I was naive. I initially bought into the "Golden Generation" hype, but I've since come to my senses, and now realize that GGG was not the problem, rather, he was actually the key to our young player pool's success. Yes, we underperformed at the Copa, but we can chalk that up to the Weah red. I was a fool to blame him for our shortcomings when he met or exceeded expectations in every tournament before this summer.
If only we had the money to hire a U20 coach the caliber of Thomas Rongen? Who exactly are you expecting hire as a youth team coach. You either get up and comers or retreads. Which btw is mostly the case around the world.
Berhalter was not the problem in cycle one but I don’t think if he quite got things right in cycle two. It was the wrong decision to move away from the press. He’s probably still the coach if Weah doesn’t get the red card but it’s not unfair he was fired. And Pochettino is undoubtedly a better coach, so while that may lead to only marginal improvement it won’t be nothing.
I’m guessing he’ll get the Chicago job and be one of the better MLS coaches. He probably wants to kick the tires on Europe first and see if any opportunities open up once some coaches start getting fired. Josh Wolff is also part of his coaching tree and it’s too early to tell on BJ and Varas hasn’t even started his MLS job yet. And someone could be a good assistant and bad head coach.
... only if you ignore the nearly four years Varas has been on the USSF payroll. Varas' brief time in charge shone a light on his cluelessness and raises questions about Berhalter's fondness for him. Did he just want a yes-man?
Beat up on minnows then went out meekly to the first tough opponent they faced. Would've been nice to see what a better coach could've done with such a loaded roster.
They played well, swept their group and only lost to the team that won the whole thing. I get your schtick is everyone is incompetent / corrupt / whatever, like a walking twitter post, but he did a good job with a talented but hardly dominant team.
Gregg had a lackluster WCQing campaign followed by a lackluster performance in the World Cup. USSF chose to renew his contract. In Nations League, the team then struggled against powers Trinidad and Tobago followed by Jamaica. Gregg finished things off getting embarrassed by Colombia then grouped in the Copa. The team was 35th on the Elo when he had coached his first game. It was 32nd following his last game. This despite the massive upgrade in playing talent. USSF has to take the L on this. They had wanted to run a 'Dutch-style' 433. Yet, they hired a 4231 coach who had had only an above average record in MLS in the way of career highlights. The Crew during Berhalter's time there were one of the smaller budgeted MLS clubs. The logical move after Columbus would've been to go to one of the bigger clubs, like Toronto, Galaxy, or NYC. Win some trophies then become a candidate for the US job. Arena and Bradley both had strong National Team tenures off the back of multiple trophy-winning turns as MLS coaches. In such manner, I like the current progression of Wilfried Nancy. He progressed from performing minor miracles with the dumpster fire at Montreal to winning trophies with one of the best-run MLS teams, the now midrange bankrolled Columbus. Ultimately, Gregg's US were characterized by a slow, mechanical style of play. There wasn't enough individual creativity in central midfield. The patterns of attacking play produced a paucity of statistical 'big chances' on goal. Underperformers were given too many opportunities.
The failures of the Berhalters and their hires have been nothing short of spectacular. No shtick required. For as much as you try to spin wins over the Fiji and New Zealand U20s, they're not meaningful accomplishments. Our talent absolutely dominated theirs.
Probably waiting to see if anything opens up in Europe once the midseason coaching carousel gets going and otherwise he’ll end up coaching Chicago or Atlanta next season.
We also beat Ecuador and Slovakia, and won the CONCACAF U20 handily. But hey, you've posited in another thread that we should lose intentionally in November, so we know what kind of fan you are.
Sounds like Berhalter to the Fire is pretty close Accurate. Not done yet but Fire have been in discussions w/ Berhalter for several weeks. Would have complete control of soccer ops but Mansueto would like to keep some of the technical staff on board. A tech dir/GM or similar title would work under him. Waitingg ggame now. #cf97 https://t.co/Qsakgl43IS— Guillermo Rivera (@FireConf) September 17, 2024
I would never have a coach have full control as an owner. It's too much work and too much one perspective to be effective in 99% of the situations. But I do think Berhalter was at least pretty good at scouting. And he has to do better than Heitz.
Vermes has been doing well in a similar role. Moving to one of MLS's bigger budgeted clubs, like today's Chicago, should've been the next move following his stint at Columbus. I wonder what will be Gregg's policy of releasing players outside of FIFA windows and mandates.
I mean he was a good coach in Columbus in MLS before with a team that at the time didn’t spend much. Chicago he’ll have more resources and should be fine. He also probably will be better in terms of implementing a system being able to work with players on a daily basis versus just international windows. Berhalter is not the same level of coach as Pochettino, but he’s not this completely incompetent coach who is going to do terribly. I’m sure he’ll get Chicago in a much better spot than they’ve been. The bigger question is whether he’ll be on the level of a Nancy or Cherundolo.
I think Berhalter's a good hire for an MLS team. Didn't like him for the US, but for MLS he's a solid pick. I think many MLS teams would be happy to have him. I'm guessing Chicago closed the deal by giving him so much control and because he doesn't have to move since I believe he was in Chicago to coach the US team. Being able to stay where you are for a new job is a rare treat in the sports world. I think it's likely one of the better moves the Fire have made in quite some time.