So if players are saying Greg should be canned that needs to be equally discarded? Can't have it both ways.
There are fans like you in every sport around the world. I wonder if there’s the equivalent of the phrase “Monday morning quarterback” in other languages?
There is tons of evidence that they prioritized MLS player more than they should. The 50+ players Berhalter called up from MLS weren't good enough. No need to ignore those players, but a January camp should be enough to determine if a couple guys might be able to help the team. The coach should only bring MLS players to the WC only if they give the team a better chance. This group of players didn't do that and don't see it being much different in 4 years.
Having the support of the locker room is a necessity for a coach keeping his job. But, in of itself, it’s not sufficient.
Except I have been saying the player he calls in arent up to it before they play. It isnt like people who can evaluate talent are just realizing Acosta wasnt good enough for his role in this WC. I told whoever would listen that Long sucked back in 2019. Berhalter stuck with him until the last minute. You realize this idiot played Morris and Ferreira over Reyna and then played him at the 9 a couple days after he told the press he wasnt considering anyone other than the three he had brought for that spot.
Because we lost 3-1, and the Dutch scored three nice goals, things feel bad. But England is a more talented side, and we outplayed them. The Netherlands game would have felt (and probably been) a lot different if Pulisic takes that chance in the 2nd minute. We had 58% of the ball and more shots on goal, more corners, and fewer fouls than the Dutch. Obviously, they were also playing with a lead and much more clinical with their chances, and that's what mattered.
I think the player’s opinion is one input that the federation should consider. It’s not the only thing, but it’s certainly relevant to the discussion. And Stewart should talk to some of our keys guys and solicit their thoughts.
MLS has been a drain on the USMNT since 2014. An unnecessarily MLS heavy team failed to qualify in 2017. The excessive minutes MLS players got from 2019 to 2022 limited minutes of top players and prevented finding actual depth. Everything about the league is an exaggeration or outright lie. Not sure why Garber and MLS was so prominent at the world cup. We showed the world during the @FIFAWorldCup that the @USMNT is a team to be reckoned with. To be respected. A team that will inspire a future generation of players and support. So much to be proud of as we look ahead to the 2026 @FIFAWorldCup in the US, Mexico and Canada. pic.twitter.com/8RNVEQx91m— Don Garber (@thesoccerdon) December 3, 2022
We’ll see whether the roster is 23 or 26, but I dl think the 2026 roster will have the fewest MLS players we’ve ever had. That’s more the nature of so much of our pool going to Europe than anything else. And not that there won’t be any MLS players either.
I’m curious what European players you think we should have been calling in 2017 that we weren’t. Klinsmann was ignoring better options, nor was Arena. The MLS players mostly got minutes in 2019. From that point on, European players got the majority of the minute. A lot of that depth that you are talking about that we need to look into actually plays in MLS currently.
Busio? Seriously??? He bombed in his chance last summer and is struggling to get playing time on a Venezia team about to get relegated from Serie B.....he's definitely qualified for a World Cup roster.....
Arena "we have guys in MLS who play his position" Arena got rid of all the German-Americans but couldn't get rid of Brooks due to injury. Berhalter took him out in 2021. Let's see. Lletget and Acosta coming out of quarantine. Aaron Long post injury was a joke. Arriola at the beginning of qualifying. This is just off the top of my head. I will analyze this in a more complete fashion this week and Wait, Berhalter spent four years with 7 or 8 camps held outside FIFA windows primarily for MLS players and he didn't find the depth? Zimmerman was a weak link for us at the WC and the rest were mostly useless, but you want more of them?
For a single match, perhaps.....Roldan was picked because he's great in the locker room, not to actually play outside of an emergency.
Seems like there is a good chance that his vibes were overvalued by the coach. You apparently think his quality kn the field is in line with a guy in Serie B. Busio might have gone to the WC if he stayed in MLS where he was doing well? How many Euro based guys were given the chance to play a role as just a locker room guy? Who else was considered for this role?
For all the belly aching going on about how much time off the non-playoff bound MLS players had before Qatar, no one really seems to take any issue with John Brooks playing fewer than 300' this season... and 120 of those came in a cup match against a club in the Portuguese 4th division. All things considered, his time against "good" opponents is under 100'... If this tournament had taken place over the summer, I think I would've been on-board the Brooks train, but his skill and experience isn't outweighed by his lack of playtime. Who even knows what his fitness would've been like...
Berhalter bailed on Brooks while Wolfsburg was playing hard ball with Brooks for a new contract. If Brooks was still part of the USMNT and had the support of the coach, I suspect his search for a club would have gone different. Brooks would have been more likely to accept less money to make sure he was playing. Imagine that we had a national team coach who had connections and helped players find situations.
The German Americans were both injured and old in 2017 (with the exception of Brooks). And Arena called up Brooks. John Brooks fell off the map club wise this summer. There isn’t a club manager on the planet who’d have included him on this World Cup team. Zimmerman made one bad play this World Cup, but was otherwise fine and not a weak link. England scored 11 goals in their other three games. Zero against us in a game Zimmerman went 90 in. Lletget was discarded almost a year ago. Acosta is literally the only backup 6 in the pool. Aaron Long didn’t play a minute in the World Cup and Arriola wasn’t even on the roster. And yes I don’t think Berhalter is perfect and there guys in MLS he should have taken a further look at (Vazquez, Tolkin, Pomykal, and Parks being example). There’s not a ton of Euro guys who I think fall into that category. I think Booth surged a bit too late to be involved, but I’d like to see him looked at in March.
He's a long time board member of the USSF. Like it or not, he's been known to have quite a bit of influence with the USSF. I would not be surprise at all if he's pushing for another MLS coach as the replacement for Berthalter.
You guys will say anything to avoid the fact that Arena shed European based players and weak MLS players were a huge part of not qualifying. Not going to re- litigate that. Brooks situation likely very different if a part of the USMNT and had the support of Berhalter. Zimmerman was a weak link with the ball and cost us two points vs Wales. That was essentially the argument you guys had for supporting Berhalter in getting rid of our best ball playing CB. Let's remember why I brought up Lletget, Arriola, Acosta, and Long. That is four MLS players that played 4egularly when healthy in 2021/22. Lletget blew. Acosta got more caps im 2021 than any other US player in a calendar year. That doesn't happen for a back up 6. Berhalter clearly viewed him as more than that and he sucked when playing as an 8. Arriola was played over Weah. Long was in multiple camps before 100% healthy. He was used as a sub as early as possible and then started games all 2022. Wasted minutes!!!! Four years of not respecting the national team and showing no urgency to find the best squad.
The other possibility here is that Brooks over-valued his worth and pissed off a bunch of people by asking for more money than clubs valued him at - we can theorize this based on the fact that Brooks was released at the end of the season and was unable to secure a contract until literally the last day the window was open. And we can't know anything about those negotiations, so to place that blame on Berhalter is speculative at best. Regardless, it's not like Gregg made a huge stink out of needing everyone to be playing CL-level football, he was totally fine bringing guys like Ream, Horvath, and Wright, all of whom aren't playing at the "highest level" in Europe, but are getting regular game time. Brooks' omission in the spring was likely due to his relationship with Gregg. Like I said, I'd be more sympathetic to this argument if this World Cup had taken place in July. But to keep assuming that his omission was 100% due to Gregg irrationally disliking him is to ignore several material facts: namely that he did not have a preseason, and once he found a club, he's barely played there... Brooks was an extremely talented player... whether he's still talented is unclear because (quite literally) no one can watch him play right now.