certain players. I would have liked to see Berhalter with committed owner because I am not sure if he is an overachiever on a small budget or a great coach who has been handcuffed. A massive upgrade from Sarachan and at least we have a coach if this is true.
Not ideal, but we could have done a lot worse. I have a feeling they were trying to get a better coach, but no one wants to touch this mess of a federation with a 10-foot pole. And if you're good enough, the USSF would have to break the pig to get you. They're still smarting from the last Golden Parachute they paid, though, and money is of the essence for these folks. So Gregg it is. Did you really think it was going to be Mourinho? Geez.
I keep seeing this and it's true he did play for Arena in MLS but he played in Germany first. Wouldn't those coaches be more influential?
No MLS Cup. No Supporters Shield No US Open Cup A 38% win percentage. Triple-G ticks off some boxes in terms having a UEFA license, having experience playing and coaching in Europe, creating an innovative style of play, and improving players. But he is light in the results column.
I said elsewhere that Greggggg was the only acceptable American, and I specifically pointed to his success with American attacking players. Like the OP has noted, Gregggg likes to play with 4 guys who are overwhelmingly attacking players, and we've only got 3. As a wild card...Altidore has played as a wide attacker. I could see him playing there with Weah opposite him and CP in the middle. More solid DM play, and 2 of them, might allow us to play Robinson at LB and provide the kind of attacking Greggg likes without leaking goals like a video game. The biggest negative I see in Gregg's style is that I think our current personnel lends us to playing fast, trading possession for scoring opportunities. Greg doesn't seem to play that way.
Winning percentage is wins and losses but ties count as a half win / half loss not no win. 10-10-10 is .500% not 33%. So are you saying he's only won 38% including ties as half wins?
I have the feeling they were NOT trying to get a better coach. Tata and Almeyda were showing lotsa leg.
El Tata or el Pelado were going to ask for a hefty sum, $3-$5m/year. Gregg's probably going to make a bit over the $600K Robobob was getting. Mou was going to ask for $20 million and turn us even more unwatchable, considering what he's done to teams that played attractive soccer before he arrived.
Have you done any research on Anthony Precourt? I agree he has not won anything but he has had little to work with.
Mourinho-level speculation is kind of funny to me after Klinsi's recent comments: "Ahead of the World Cup in Russia, I had four, five enquiries from teams playing there," Klinsmann told Sport Bild. "But I turned them down because their goal was to survive the group stages. I had this goal with the U.S. [at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil]. It's not enough for me now." Pretty much admitting he had minimal ambition with the U.S. despite speculating about semifinal runs and "challenging" players to play in the Champions League. Makes me wonder how a legit top coach would even view the job if enough money was thrown at them.
The Berhalter Crew team that went to MLS Cup featured a starting XI of: ----------------------------------Kamara------- -----------------Meram--------Hiquain--------Finlay----- --------------------------Trapp--------Tchani----- -------Francis-----------------------------------------------Afful----- -----------------------Sauro-------------Parkhurst----- -----------------------------------Clark----- Brooks doesn't fit the mold of the speedy, agile center backs used in the medium to high block the Crew played. Miazga might, though not ideal. McKenzie, Parker, Romney, Sweat, and Trusty would be good fits in terms of physical tools. The team used two attacking-fullbacks. Robinson and Yedlin would fit this style. Trapp, Canouse, and Adams could play the Trapp role of the deep-lying mid. McKennie, Adams, Morales, Roldan and Acosta could play the Tchani role of box-to-box mid. There are a number of options for a-mid. But only US-eligible player who regularly plays a-mid in a 4231 is Mihailovic. He certainly isn't ready for NT play. Lee Nguyen, in the past, has dominated from that position. He is still playing well, though in a different system. At 31, he could be a short term solution. Others who have excelled there in limited minutes include Nagbe, Roldan, Gooch, and Lletget. Green has been getting minutes in central midfield at club level. Then again, maybe Triple-G just decides to put Pulisic under center. Meram, a right-footer, was renowned for inside-wide play from the left flank. Pulisic would be the obvious choice there. Maybe Weah. Finlay was a touch-line flanker who could cut the ball back or run inside. Picault? Amon? Admittedly, they are left-footed players, so then Pulisic would play on the right. Convert Altidore? Kamara was a back-to-goal center forward. Triple-G has shown flexibility in the type of 9 he can be successful with. Kamara, Ole Kamara, and Zardes are very different strikers.
The main upgrade with Berhalter is that the American 2 blob forwards with no width formation, which killed Klinsi and Arena, should be gone if he plays like Columbus. Guys like Kamara and Zardes aren't blobs and can play wide and the second forward tends to be Higuaín who is a mobile 10 and 2 wingers provide the width. The Achilles heel (tactically) in Columubus has tended to be the empty space in the middle when the 8 pushes forward leaving Trapp(6) to cover too much ground. For years Berhalter didn't understand this but finally got it when he dumped Tchani for Artur at the 8. The problem with translating Columbese to American is that we don't have an Higuaín who plays like a second coach on the pitch, when it comes to scoring, and tracks back to provide an extra man on defense. Berhalter's new job has a lot to do with Higuaín entering his senescence next year, likely. It doesn't matter how many posters around here jump up and down about this or that player at the 10 for USA. We simply don't have one apart from Carleton, say, who is all of 18 and doesn't look like somebody who will accrue the athleticism of a Modric which would be required to stand the pressure of a WC campaign. Which means Berhalter has to adjust for lack of personnel and that isn't easy for Berhalter. He has grown accustomed to his set up. He kinda needs to hire 3 people all of whom can do what Higuaín does when you add their characteristics individually. But that aint happenin' because there is a system and it means the stars play. I'm pretty sure Berhalter's intention is --------------------zardes --weah------------------------------pulisic ----------Weston(10)----Adams(8) ----------------------Trapp ----x(?)-----Brooks------Miazga-------Yedlin --------------------gk: steffen My criticism would be that 1) Weah is too far from goal. 2) Adams and Weston don't provide possession type passing thru the middle third. 3) Brooks needs help. Miazga aint enough. I hate to lose Brooks' passing, aerial game, etc. so I would add Parker to the back line and drop the 2 fullbacks. So, forgetting what they've looked like playing for Sarachan………….would try -------------------------weah-----pulisic -----Adams----Weston(10)---Delgado(8)---x? -------------------------------trapp ---------------parker------brooks-----miazga --------------------------gk: steffen In this scheme Higuain's passing thru the middle third is made up for by Delgado,;his dribbling is made up for by Weah and Pulisic and Adams; Weston gives us a scoring punch forward, good diagonal passing in the final third (think Tchani) and good defense tracking back from the advance position(do not think Tchani). Parker will play mainly like a fullback covering Brooks while one of Adams, Weston, Weah would fill the wide left role on a constantly rotating basis.. I'd start auditioning Lima and Cannon for rb/rw role.
not talking about national team, just in MLS this season, Crew's performance is average, especially for attacks. They scored the second less goals this season in the entire league.
Higuaín got rid of Finlay and Meram on the wings and got the two paisanos to replace them. There was a small clip of Matt Doyle over on mlssoccer showing chances created from wide right wing area and it never recovered from loss of Finlay who was the guy Berhalter picked out as the culprit for losing Cup, etc. And Higuaín hardly gave Finlay the ball. This kind of stuff scares me about Berhalter.