Berhalter has used a ton of MLSers in his 4 years - with mixed results at best. Especially in the WC, a lot of his MLS players, did not excel. This transfer window has been very quiet for domestic players ....especially considering there has historically been a WC bump for US players getting transferred overseas. the few that have moved have mostly been youth players not ready to jump in and play right away. Perhaps the high level of commitment berhalter showed to MLS has backfired on him and the league?? and actually has damaged their rep abroad??? Maybe the domestic players in MLS have been exposed a bit???
The United States has a winning percentage of 100% in all of World Cup history when it starts 11 players based in Europe. This fact is as unimpeachable as a scientific law to me: the Finnish 8th division > Major League Soccer
1) Berhalter's used fewer MLS players than previous USMNT coaches 2) The transfer window has been "quiet" in the sense that some deals got preannounced (e.g. Mihalovic --> AZ). Indeed Djordie has hit the proverbial ground proverbially running in the Ered. And some others are late developing and not USMNT-related (e.g. Araujo to Barcelona). So...don't think this has a lot of validity.
I wouldn't go that far.....but I hear you. And actually, it should be french, portugeuese, dutch, german first divisions > MLS...bs apparently gregg didnt get that particular memo....8th finnish obfuscates that obvious misfire by ggg. I think the idea from Berhalter and Arena (who both flailed/failed using MLSers in recent years) has been to try to help MLS and give it a platform on the USMNT (which is laudable)....however, I think it backfired (unequivocally did for Arena) and that help they were trying to give the league and its players has only been akin to giving them more rope to hang themselves, basically, in the end.
The MLS is nothing more than a development league for better leagues and players, with very very rare exceptions, in the MLS are simply not good enough for international competitions except against other countries that fill their rosters with players from MLS and worse leagues. The only way we should use MLS players is if there is no other option playing in better leagues or if we want to lose a match on purpose or if we wish to expose a possibly good player for acquisition into one of the better leagues. If the last WC showed anything it is that MLS players are simply not near good enough for international duty against the better nations. Of course that also means that MLS coaches are not good enough either. While it is somewhat true that the Gregg used fewer MLS players than some earlier coaches the gap between the MLS and top leagues was readily apparent and our MLS players were well out of their depth.
Insofar as there was a gap, I think it was mostly due to Gregg selecting role players from MLS rather than the best MLS players. I'm not sure any MLS fan would consider Yedlin or Moore one of the best RBs from the league -- Berhalter selected them for incumbency and "fit" reasons, rather than "these are the best players" reasons. Guys like Walker Zimmerman and Matt Turner were perfectly good at the international level. Even the much-maligned Kellyn Acosta had some positive contributions at the World CUp.
How do you figure that? The only coach that seems accurate for was that miserable year with Arena 3.0.
Zimmerman wasn't up to it at the WC. Cost us points against Wales and the Dutch punished us when he had the ball.
True, mostly because they have had no choice. But Bora Milutinovic's side had no MLS players at all. So "all" USA managers have not used MLS players. We must agree to ignore things like when the league started and other such trivial things.
Bob Bradley didn't. Arena 3.0 and Berhalter were very different than the other coaches. Every single coach before Arena 3.0 lamented how needed players in better leagues. Of course, Arena 3.0 and Berhalter left guys in top 5 leagues at home.
Well if you're going to be pedantic the US came third in the World Cup without using a single MLS player so we should go back to using Scottish born semi pros from Massachusetts and St Louis. You need to differentiate between using players in domestic based squads and when the full first XI has been available. There have also been players at the start of their careers in MLS, that have moved on to Europe and players returning to the US from Europe. Berhalter's MLS picks have included Steffen, Turner, Adams, Aaronson, Pepi and Cannon none of whom are in MLS any more. His non-MLS players have included Moore, Yedlin, Wood and Miazga, who are all now in MLS. The players you're probably complaining about yet again are Arriola, Lletget, Morris and Roldan. This is the 400th thread on the same topic. And no I don't think Berhalter should be the coach on 2026.
Numbers and statistics? Just to oversimplify with World Cup rosters, here's the proportion with MLS players: '22: 34% '14: 43% '10: 17% '06: 48% '02: 48% So, to be fair -- I did misremember. Still, Berhalter's '22 team had a low reliance, historically speaking, on MLS players. On the other hand, look, MLS is spending more than ever before and progressively getting better against Liga MX and other international competition. Just judging on the one factor of comparative league strength, if anything MLS should be comprising a pretty solid chunk of the USMNT.
first ---- percentage-wise, no berhalter hasn't...he started 5 or 6 MLSers in the embarrassing loss to Panama in WCQ. of the top 14 players minutes-wise under berhalter, 7 were MLSers...this despite an hostoric amount of minutes being had by americans in top euro leagues! so "fewer" MLSers is totally a bogus claim! even if the raw numbers support it. second ---------- yes, the djordje move is basically the only one of its kind and pretty good (along with the Trusty move).....but other than that its crickets. perhaps all of the MLS - euro moves are losing a bit of ground for DOMESTIC PLAYERS not many seem that ready to jump in
Are those just roster makeups of the World Cups? If you look at minutes played over the cycles id expect thise numbers to look very different. Berhalter gave roughly 40% of all of the minutes he coached to MLS lifer and another 15% MLS guys who eventually moved (Busio, Bello, Sands, etc). I dont think any other coach did that. So we got to see how bad these guys were all cycle to then drop off dramatically at the WC. He did the same thing at the 2019 GC. That part about MLS players SHOULD make up a good chunk of the team is nonsense. The only MLS players that should get any reasonable amount of minutes would be some young teenage stud. The rest should be moving to Europe. Berhalter just wasted half the cycle on a ton of MLS players and I am not sure there is one I would want on the USMNT.
Are we talking about the World Cup??? Or are we talking overall? Because if it's the latter context has to be considered. January Camps are typically heavily loaded with MLS players simply because it's not a Fifa window. At other times the US's best players may not have been available due to injury (Reyna, Pulisic, Adams, McKennie, Robinson, Sargent, Dike, etc...).
.................and Berhalter capped 91 players. Folks can play this game to see if they can name all of them. Every United States Player capped by Gregg Berhalter Quiz - By j_mccarthy (sporcle.com) And he called up even more. He gave plenty of chances to overseas players. Even some real fringe guys like Otasowie, Llanez, Soto, etc. etc. Believe it or not, many more USMNT-eligible players play in MLS than in European leagues of similar or better quality. So yes, we cap more of them. People whine and complain "we should call up Nicholas Gioacchini!!" Then we see Nicholas Gioacchini and we're like "eh." [By the way, Berhalter wasn't in charge at the start of the cycle. Sarachan was the interim coach. And he also lost part of the cycle to COVID. Still capped 91 players. As far as I know, we can only start 11.]
Stupid euro snobs. How do they miss that Berhalter gave 202 minutes to Llanez, Soto, and Otosowie? Those guys got a chance. Not sure why they would focus on why guys like Zardes and Yeuill got over 1,000 a piece.
break it down into raw numbers 43% in 2018 was 10 players 34% in 2022 was 9 players 11 players in 06 and 02.....eras when there ere far less options in europe 9, 10 or 11 players is ROUGHLY THE SAME AMOUNT PER ROSTER! which makes no sense, strategically...its why the 22 team had no bench. USMNT has never left off the types of players in europe that it did for Qatar.....which is whats important here...no matter how you try and spin the "stats"
A reminder to everyone: this is the dude who swore Emmanuel Sabbi was clearly better than everyone in MLS.
Who was left off of the World Cup team that wasn't injured, coming back from injury or out of form that would have helped the team in Qatar? I can only think of one player that didn't get a fair chance, and that's Brandon Vazquez. Then again he plays in MLS, so GGG NOT bringing him is surprising. I would have thought Garber would have mandated that Greggggggg bring him....
A reminder to everyone. These MLS fans were the ones that defended Berhalter's call ups in 2019. Trapp, Lovitz, Zardes, Arriola, Baird, Lewis, etc.
although....how many of bora's players jumped to join MLS once it formed? almost all..... MLS was a step up for almost bora's entire roster....1995 version of MLS, too, mind you!
first off, he hasnt played a competitive match since nov 13.....not sure what he was doing in the meantime, but clearly he isnt in top form at the moment....clearly. as bad as he was....anyone who thinks that was his ceiling is not being realistic..... and I didn't SWEAR he is better than everyone in MLS..... my interest in sabbi is mostly because i am sick of seeing players who are known inadequate quantities. I didnt bother watching anthony hudson jan camp games but I heard sabbi was bad.....personally, Im not ready to write him off.....everyone has looked pretty bad first time in berhalters 433 system, basically.....scally looked bad ....mckenzie looks bad.....carter vickers didnt look great.....etc etc with a very short jan camp.....basically no prep time.....Im not ready to take any major conclusions about anything from those games. period.