Well that's not really true at all about Chicago. It's a quite nice place and a global city. Southgate I believe lives in London where the English FA is located. People who get upset at the living in Chicago requirement act like coaches have never had to move to a new city for a job before.
We don't actually know what Berhalter was telling another player in reality so I wouldn't base too much of second hand reporting. But again Jay Berhalter is no longer employed by USSF. So even though there's no evidence he was involved with his brother's hiring, he's not even at all involved with the organization anymore so I don't know how he's at all relevant to the decision as to whether Berhalter returns or not.
No, people who think the Chicago requirement think that it's unprecedented for a NT coach to have to live in a particular city - a very unappealing one, at that. It's bizarre. And, I know you know this - a city can be Global, and a sh*thole. What does "global" have to do with anything.
You're passion for defending Gregg and denying facts is weird. It wasn't "second hand reporting." It was a first hand statement made by a player about his conversation with Gregg. It was a tweet by the player, iirc. I'm done with this conversation. Gregg is, as they used to say, a lead pipe cinch for the next cycle. Always was. There is no point in even discussing "next coach." Just move on to "what will Gregg do next cycle? Will he grow a couple more braincells?"
I'm sorry that you hate Chicago so much, but having spent plenty of time there I can tell you that your perception is not the reality.
I'm not defending Berhalter, I'm pushing back on the derangement that seems to involve any discussion of him as coach. Some of the criticism and rhetoric is unhinged. It is also a fact that Jay Berhalter is no longer employed by USSF and that he has no involvement in the organization. And the player never tweeted it directly. It was very much second hand reporting by someone who was reporting on a conversation that the player had with Berhalter.
It's not Chicago that is the problem [for the USMNT], it is those who lead Chicago House. That's the reality of kickball off of Navy PIer.
What's unhinged? His defenders say he sucks at tactics. He wildly, unreasonably pushed the team forward, leaving 2 slow CB's to blunt the opponents attack, with Adams in no-mans-land trying to slow them down before they get there. (Leaving Adams to have to sprint his @SS off for 450 minutes on the pitch in a row). He's going to be the manager this cycle. It's over.
Well this team goes into every game trying to get a result and with something to prove and I'm sure that's pretty motivating for players, as is the opportunity to play in the World Cup. But no matter the coach, our player pool isn't going to turn into Brazil or France in the next 4 years. We do not currently have one world class player or anyone likely to turn into one over the next four years. Teams that win the World Cup typically have multiple world class players, along with consistent Champion League starters at every position.
Yes, you are. Don't be ashamed. Embrace your inner 3G's.... Jay Berhalter went from the honcho at Chicago House to a big honcho with MLS, and the relation between MLS and Chicago House is now about as entangled as that between the FBI and preMusk Twitter. His presence at Chicago House is still deeply felt, and the Steward, Stewart, is ok with this. But, hey, Nepotism and Loyal Cadres is something we can all understand. If that ain't Chicago Style, what is?
And, yet, Gregg is trying to play like Brazil, trying to get us to hold possession in the offensive end for most of the match, in the name of "changing the perception of US soccer." In reality, he reinforced the perception of the US being "naive." Give me LvG, or the manager of Morocco, who don't give a crap about perceptions.
I would rather have in charge an Earnie Stewart and Brian McBride who are not dogmatically fixated on one man as our manager, and are open to letting the USMNT being led by a manager who will not accept dictates from Chicago House as to how to play, or who should play, but will actually craft a team that maximally uses the talent manifesting all around this country. If Earnie and Brian refuse this, then I would take anyone [a former player to a Sunil like "civilian"] who is so open. I like Stewart and McBride as persons, but being a decent bloke and one who is a flexible and imaginative leader is not the same.
The relationship between MLS and USSF has actually been severed as it was always based on SUM. They obviously work together and all soccer associations should have a good relationship with their domestic league, but there's no entanglement. And MLS and Don Garber aren't particularly invested as to whether Berhalter is brought back or not. It doesn't really affect them in any way.
Berhalter is changing the style of the program to the way the top teams who win the World Cup play. It's a long term process/evolution, but it's one we have to undertake if we eventually want to actually win the World Cup. That is the long term goal for the program, even if the player pool isn't quite there yet.
And why would Earnie Stewart, someone who has had multiple jobs as the sporting director at different clubs, have taken the USSF job if he wasn't actually in charge and had no decision making authority? It's true that he very clearly share's Berhalter's vision for the program (I'm less sure on McBride), but like no one is secretly dictating to them what they should or shouldn't be doing.
He served up McKennie on a platter and McKennie went full Wondo. I heard and interesting analysis of his movement on that play. From my view point, I love his use of the runway he is afforded. Most of BS want to stick him in the most crowded area where it's actually Brenden who excels. Between Brenden and Gio we've got top notch chance creation but we'll have to wait 4 years to see it against this level of competition. Starts at 2:38
I think this is exactly how we should do this. However, I think you need to take a step back and look at both goalsetting and drivers. Goalsetting For one, every company has long term goals and short term goals. USSF's long term goal is to drive the popularity of soccer of all types in the US. To that end, USMNT success is important and I expect a key part of the strategy. But I think it is important to note why it is. The long term goal of the USMNT certainly should be to win a World Cup. But every company also has more reasonable shorter term goals. This is important for measurement or evaluation, but also for motivation and as a guide for decision making. Every company I know has a goal setting process for a given timeline. And it's always an argument on level of ambition and reasonableness. Evaluation: an underambitious goal sets a low standard, but an overambitious goal can cause you to undervalue an asset based on unrealistic expectations. If we were to target winning the WC in 2026, but even the best coach could not reach it, then you'd fire the best coach in the world. This, of course, is an exaggeration, but applies to an level. Motivation: an ambitious goal can create excitement, push people, and motivate. An unrealistic goal can often immediately demotivate. In addition, small, attainable steps provide constant motivation and reinforcement and tend to be more effective than massive, long term targets. Decision-making: setting an ambitious plan helps stretch choices and make sure you are aligned to something you want. Setting an overly ambitious goal sets you up for failure or lack of progress. Again, telling someone they should gameplan to win the world cup in 2026 would probably push us down a road of no progress. Fans like to talk about ambition overall and how the only thing you have to do is set them high. Anyone who has actually run an organization understands the difficulty in finding something stretchy but attainable. Drivers. Once you set that goal, you have to figure out how to get there. What's the best strategic path and what is likely to get you there. For the long term goal of winning a World Cup, the primary driver will be improvement of the player pool, not coaching for the 2026 World Cup. In terms of that, things like performance at the WC are important to drive interest in the game, but also development and progression of playing style, setting technical and other expectations, helping build the youth programs, recruiting, etc. are all important. These are all long term considerations but they are often considerations we neglected as an organization for years. The idea, for example, that JK was coach and technical director with no other real organization around him is a terrible idea for these kinds of long term steps to developing a player pool to win the WC. That's not on JK; that's on the USSF for not having any kind of structure or real plan. For the short term goals, you can start with 2026 (and make more for every step), but what's our goal there in light of larger goals? Is playing as the protagonist important? How important relative to winning? Both are listed above? Do you mind if we get to the Quarters but win 1-0, then lose? Or the semis with the same? Do style points matter at all? And if winning some level is important, what is the target? What is the stretch target? For me, there's a results goal, but there are specific areas I need targeted as well for focus. Offense, transition, set pieces, etc. Once you have that, you need to look at what gets you there and who can do it. It's not simply about performance to date, it's about what you need to get to the next level. The first one is players, unless your ambition is lower. There are coaching targets, but I think we all need to keep in mind we win or lose with the players. We need to find a coach that will help our pool do its best. You may come to the same conclusion on Berhalter, but I do think it is a different thought process. It's not a puppet master moving around players on a pitch. It's someone coordinating the protagonists. And there's different priorities there. When we make the semifinals in 2026, it won't be because our coach put together a brilliant tactical plan; it'll be because the players execute it brilliantly.
Berhalter may or may not have changed much at all but: Our offense went from a full possession play with largely stay at home fullbacks, attacking midfielders and a traditional striker to a much more vertical gameplan, dual attacking fullbacks. There are a decent amount of fundamental similarities, but also a whole lot of change Our defense went from a passive midblock to an aggressive high press to a sometimes midblock aggressive press. He's not particularly inflexible on a lot of points. He's somewhat philosophy consistent on offense, but defensively that's a massive change. Not doing exactly what you want DNE inflexibility. But if were are only attracting that type of manager with the talent on the team, there's far bigger issues (like requiring them to live in Chicago). [/QUOTE] The question isn't living in Chicago. This has been overblown, but for youth coaches it's more an issue because they are paid crap, not because coaches don't move for work. Coaches move CONSTANTLY for work. For a HC, it's about level of involvement and level of workload. If a top coach doesn't want to move to Chicago, it's because they want a job where they coach two weeks every few months. You can choose whether that should be a requirement or not.
Which Berhalter "defenders" say that he sucks at tactics? You're showing that you can't follow this simple conversation. It's as ridiculous as claiming that Jay Berhalter is influencing the entire US Soccer Board or that Hammarby is a dominant club in Sweden because they have the biggest attendance. Similar to how the conversations went through qualifying when lots of people threw hissy fits about how Lletget was playing way too much, there is one side that is completely misreading the situation which is leading them to unhinged and baseless comments.
Well, they do have a friendly coming up in Jan. Looks like Serbia 25th and Colombia 28th. Nation's League is coming up. Is Gregg maybe going to extend and look for a job next summer in Europe? Or does he prefer an MLS gig starting soonest?
Thanks, this is interesting stuff but what does it have to do with the poster's original claim about Berhalter: When he came into the position, US soccer was a tactical wasteland. There had been very little semblance of any tactical nuance for maybe the entirety of the program's existence.. Comparing World Cup performances as far as possession seems a bit disingenuous to me. I'm sure you know that in the 2014 cycle Klinsmann primarily played a BuLi-style attacking 4-2-3-1 and won the HEX running away with 22 points. With the draw into the GOD, Klinsmann deliberately adapted and changed to a more defensive 4-1-2-1-2 diamond which debut before the WC break. Again, my question remains: Please describe the actual tactical scheme that GB actually put in place and how it differed from Klinsmann's?