Do Berhalter’s Set Pieces Make Him a Must Start

I was trying to be a nit nicer. Yes they sucked!

 

comparing these matches to copa america matches is pretty stupid.

anyways, just saw this article on the subject https://www.foxsports.com/stories/soccer/usmnt-thinking-outside-box-find-edge-set-pieces-its-working

 

sleep well sweet thread

 

pretty much a nightmare across the board from seb tonight. good thing we arent all reactionary ass-hats.

 

Mcglynn can actually play well in possession and is a sweet passer to boot.

Berhalter is all workrate.

 

Some poor services and a missed PK today.

Dude has heart and effort and I like that but he lacks quality.

 

I think is it in a nutshell. I like his desire to get physical, not much else. He’s a pretty safe option in possession, that’s not nothing either.

 

Hey, I resemble that remark!

 

He also had some excellent services and his passing was some of the best in the squad.

Players have ups and downs. If this was his down, then he’s a lot better than I thought.

 

FOX cutting straight to Gregg after Sebastian Berhalter skied his penalty is diabolical 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/s9U65ikk0a

— USMNT Only (@usmntonly) June 30, 2025

oh no

 

Wasn't his best game. Wasn't terrible, either.

 

Might have to go with him the rest of the tournament if Cardoso’s ankle doesn’t get well in time.

 

Would people feel the same way if Eichards puts a couple of his set pieces in ?

 

I think Seb is a good player, his set pieces are "Ok" it's the rest of his game right now that is borderline. now, I do think his trajectory lately has been good and he needs to be included in more matches to see if his improvement continues, IMO.

he definitely has grit and I like that.

 

I would actually say it was his best game for the US. Very strong defensively, very good on set pieces. He has another assist if not for Navas and laid a couple more on guys who couldn't convert.

I'm not shocked the usual suspects are picking on him for the penalty, but that's this fanbase.

 

Beautiful set piece delivery to Richards in the first half. Off by a smidge.

 

I saw more people be critical of him on his play than the penalty from the other platforms. Didn’t see much blame other than he just skied it and the broadcast was brutal showing his family’s reaction to it.

 

Berhalter could be this cycle's Kellyn Acosta; fundamentally sound, technically sound, good work rate, and tactically sound. Their best qualities are grit and in your face mentality.

Berhalter is not as good a 1v1 defender as Acosta and has not yet attained the same mastery of the dark arts.

 

He’s definitely not scared off of getting into it with other players I’ll say. Was a pleasant surprise seeing Richards, LDLT, and Arfsten get into with that CR player shit talking Tillman on that missed pen as well.

 

He was not good defensively 2/7 in duels. 1 interception 0/1 in tackles. Hes not good defensively at all. He’s good at hustling around and scrapping, but that’s not actual defending.

 

Still no

 

Those numbers are not defense, either. A lot of it is positional, slowing guys down, etc. He was good on defense.

He's not good back, but when he can be on the front foot, he can create some havoc.

 

i think hes a sneaky good partner for adams in how much ground he covers (so adams doesnt have to do the job of two players), but the level of the group stage allowed that. i completely agree hes far more "be there" than actually stopping anything.

this pushback that he wasnt bad last night is laughable.

 

We can't do this confirmation bias BS. I am not convinced by Berhalter but yesterday was in line with his previous games. Even the skied penalty was a case of nerves and absolutely fixable. The games he has played at the GC have been better than I expected. Given he has all of two years being an MLS starter we have to assume that there is still growth possible. Certainly mental growth.

 

Yet that BS is exactly what you are doing with "better than you expected". The question is how was his performance?