News: Earnie Stewart addresses Gregg Berhalter Speculation

Hey let's throw a special shout-out to the media at this press conference, who *checks notes* asked zero substantive follow up questions.

 

We have a name for Coach Berhalter, he is General Egg.
We have a name for Brother of Coach Berhalter, he is Chicago Egg.
We have a name for Earnest Stewart, he is Stiffneck Stew.

But what shall we name this Cabal of the Contemptuous and Arrogantly Inept?
The Three Caballeros?
Egg Stew?
The Stiffy Squad?
The Troika?

 

Anything less than 2 wins and US Soccer should get rid of Berhalter, Stewart, and Cordeiro.

 

Who is going to fire them? You listed the USMNT Coach, Sporting Director and President... I would be in favor of a coup but I don't know how that would work. At this point they all appear to be protecting each other and there are no checks and balances to assure quality control. When there is no accountability w/ respect to performance then the pressure to win comes primarily from the fans and based on the comments we heard from Earnie it doesn't really seem to matter. We are just unsophisticated children... we don't have the ability to understand the processes involved in creating a winning culture.

 

The processes involved in creating a "winning culture" , according to these three fools, requires we first create a "losing culture".

Well, to give The Three Cabal-leros their due, when it comes to that first step it is "Mission Accomplished!".

 

Brian Remedi? Or the big money masters who sit in the shadows?

 

Why bother?You'll get a shitty reply and nothing substantive will happen except you lose access to free food.

 

Maybe Volkswagon will fire the Fed, for starters:

Boycott Volkswagon. It is a filthy cheating company that programmed its diesel vehicles to produce FORTY TIMES more nitrous oxides during normal operations than when being smog tested. If you care about Earth, your kids' futures, you will NOT BUY a Volkswagon.

 

It’s not effective to call for a boycott of a company that you despise if you want them to take action. What is their incentive if you’re never going to buy their product anyway?

 

I remember Sam Stejskal (sp??) from the Athletic commenting on this exact situation. Essentially he was saying that regardless of how many times the question is asked, Stewart and Jay weren't going to fire Gregg unless there was a special type of situation.

The soccer media in this country really is letting us down. As an example, Grant Wahl has talked a good game on Twitter criticizing USSF, particularly on the need to hire a CEO from outside the organization. So why is it that when there's a press conference, he won't at least ask some difficult follow-up questions. Even some of the New England Patriots beat reporters ask some tough questions of Bill Belichick on occasion.

If these people would all do their jobs and ask the tough questions of Earnie, Jay, and Gregg, then they would at least have strength in numbers. I'm guessing USSF wouldn't restrict ALL of their access, because then they would have zero coverage for the rare positive events.

Maybe it's just me because I'm an official and I work in finance, but I never have a tough time asking tough questions and holding people accountable. Sure, people get mad at me, but as I tell people for both officiating and finance "If I'm not making at least a few people mad, I'm not doing my job effectively."

 

I'm going to stop talking about their environmental crimes ever time I post. Seems obvious.

 

The Chicago Comintern

 

Oddly nobody asked Gregg Berhalter in the press conference about what Stewart had said over the past 48 hours....not sure why but we did and will have his response on our show tomorrow night. 7pmET on ESPN2 #usmnt

— Taylor Twellman (@TaylorTwellman) November 14, 2019

 

I remember telling my buddy (both huge pats fans) that these reporters should just stop asking BB questions, since it's a waste of time and it's guaranteed you're not getting an answer, and more likely some snooty, disrespectful response. And I did mean it. But comparing it to what the US Soccer media does, it makes me really appreciate that at least these NE Pats beat guys are trying. Better than the softball non-Qs from the soccer media so they can keep their jobs and access to this pathetic team and organization.

And so true on Wahl. Talks a big game, but he's the same as the rest of them when it comes down to it. Guy has a powerful voice and probably a job that'd never be in doubt, yet still can't summon a couple cajones to really help put some pressure on these fools.

 

Not to mention they make the shitiest cars. Got my daughter a beetle. Worst car ever. I was repairing something every three months. Poorest workmanship and components I've ever experienced in a car.

 

Well, at least I have a reason to watch if Twellman is actually going to at least ask a somewhat difficult question.

These are the questions that each of the three at the head of the USMNT need to answer.

To Gregg Berhalter: "Gregg, why do you feel the style of play you prefer gives this group of players the best chance to win given their individual skill sets?"

To Earnie Stewart: "Why did you feel Gregg Berhalter was such an obvious choice to be the USMNT coach to the point of not interviewing a number of strong candidates who had expressed an interest in the position?"

To Jay Berhalter: "Given the multiple reports of a poor work environment at Soccer House, a lack of results on the field, and the seeming indifference of US Soccer leadership for results, why should the fan base of US Soccer trust that the current direction of the team is the right one?"

I'm just a regular guy who dabbles in some play by play announcing in other sports. How come I can think of these questions and ask them while those whose job it is to ask these questions won't do it (aside from being afraid of losing contacts and access)?

 

I don't even think a coup would work. Not unless some massive split developed in the Fed and a discontented faction was willing to support a leadership overhaul. Which I see no indication of remotely happening. Even if someone got their genie's wish and managed to oust the threesome from their positions with a snap, anyone within the Fed who'd be able to draw on the necessary support to effectively lead would be an apple from the same tree.

In terms of dramatic overhaul, the dream scenario isn't a coup - it would take something crazy like FIFA deciding to suspend USSF or even taking away USSF's membership as the USA representative. Maybe we can start up a new Fed - the American Soccer Federation - and that can be our new governing body. This is more or less how USSF got its start historically - an upstart organization seizing FIFA membership and thus throttling out the older, more established competition.

But outside of that impossible outcome - I think our only reasonable hope is slow, gradual change. That hopefully, as the older generation retires out, the younger leaders taking over bring with them improvement and a recognition of the need for change, in both the culture and the practices. I mean, yes, we were probably hoping Earnie and Berhalter would be that new generation - but that might be a loss. Now we just have to wait until Corderio, Earnie, and Berhalter retire and hope the next batch isn't quite so blockheaded.

 

Earnie and the Egg bros. are in over their heads.

You can't approach a national team the way they approach it. They've got it all wrong.

They will exit the program as the biggest losers of all time, an object lesson in the pitfall of "systems" dictating terms to football players.

b.t.w. - Dutch football style, total football, didn't emerge from a "system". It emerged as an anti-system. Sure, it may have been responsible for their loss in the final game of that 74 WC, the greatest of all time imo, but so what. I would have loved being on that team and they were national heroes precisely because they were anti system.

Cordeiro should place his right hand between his legs, grab a handful of nuts, and clean house.

 

This is peak on brand. Mount Rushmore level stuff.

 

Ok. I see you and raise you one.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/tex...ng-poop-sandwich-to-homeless-man-wins-appeal/

 

That's pretty damn good, actually.

 

The Chicago Politburo could work as well, since USSF's way of dealing with the media resembles something out of 1984 with the way they disseminate propaganda about how "great" the USMNT is currently...

 

I'll always be partial to The Reign of Error for what we are seeing now.

 

ESPN poll with over 14,000 votes. Apparently, the US fan base isn’t buying what the Reign of Error is selling.

I tried to paste the picture, but the couldn’t. The question was, Is Gregg Berhalter the right choice for USMNT head coach?

Yes 7%
No 89%
Unsure 4%

 

I realize this is probably like passing gas in the wind, but I've started to resort to tweeting at some of the more prominent soccer reporters (I can't call them journalists until they actually start asking tough questions and holding USSF accountable) like Grant Wahl (@GrantWahl) and Jeff Carlisle (@JeffreyCarlisle). This article from Carlisle has a list of good questions that the Berhalters and Stewart should be answering, but no one wants to ask them directly in press conferences.

https://www.espn.com/soccer/united-...am-10-burning-questions-for-the-usmnt-in-2019

So I tweeted at Carlisle this morning, thanked him for a good article, and asked him a) why weren't any of these questions asked at the Stewart press conference and b) when will the soccer media in this country start directly challenging US Soccer? I tweeted at Wahl last night asking similar questions.

Perhaps if more people started filling up their Twitter mentions, they would see that the fan base does want them to start being more direct with the Reign of Error.