Hello Sam. I’ve never watched soccer in my life but after binge watching all of ted lasso in two days I am now a fan. Your videos are very educational and I have been watching a ton of them. Keep em coming.
Thanks Aaron. Now's a great time to start following. The EPL is about to start and Leeds will be a fun follow. They have an American coach and two American starters.
I have been very critical of Gregg since the hiring but I must say he has improved a lot and slowly learned from his mistakes. The only thing that will hold him back is 2 things. his player selection and his unwillingness to optimize his players talents by implementing a complex system.
Your last comment makes no sense. He started out complex as hell and quickly found out that is not the way to coach an international team that doesn't get month to month continuity. And his player selections?!?! Who else does he need to call up? He's calling up less and less MLS players and only calling up Europe hopefuls if he does call up MLS kids and the rest are established European based players.
I don't particularly like his tactics especially in qualifying, but he changed tactics considerably against Morrocco and Uruguay including a game time change to stop pressing wing backs super high against Uruguay after 10 minutes of disaster. As for player selections, I think almost all of the critism niave. Almost every single player in the pool risks their club standing when they accept National team call ups. Roldan is one player who doesn't. This is especially true for European based players. Bringing in European based players and then not playing them is bad and several were punished for accepting call ups (Pulisic, Horvath, DeLa Fuente). Da LA Torre rejected Gold Cup because he wanted pre season with his team to establish himself. That was his request. When he brought him in after he had established himself as a lock starter for clyb, he played him. He had 3 game windows in 7 days mostly where it was sort of unreasonable to think players could play all 3 games. I think a lot more goes into roster selections. Last example is Scalley who was brought in for the 2nd window I think but didn't play and was not called back in until the June window. It was pretty clear that he wasn't ready and there were mu h better options.
Obvio que si, mi opinion de Gregg Berhalter ha cambiado. Creo que si ha "evolucionado" como entrenador de la seleccion nacional de los Estados Unidos. La manera de como haz recapitulado su tiempo como entrenador hasta ahorita es un excelente resumen del trabajo que ha hecho lo cual ha mejorado. Espero y haga buen trabajo para que el Team USA compita en la Copa del Mundo. Crees que siga hasta 2026?, claro dependiendo del papelon que haga en esta copa del mundo en Qatar.
damn Sam, really impressive content as I was not expecting this level of specificity and clear research on your part, so kudos to you for putting in the work for fans. This might be your best video tbh, and that's saying a lot so thanks brother!!
I've always been a Greg naysayer but I have the give him some props for where he's brought us. The ability to effectively adapt to our strengths, personnel, and opposition is the biggest thing I look for in a manager. I still have my concerns about him but the changes he's made have given me some optimism about the future.
Thank you for the clarity! Nice to see a balanced analysis that points out the positives as well as the problems. I’ve been following the USMNT closely for only 2+ years. With all the negativity from fans and talking heads, it was hard for me to see how GGG has overcome his stubbornness and changed his approach. Gives me a sunnier outlook on our WC chances.
Great review and analysis. There is room for optimism with GGG. He may look to be as stubborn as a mule, but he does adapt...eventually. Remember Lovitz, Trapp, Yueill, Lewis (sigh), Adams RB, Lleget, Roldan (sort of), the insistence to not play de la Torre? And the slow and gradual (for the better) evolution of our tactics? He eventually rights his own wrongs. Slowly. But better than never (many national team coaches are much more stubborn than him). Hopefully, it all comes together by November.
Very nice breakdown. Berhalter ultimately arrived at the best tactics for our squad. We don’t have the players yet who can break good teams down with an intricate passing build up game and we don’t have a talismanic striker who can hit teams on the counter with consistency. The high press fits our young speedy core and the direct runs keep the constant pressure that can wear teams down mentally and physically. We just need to find a consistent goal scorer for the big games. Easier said than done.
Great stuff Sam, I love how you broke down berhalters tactics in several phases.. I don’t hate Gregg as a coach and I don’t love him, it is safe to say that Gregg is a slow learner but he does learn..
He's out recruited JK over the same period, and remember that JK fans at the time said that JK had an advantage in recruiting German players because of his background. But that never really panned out. The biggest recruits from the JK era all ended up being duds professionally. The truth is that Berhalter had a long tenure in Europe in multiple leagues, and he's a player with WC experience. He knows about what it's like playing for minutes, struggling to get recognition, and the grind of being a professional player. He's played the game at every level, and so he's much more able to relate to players of every background than JK. More than that, the 'slowness of adapting' and his 'unwillingness to dump players' that drives fans nuts is also Berhalter always being fair to players. To use an analogy, imagine that this is like high school soccer. Why would the junior varsity work hard to get on the team if they know that the coach is just going to drop them for whatever new hotness comes along? The older players that have put in the effort need to have some assurance the credit that they've built up will translate into callups and minutes. Players have to know that they'll lose their spot based on play and not on potential. If you are a senior, then the position is yours to lose. If you don't have that sort of attitude, why would anyone trust you enough to sign with you? It's not just, "My talent is thin so I can play you know" It's also, "Play well for me now and I'm not going to drop you for a 19 year old prospect." Or to put a point on it, "If you are the greatest field player we've ever had, you aren't going to be dropped by me before your swan song world cup."
Haven't always been happy with the team's performance under Berhalter but, despite his stubbornness, like the fact that he adapted to changing his tactics and, with the necessary tweeks, hope he continues the verticality system through Qatar!!!
The almost eulogy style conclusion to this video was chill-inducing man! Brought me right back to that feeling in TQL in November. Appreciate all the hard work it clearly took to make this video. Going to share it with some friends who aren't as into the team as I am (but are interested heading into the WC) to give them some insight into how we got to where we are now.
GGG has definitely grown on me. He still has some glaring weaknesses, but the important thing is he is continuing to improve. I think if he keeps it up we have a decent chance of making a run in the WC.
Very informative video, thanks for putting this together. I look forward to the possibility of seeing the best version of this team in the world cup, and how far we can go.
What’s up Sam! Love what you’re doing with the channel bro. Honestly, Greg started off horrible but he’s learning from his mistakes and I like the fact he experimented with different talents. Giving young players a chance to shine, not only that but bringing so many talented individuals to the usmnt. He has grown as a coach, the players in the squad respect him and his ideas. He also listen to his players. He will do a good job in the World Cup. In all honesty, there is a better coach out there for the usmnt. Only time will tell, but Greg has done a lot for the squad and has given hope to the usmnt spectators and for that he is a good coach.
Great job Sam. What a look into the evolution of USMNT. It was Greg's right to try the likes of yuell, trap, lettget, zardes, Roldan, and so many more. At least he got it right with Zimmerman. The world cup is right around the corner. Look forward to all the content surrounding it.
I honestly don’t know what is going to happen in Qatar for Berhalter. We have some injury concerns, most notably Miles Robinson IMHO, but I’ve seen this guy beat Qatar, Mexico and Canada with a mostly MLS based B team. A coach who can do that can pull off a quarterfinal or even semifinal performance in Qatar, but he also seems capable of committing the sorts of costly mistakes that could see us losing to Iran again, or he doesn’t get to play with a full deck because half of our wonder boys are injured. I wish all the success in the world for Berhalter and the USMNT, though I will make sure, while I am nervously watching USA’s matches in November, to pray for the right attitude rather than for victory.
Great video, Sam. Really good job of recapping and putting Berhalter's tenure in perspective. My opinion has changed slightly. Although I do believe that a better coach could have gotten better results (I'm particularly thinking about the Panama and Canada matches), I give him credit for adapting and making better team selections. But, as you point out, it's the results in Qatar that are going to matter. We've got two matches (Wales and Iran) that are tough but winnable. He should be judged for his tactics in those matches. If his tactics fail - even if we should squeak into the knock-out round - then he should be fired, and a new coach should get a fresh start in the build-up to 2026.
The margins are so slight. I didn't review the Panama match for this but the Canada home game had so many chances that could have been put away for the US. A sloppy game for sure but it was there.
I’ll remember all of Greg’s bounce passes, especially the brilliant behind the back one. Greg is improving but not as fast as Sam. Great video, thanks!
I do give Berhalter credit for making some adjustments to his style over the last few years. Although he still hangs on to some players that are not of the proper caliber continually, or too long.
Great job! Very comprehensive. But, how could leave out, in his experimental phase, trying Adams at FB? Also, that dumpster fire that was the linup selection to start the WCQ match at Honduras that included like 3 6s and 3 CBs in a 4 man back line before completing changing it up for the second half. He was clearly still doing some experimenting during WCQ.
The inverted fullback thing would have been in the Berhalter Ball phase. For all the attention it received it didn’t last very long. So I cut it for the sake of trying to keep the video around 20 minutes. I included the Honduras game in the experimental phase.
I think it also needs to be noted that in Phase 2 the game against Honduras Berhalter's job was on the line, and after the first half it looked like he was going to get fired. Until that saving 2nd half.
I think Gregg is often judged on a “what if” basis. What if we got a different coach, he did things differently, he started x player… what if he isn’t maximizing our talent pool? Based on results, he won 2 trophies and then did the bare minimum in WCQ. Overall, as many questions as I may have, I can see him learning with the team and I think we could’ve done a lot worse in hindsight
Grapefruit Greg has the most talented group of young players EVER in the entire history of the USMNT, and he still managed to finish THIRD in CONCACAF qualification. Your one metric - that this is a guy with NO international coaching experience at any level and despite a thoroughly underwhelming coaching resume was still hired through sheer nepotism - was ultimately borne out through his struggles to FIGURE OUT HOW TO COACH AT THE INTERNATIONAL LEVEL. And the problem is, the World Cup is yet another level that the Grapefruit has to step up to because he's NEVER COACHED AT THE WORLD CUP. The Grapefruit continues to be completely blind in his player selection choices still. Aaron Long, Acosta, and Arriola are absolute MLS Lifer Duds who WILL FAIL AND COST THE TEAM if put into the lineup in Qatar. But I'm pretty sure the Grapefruit is going to put them there to fill his MLS QUOTA. Everything points to the Grapefruit falling flat on his face at the World Cup - he has yet to figure out how to get his team to play well when they are not playing at home, he still hasn't figured out how to organize his defense, and worse of all, barring death or dismemberment, he looks on track to start Aaron Long, who absolutely will get beat in the England match, and probably will also leak a goal or two against Iran and Wales. Ugh, Ugh, Ugh.
The only thing that counts is how he does at the world cup. Really, nothing else matters . If he gets past the round of 16, he will be gaurented another 4 years. If he doesn't get out of the group GGG is history. If he loses in round of 16 he's 50/50 .
Our susceptibility to the counter alone is a good reason not to play John Brooks. I think Gregg recognized that and it's what led to that change. For that same reason, Richards should be the favorite to replace Miles at the WC, as long as he gets some decent playing time at Palace.
My two cents is he's evolved but not enough. I still think we're winning with talent and not from the tactics, but at least he's evolved some so our tactics aren't a huge handicap anymore. I still think Gregg over complicates things and his strong suit is not his tactical game nor decision making during games. One thing he has done, which I will applaud him for is things off the field. I think he's truly built a team with esprit de corps and a team atmosphere that makes the guys genuinely happy to be in. For me the performances against Morocco, and Uruguay were good but no matter what must be seen through the lens of friendlies. The El Salvador mud bowl though, I really feel that was a transformative game in that it wasn't pretty soccer but we finally saw the old spirit that used to imbue our national team. We use to not always have the best talent in the world, but we would play our guts out, and I feel up until the mud bowl we were winning with talent but when the chips were down we would fold. A lot of that folding came from youth and inexperience as a team, but I think coming out of that mud bowl game we finally stopped folding under pressure. Grit and determination makes a team play better than the sum of its parts, in my lowly opinion. I don't know how far that added ingredient will take us along with our talent in the world cup, but I do know a long missing piece of our national team performances was finally found. So the world cup: I think its a weird conundrum. Our group is such that we might not make it out of the group, but the way our team and tactics are built that if we get out of the group we could make the quarterfinals. I think Gregg will still be learning on the job come the group stage, and that scares me not gonna lie haha. In the end they will be ready or they won't. Give em hell boys!
I think that most American fans, especially those under age 30 vastly overestimate the amount of talent that we have. We don't have talent right now. We have promise, potential, and prospects. And often those are injured. We don't have a single proven player in Europe right now. We have a bunch of kids mostly under the age of 23 who we hope might become proven talent and stars in Europe one day but who are not there yet. We are like 4 years younger than the average national team. We don't have a roster made up of star players and team captains. We have a roster made up of players 11-14, roleplayers who see some minutes but who aren't locks to start important games. This is true of even our biggest names like Dest and Pulisic. We are like 38th in the world when it comes to minutes played in the top 5 leagues in Europe. We are even lower ranked than that among nations when it comes to goals scored in the big 5 leagues. And the trouble that I really have is that the level of participation we have right now in the big 5 leagues in Europe isn't unprecedented really. We've had this many starters before, only those players really were the stars and captains of their teams. What's really going on is not that Berhalter has extraordinary levels of talent, but that since 2011 our talent and our presence in club soccer had been steadily declining. Each year the existing talent got older and no new talent came to replace it. And so fans see this return to normal as a huge bloom of talent, when really this is just where we should have been back in 2012. We're picking back up where we left off before the program was wrecked by the changes to youth development that started in 2006 and before we hired the biggest clown of a coach in all of soccer to manage the program.
Well, tactics can be a detriment. Having 70% possession and getting only one good scoring opportunity the entire game was based on Gregg's tactics and the decision not to change. the US players were far superior to the Canadian players but lost 2-0. There is a fine line between confidence and arrogance but I think it was one of those that played a huge factor that day. As I learned from Spinal Tap, there is a also a fine line between clever and stupid ... I hope I'm clever 😀
@@robertgeist883 It's not at all clear the US players are superior to the Canadian players. The Canadian players are actually scoring in Europe, for example.
Canada starting lineup scored 28 European goals last season and US starting lineup 25. 19 came from David, 8 from Larin, and 1 from Buchanon. US started 6 players getting regular minutes in top 5 leagues, Canada 1. At the time Canada started 6 MLS players and US started 3 MLS players. Canada's best player was missing (Davies) and prob 3rd best player in Eustacio. Davies is unquestionably Canada's best player and he had 0 goals in 31 appearances last season. Do you not think the coaches tactics had a bigger impact on the game than the players on the field?
Phase 1: GGG Ball I had no confidence in him or the team Phase 2: Experimental phase was growing pains Phase 3: Verticality phase confidence was growing in GGG and the team. Phase 4: World Cup….confidence is there just worried about injuries but we shall see. However I’m more confident in GGG and USMNT now than in 2019.
I firmly believe that Berhalter was the best coach that was available. I wanted him as the USMNT national coach since I saw him take a low budget player pool of roleplayers who would not find success anywhere else to the MLS final purely on out couching the whole of the MLS. His talents as a manager, as a teaching coach, and as a tactician weren't out matched by any American coach. Remember, one of the big names that the Berhalter critics wanted instead of Berhalter was Atlanta's Tata. You don't hear that much anymore, as if there is any CONCACAF coach Gregg has consistently out coached, it's Tata. Berhalter's real competitor was Jesse Marsch who didn't want the job at the time and who has struggled as even more of an idealistic system coach than Berhalter. GGG has had the most impressive start as a coach of any men's coach in US history. More wins. More silverware. Qualified.
@@YankReport Which is the other thing that the casual fans get wrong when they list the highly qualified coaches that supposedly should have been offered the job. They act like USMNT coach is a plum coaching position that of course any coach would want. In reality, it's not in the top 100 best paid or most prestigious coaching jobs in soccer. Gregg makes $1.2 million as USMNT coach/manager, which is less than every single coach in the EPL. Coaching the USMNT is a huge downgrade for most proven coaches so if you are going to hire someone it's going to have to be a coach that is to a large extent unproven. It's not a job that experienced coaches would look at as a way to build the resume. But above all, there is a huge difference in the sporting culture and sporting landscape of the USA compared to any other nation in the world (with the arguable exception of Australia). There are things going on in the sporting landscape of the USA that you just won't get as a foreigner arriving here. After the disaster that was Klinsmann, the newly hired coach had to be American. Between those two constraints, it could only have been Berhalter.
@@YankReport Well, that and... a) PTSD after missing WC in 2018. The generation that couldn't really remember US soccer before 1990 didn't have scar tissue. As a European fan said, "Now the Americans will know the pain of being real soccer fans." b) The general human inability to admit when you are wrong. There are still fans out there that no matter how JK beclowned himself before, after, or during his tenure with the USMNT, and no matter what comes out about his time as a coach, will still insist he was the best coach we ever had, that he shouldn't have been fired, and that Gregg is just riding his coattails. Part of this I think comes from being too young to remember just how many players we had in Europe in the early 2000's and not realizing just how good players like Claudio Reyna, Steve Cherundolo, etc. etc. really were. People really need to go back and watch the US play in say the 2002 WC and take a look at the speed and power we had back then. Arena was working with insane levels of talent.
@@celebrim1 Thank you! You get it! After multiple decades of following the USMNT I was never so upset as when the USSF hired Klinsmann. Legendary player, but as a manager/coach he held a half page resume of farce and folly.
Nice job Sam. Has this changed my view of GGG, no. I honestly believe that we as fans see things with extreme bias. What we see as "truth" is rarely truth and rarely objective. Just as your LDLT question, was GGG slow, really? After all he did give LDLT a 7 match chance to prove himself, Luca just said, no. Even after that, 4 matches later LDLT was in a match for WCQ. So the real question is, is GGG slow to change or are we as fans just not patient enough? My guess is somewhere in between, but probably more toward our impatience.
That's an excellent point. One of my biggest sliding doors theories about WCQ is what would the team have looked like if LDT accepts the Gold Cup call up? Is he brought into the midfield sooner and does that change some of the early results from the first two windows. It's an interesting question. Overall I do agree that fans are impatient and tend to not see the forest for the trees.
@smth 9021 I disagree on your last point. Both Canada matches are prime examples of blaming the "talent". As if GGG said hey let's take 3 or 4 extra touches to move the ball from one side to the other. We will disguise our attempt to unbalance them with extra slow play. Yet that is exactly what our "talent" did!
Or does he not get established with his team like Hoppe and is completely out of the picture now. I think that is the most likely what would have happened.
@@robertgeist883 It was a gamble. However, if i am not mistaken he was already a regular starter for his club by the end of the season. Hoppe is a completely different story. Hoppe only played professionally for 9 months. He should have said no to the call-up. However, the point is what is good for the player or what is good for the coach, it is the fan's perspective is generally out of line and lacks actual knowledge of the what is really going on. We as fans are quick to point fingers yet refuse to actually have the patience to know the complete story.
In spite of Greggg.... he's stubborn, conservative and slow to change things up and yes after 2017's failure we took forever to select a replacement and then after only interviewing all of two... count em, two candidates. We clearly haven't played much against any non CONCACAF sides in some time so the talk of how great our success was... it was against few truly strong sides. The reality of always playing a 4-3-3 and a high line has left us often with either both wide defenders upfield and only one midfielder in front of a pair of center backs meaning we over depended upon Miles Robinson's ability to make a recovery run... but now he's out for the year so we find our central defense being caught out on the counter attack. Add to this the sad fact that we just don't have a dependable center forward and Berhalter's aversion to ever play either a second "satellite" striker or an attacking central midfielder. We had problems scoring even against CONCACAF sides and the idea that we never did well against a low block style has yet to be resolved. If we continue to use the tactics that only halfway worked against sides we clearly should be dominating now against stronger opponents, say England or the Netherlands... we face not getting many chances to score and that won't get us into the knock out round without a great deal of luck. That said this draw in Qatar is as good as we've been given in a very very long time and honestly we could see a run to a quarter final... but if we press hard playing a 4-3-3 we risk a counter attack and not getting out of the group stage... I simply have doubts GGG will change tactics, and to succeed against Grop B and Group A will require to adjust or crash and burn.
good content & evaluation. however, not sure how well this has aged given the vast improvement in player pool yet WC performance meeting the bare minimum. Now, USSF has doubled down on GGG even after the addition for Fologun giving the Nats way better attacking tools. I doubt GGG will know how to maximize that performance, or get over his own ego after the Gio debacle.
You're right. The WC will determine his legacy. He's been frustratingly slow to adapt both for players left out and players he clung to,The apparent Grudgge against John Brooks, the ease with which Morris and Long were guided back into the team (Morris is looking much better now with club minutes under his belt, but nonetheless)...
Brooks has been out of form for the better part of two years, he stinks at defending a high line, and now he's unemployed with a cold market. The mystery is how so many fans like you can be aware of these facts but somehow still don't understand why Brooks doesn't deserve national team minutes.
he still has a chance to scr*w the USA by taking much more MLS players which will be not only the detriment of USMNT but his future as a coach if we finish dead last in our group
honestly, if he really wants the USMNT to succeed, admit that the MLS gods have put a required quota on the team. If it will affect his place as a coach, then do it in Qatar where MLS can no longer touch him. And play these so called "qualified MLS" players sparingly if at All. What matters is that we not only make it out of our group, but advance at least to quarters
I look forward to the day when retrospect is clearer and we stop blaming Arena for his so-called "failure" to come in off the street and clean up the USSF and Klinsmann's 5+yr devolution of this team and its spirit.
Edited because it sounds too harsh. Berhalter has grown into a competent head coach/manager. Irrespective of his growth, the one thing I will not accept as acceptable is the fact that Berhalter was completely unprepared to be the USMNT manager. He desperately needed to grow. That said, it is not Greg's fault that he got the job. US Soccer is pathetic and corrupt. Period. Unfortunately, while I feel that Berhalter has got us on an Ok place, there are still some warning signs. He still takes WAY too long to acknowledge the limitations of "his" guys, in contrast to the short leash he gives less familiar players. This is particularly evident regarding Lleget, Arriola, and Roldan. Long and Morris reveal his blindness in a different way. Before their injuries, they were definitely valuable players, but now they are a couple steps slower, a fact that Berhalter doesn't seem to acknowledge. I still cringe watching replays of Long getting turned and having to foul against Uruguay. Also, Berhalter is too slow to make in game adjustments. Maybe he needs to pre-plan them because he is a very good tactical analyst.
Underperformed in 'qualifiying'. Had the talent to finish first. Over values and leans too heavily on MLS players. If he's really intent on implementing a system that suits the strengths of his players, he should play Gio Reyna centrally where he can use his creativity to unlock defenses (or 'disorganize' them as he aptly put it once). A 4-2-3-1 formation with an attacking midfielder playing under the striker would go a long way toward resolving the team's scoring woes. Moreover, Brooks and Richards need to anchor the backline in Qatar. What are Zimmerman and Long gonna do with the ball at their feet when they're pressed? It only takes one careless mistake to set the wrong tone for the tournament(think Bocanegra in 2006 in the opener versus the Czech Republic). Unlike Long and Zimmerman, Richards and Brooks not only have the skill set to work their way out of trouble against elite competition but they also possess the ability to deliver line-breaking passes that can unsettle an opposing team. Excluding and underutilizing our best talents will be Gregg's undoing. Gregg's success thus far can be mostly ascribed to his inheriting a talented generation of young players. His tactics and player selection have not come remotely close to maximizing the potential of this group. Overall grade: C-
One can usually spot the brainless fans in this base by their whining about Brooks. Facts: - Brooks hasn't been in good form since early 2021 - he struggles defending a high line, which makes him unsuited for modern tactics - these issues have culminated with him being literally out of a job while preseason is already fully under way for European clubs And yet you clowns whinge about imaginary personal issues with Berhalter and don't understand why he isn't getting Nats minutes. He's not getting called up because calling up unemployed, out of form players to national team duty is what terrible, talent-barren programs have to do. 🙄 🤦
@@samplingmastersxlr8660 I agree with you that it would really be the players fault if they don’t make it through the group stage. Yet even though it wasn’t Gregg’s fault he would still not be brought back as coach. That is just the way it works. Coaches are easily replaceable.
@@samplingmastersxlr8660 by far the best players we had in years, they aren’t legends but they are good. You have protected berhalter this entire time and you can’t deny that his tactics and player selection with average mls players is a big deal.
@@samplingmastersxlr8660 players are not nearly as replaceable as coaches. Coaching is overrated at this level. I could replace Berhalter in a day. The national team would be fine. However, attempting to replace Pulisic, McKinnie, Adams, and Reyna, just these four alone, would send the USMNT team back into irrelevancy.
The coach can coach mls but no amount of experience since to improve his coaching skills … sadly … we may come out from group play in World Cup … if we do , it will be because of players not coaching
Hello Sam. I’ve never watched soccer in my life but after binge watching all of ted lasso in two days I am now a fan. Your videos are very educational and I have been watching a ton of them. Keep em coming.
Thanks Aaron. Now's a great time to start following. The EPL is about to start and Leeds will be a fun follow. They have an American coach and two American starters.
Great review Sam I appreciate all the work that must have gone into this!
I'm glad it's over.
I second this comment. You put a lot of time in and it shows. Congrats man, fantastic video.
I have been very critical of Gregg since the hiring but I must say he has improved a lot and slowly learned from his mistakes. The only thing that will hold him back is 2 things. his player selection and his unwillingness to optimize his players talents by implementing a complex system.
Your last comment makes no sense. He started out complex as hell and quickly found out that is not the way to coach an international team that doesn't get month to month continuity.
And his player selections?!?! Who else does he need to call up? He's calling up less and less MLS players and only calling up Europe hopefuls if he does call up MLS kids and the rest are established European based players.
I don't particularly like his tactics especially in qualifying, but he changed tactics considerably against Morrocco and Uruguay including a game time change to stop pressing wing backs super high against Uruguay after 10 minutes of disaster. As for player selections, I think almost all of the critism niave. Almost every single player in the pool risks their club standing when they accept National team call ups. Roldan is one player who doesn't. This is especially true for European based players. Bringing in European based players and then not playing them is bad and several were punished for accepting call ups (Pulisic, Horvath, DeLa Fuente). Da LA Torre rejected Gold Cup because he wanted pre season with his team to establish himself. That was his request. When he brought him in after he had established himself as a lock starter for clyb, he played him. He had 3 game windows in 7 days mostly where it was sort of unreasonable to think players could play all 3 games. I think a lot more goes into roster selections. Last example is Scalley who was brought in for the 2nd window I think but didn't play and was not called back in until the June window. It was pretty clear that he wasn't ready and there were mu h better options.
A complex system doesn’t work for an international team
He has already fixed those 2 things
This did not age well
Obvio que si, mi opinion de Gregg Berhalter ha cambiado. Creo que si ha "evolucionado" como entrenador de la seleccion nacional de los Estados Unidos. La manera de como haz recapitulado su tiempo como entrenador hasta ahorita es un excelente resumen del trabajo que ha hecho lo cual ha mejorado. Espero y haga buen trabajo para que el Team USA compita en la Copa del Mundo. Crees que siga hasta 2026?, claro dependiendo del papelon que haga en esta copa del mundo en Qatar.
Excellent analysis. It was unbiased, unemotional and highly professional. Twellman, Gomez and others can learn a lot from watching this report.
Seriously! His videos are eloquently spoken with a professional tone.
BERHALTER ball is
HIGH press DEFENSIVELY
And very TECHNICAL ball Skilled players OFFENSIVELY.
And this Style WORKS!
damn Sam, really impressive content as I was not expecting this level of specificity and clear research on your part, so kudos to you for putting in the work for fans. This might be your best video tbh, and that's saying a lot so thanks brother!!
Thank you, Ronniet!
@@YankReport it's well deserved my man!
I already listened to this on Spotify but I thought I’d leave a like and comment here to express how much I enjoyed this. Thanks very much
Thank you G Bailey!
I've always been a Greg naysayer but I have the give him some props for where he's brought us. The ability to effectively adapt to our strengths, personnel, and opposition is the biggest thing I look for in a manager. I still have my concerns about him but the changes he's made have given me some optimism about the future.
I was at that nations league final, and it changed everything for me
Bruh Sam! you're getting seriously good at this!
Thank you, Ralph.
Thank you for the clarity! Nice to see a balanced analysis that points out the positives as well as the problems. I’ve been following the USMNT closely for only 2+ years. With all the negativity from fans and talking heads, it was hard for me to see how GGG has overcome his stubbornness and changed his approach. Gives me a sunnier outlook on our WC chances.
This was elite content and a great angle.
Great review and analysis.
There is room for optimism with GGG.
He may look to be as stubborn as a mule, but he does adapt...eventually.
Remember Lovitz, Trapp, Yueill, Lewis (sigh), Adams RB, Lleget, Roldan (sort of), the insistence to not play de la Torre? And the slow and gradual (for the better) evolution of our tactics?
He eventually rights his own wrongs. Slowly. But better than never (many national team coaches are much more stubborn than him). Hopefully, it all comes together by November.
This was fantastic. Great work man
Thank you DannyT!
Very nice breakdown. Berhalter ultimately arrived at the best tactics for our squad. We don’t have the players yet who can break good teams down with an intricate passing build up game and we don’t have a talismanic striker who can hit teams on the counter with consistency. The high press fits our young speedy core and the direct runs keep the constant pressure that can wear teams down mentally and physically. We just need to find a consistent goal scorer for the big games. Easier said than done.
Good breakdown sam love the work 🇺🇸💪🏼🫡
Thank you, Brian.
The quality of your videos just keep increasing. Great job man
Great stuff Sam, I love how you broke down berhalters tactics in several phases.. I don’t hate Gregg as a coach and I don’t love him, it is safe to say that Gregg is a slow learner but he does learn..
This video ruled. Keep up the good work bro!
Thank you Dennis
He should also get credit for recruitment
He brought in dest peppi and Tillman
And Musah who might end up being the best of the bunch.
He's out recruited JK over the same period, and remember that JK fans at the time said that JK had an advantage in recruiting German players because of his background. But that never really panned out. The biggest recruits from the JK era all ended up being duds professionally. The truth is that Berhalter had a long tenure in Europe in multiple leagues, and he's a player with WC experience. He knows about what it's like playing for minutes, struggling to get recognition, and the grind of being a professional player. He's played the game at every level, and so he's much more able to relate to players of every background than JK.
More than that, the 'slowness of adapting' and his 'unwillingness to dump players' that drives fans nuts is also Berhalter always being fair to players. To use an analogy, imagine that this is like high school soccer. Why would the junior varsity work hard to get on the team if they know that the coach is just going to drop them for whatever new hotness comes along? The older players that have put in the effort need to have some assurance the credit that they've built up will translate into callups and minutes. Players have to know that they'll lose their spot based on play and not on potential. If you are a senior, then the position is yours to lose. If you don't have that sort of attitude, why would anyone trust you enough to sign with you? It's not just, "My talent is thin so I can play you know" It's also, "Play well for me now and I'm not going to drop you for a 19 year old prospect." Or to put a point on it, "If you are the greatest field player we've ever had, you aren't going to be dropped by me before your swan song world cup."
Hello from Brazil, god work , your channel is increble.
Haven't always been happy with the team's performance under Berhalter but, despite his stubbornness, like the fact that he adapted to changing his tactics and, with the necessary tweeks, hope he continues the verticality system through Qatar!!!
This is one of my favorite videos of yours that i have seen so far, great stuff
Well done Sam! I want to rewatch dos a zero now.
The almost eulogy style conclusion to this video was chill-inducing man! Brought me right back to that feeling in TQL in November. Appreciate all the hard work it clearly took to make this video. Going to share it with some friends who aren't as into the team as I am (but are interested heading into the WC) to give them some insight into how we got to where we are now.
GGG has definitely grown on me. He still has some glaring weaknesses, but the important thing is he is continuing to improve. I think if he keeps it up we have a decent chance of making a run in the WC.
Well done Sam! Great breakdown. 👏
Thanks Ross
Excellent review, analysis and insights Sam. Love watching your highly informative videos! Keep up the good work!
Very informative video, thanks for putting this together. I look forward to the possibility of seeing the best version of this team in the world cup, and how far we can go.
Love your vids man! Very professional and fluid. Makes a great viewing experience.
Thanks!
This is excellent work Sam.
What’s up Sam! Love what you’re doing with the channel bro.
Honestly, Greg started off horrible but he’s learning from his mistakes and I like the fact he experimented with different talents. Giving young players a chance to shine, not only that but bringing so many talented individuals to the usmnt. He has grown as a coach, the players in the squad respect him and his ideas. He also listen to his players.
He will do a good job in the World Cup. In all honesty, there is a better coach out there for the usmnt. Only time will tell, but Greg has done a lot for the squad and has given hope to the usmnt spectators and for that he is a good coach.
Wow, Sam. Really really good. So well-written, too. Excellent work 👍👍😁
Thank you, Thomas!
Great job Sam. What a look into the evolution of USMNT. It was Greg's right to try the likes of yuell, trap, lettget, zardes, Roldan, and so many more. At least he got it right with Zimmerman. The world cup is right around the corner. Look forward to all the content surrounding it.
Thank you, Ski.
Nicely done 💯
Thanks 💯
I honestly don’t know what is going to happen in Qatar for Berhalter. We have some injury concerns, most notably Miles Robinson IMHO, but I’ve seen this guy beat Qatar, Mexico and Canada with a mostly MLS based B team. A coach who can do that can pull off a quarterfinal or even semifinal performance in Qatar, but he also seems capable of committing the sorts of costly mistakes that could see us losing to Iran again, or he doesn’t get to play with a full deck because half of our wonder boys are injured.
I wish all the success in the world for Berhalter and the USMNT, though I will make sure, while I am nervously watching USA’s matches in November, to pray for the right attitude rather than for victory.
Great video, Sam. Really good job of recapping and putting Berhalter's tenure in perspective. My opinion has changed slightly. Although I do believe that a better coach could have gotten better results (I'm particularly thinking about the Panama and Canada matches), I give him credit for adapting and making better team selections.
But, as you point out, it's the results in Qatar that are going to matter. We've got two matches (Wales and Iran) that are tough but winnable. He should be judged for his tactics in those matches. If his tactics fail - even if we should squeak into the knock-out round - then he should be fired, and a new coach should get a fresh start in the build-up to 2026.
The margins are so slight. I didn't review the Panama match for this but the Canada home game had so many chances that could have been put away for the US. A sloppy game for sure but it was there.
I’ll remember all of Greg’s bounce passes, especially the brilliant behind the back one.
Greg is improving but not as fast as Sam. Great video, thanks!
I do give Berhalter credit for making some adjustments to his style over the last few years. Although he still hangs on to some players that are not of the proper caliber continually, or too long.
@smth 9021 I don't mind one of those players on the bench like Arriola, but Cristian Roldan, and Morris. Pre last injury Morris I would say yes.
I learned a lot here thanks!
Great job! Very comprehensive. But, how could leave out, in his experimental phase, trying Adams at FB? Also, that dumpster fire that was the linup selection to start the WCQ match at Honduras that included like 3 6s and 3 CBs in a 4 man back line before completing changing it up for the second half. He was clearly still doing some experimenting during WCQ.
The inverted fullback thing would have been in the Berhalter Ball phase. For all the attention it received it didn’t last very long. So I cut it for the sake of trying to keep the video around 20 minutes. I included the Honduras game in the experimental phase.
All that matters now are the three games in November. I hope they succeed, at the very least for the sake of his future prospects.
Three games in November sounds like a Netflix series I'd begin immediately.
I think it also needs to be noted that in Phase 2 the game against Honduras Berhalter's job was on the line, and after the first half it looked like he was going to get fired. Until that saving 2nd half.
I think Gregg is often judged on a “what if” basis. What if we got a different coach, he did things differently, he started x player… what if he isn’t maximizing our talent pool? Based on results, he won 2 trophies and then did the bare minimum in WCQ. Overall, as many questions as I may have, I can see him learning with the team and I think we could’ve done a lot worse in hindsight
Grapefruit Greg has the most talented group of young players EVER in the entire history of the USMNT, and he still managed to finish THIRD in CONCACAF qualification.
Your one metric - that this is a guy with NO international coaching experience at any level and despite a thoroughly underwhelming coaching resume was still hired through sheer nepotism - was ultimately borne out through his struggles to FIGURE OUT HOW TO COACH AT THE INTERNATIONAL LEVEL.
And the problem is, the World Cup is yet another level that the Grapefruit has to step up to because he's NEVER COACHED AT THE WORLD CUP.
The Grapefruit continues to be completely blind in his player selection choices still. Aaron Long, Acosta, and Arriola are absolute MLS Lifer Duds who WILL FAIL AND COST THE TEAM if put into the lineup in Qatar. But I'm pretty sure the Grapefruit is going to put them there to fill his MLS QUOTA.
Everything points to the Grapefruit falling flat on his face at the World Cup - he has yet to figure out how to get his team to play well when they are not playing at home, he still hasn't figured out how to organize his defense, and worse of all, barring death or dismemberment, he looks on track to start Aaron Long, who absolutely will get beat in the England match, and probably will also leak a goal or two against Iran and Wales.
Ugh, Ugh, Ugh.
Fantastic video!
Thanks, Christian.
The only thing that counts is how he does at the world cup. Really, nothing else matters . If he gets past the round of 16, he will be gaurented another 4 years. If he doesn't get out of the group GGG is history. If he loses in round of 16 he's 50/50 .
Our susceptibility to the counter alone is a good reason not to play John Brooks. I think Gregg recognized that and it's what led to that change. For that same reason, Richards should be the favorite to replace Miles at the WC, as long as he gets some decent playing time at Palace.
My two cents is he's evolved but not enough. I still think we're winning with talent and not from the tactics, but at least he's evolved some so our tactics aren't a huge handicap anymore. I still think Gregg over complicates things and his strong suit is not his tactical game nor decision making during games.
One thing he has done, which I will applaud him for is things off the field. I think he's truly built a team with esprit de corps and a team atmosphere that makes the guys genuinely happy to be in. For me the performances against Morocco, and Uruguay were good but no matter what must be seen through the lens of friendlies. The El Salvador mud bowl though, I really feel that was a transformative game in that it wasn't pretty soccer but we finally saw the old spirit that used to imbue our national team. We use to not always have the best talent in the world, but we would play our guts out, and I feel up until the mud bowl we were winning with talent but when the chips were down we would fold. A lot of that folding came from youth and inexperience as a team, but I think coming out of that mud bowl game we finally stopped folding under pressure. Grit and determination makes a team play better than the sum of its parts, in my lowly opinion. I don't know how far that added ingredient will take us along with our talent in the world cup, but I do know a long missing piece of our national team performances was finally found.
So the world cup: I think its a weird conundrum. Our group is such that we might not make it out of the group, but the way our team and tactics are built that if we get out of the group we could make the quarterfinals. I think Gregg will still be learning on the job come the group stage, and that scares me not gonna lie haha.
In the end they will be ready or they won't. Give em hell boys!
your talent should always be the determining factor in any game, tactics are just for shape and to define roles.
I think that most American fans, especially those under age 30 vastly overestimate the amount of talent that we have. We don't have talent right now. We have promise, potential, and prospects. And often those are injured.
We don't have a single proven player in Europe right now. We have a bunch of kids mostly under the age of 23 who we hope might become proven talent and stars in Europe one day but who are not there yet. We are like 4 years younger than the average national team. We don't have a roster made up of star players and team captains. We have a roster made up of players 11-14, roleplayers who see some minutes but who aren't locks to start important games. This is true of even our biggest names like Dest and Pulisic.
We are like 38th in the world when it comes to minutes played in the top 5 leagues in Europe. We are even lower ranked than that among nations when it comes to goals scored in the big 5 leagues.
And the trouble that I really have is that the level of participation we have right now in the big 5 leagues in Europe isn't unprecedented really. We've had this many starters before, only those players really were the stars and captains of their teams.
What's really going on is not that Berhalter has extraordinary levels of talent, but that since 2011 our talent and our presence in club soccer had been steadily declining. Each year the existing talent got older and no new talent came to replace it. And so fans see this return to normal as a huge bloom of talent, when really this is just where we should have been back in 2012. We're picking back up where we left off before the program was wrecked by the changes to youth development that started in 2006 and before we hired the biggest clown of a coach in all of soccer to manage the program.
Well, tactics can be a detriment. Having 70% possession and getting only one good scoring opportunity the entire game was based on Gregg's tactics and the decision not to change. the US players were far superior to the Canadian players but lost 2-0. There is a fine line between confidence and arrogance but I think it was one of those that played a huge factor that day. As I learned from Spinal Tap, there is a also a fine line between clever and stupid ... I hope I'm clever 😀
@@robertgeist883 It's not at all clear the US players are superior to the Canadian players. The Canadian players are actually scoring in Europe, for example.
Canada starting lineup scored 28 European goals last season and US starting lineup 25. 19 came from David, 8 from Larin, and 1 from Buchanon. US started 6 players getting regular minutes in top 5 leagues, Canada 1. At the time Canada started 6 MLS players and US started 3 MLS players. Canada's best player was missing (Davies) and prob 3rd best player in Eustacio. Davies is unquestionably Canada's best player and he had 0 goals in 31 appearances last season. Do you not think the coaches tactics had a bigger impact on the game than the players on the field?
verticality above all else
Phase 1: GGG Ball I had no confidence in him or the team
Phase 2: Experimental phase was growing pains
Phase 3: Verticality phase confidence was growing in GGG and the team.
Phase 4: World Cup….confidence is there just worried about injuries but we shall see.
However I’m more confident in GGG and USMNT now than in 2019.
I firmly believe that Berhalter was the best coach that was available. I wanted him as the USMNT national coach since I saw him take a low budget player pool of roleplayers who would not find success anywhere else to the MLS final purely on out couching the whole of the MLS. His talents as a manager, as a teaching coach, and as a tactician weren't out matched by any American coach. Remember, one of the big names that the Berhalter critics wanted instead of Berhalter was Atlanta's Tata. You don't hear that much anymore, as if there is any CONCACAF coach Gregg has consistently out coached, it's Tata. Berhalter's real competitor was Jesse Marsch who didn't want the job at the time and who has struggled as even more of an idealistic system coach than Berhalter.
GGG has had the most impressive start as a coach of any men's coach in US history. More wins. More silverware. Qualified.
Looking back on the list in retrospect I think USSF got it right. I think people overestimate the appeal of the USMNT job.
@@YankReport Which is the other thing that the casual fans get wrong when they list the highly qualified coaches that supposedly should have been offered the job. They act like USMNT coach is a plum coaching position that of course any coach would want. In reality, it's not in the top 100 best paid or most prestigious coaching jobs in soccer. Gregg makes $1.2 million as USMNT coach/manager, which is less than every single coach in the EPL. Coaching the USMNT is a huge downgrade for most proven coaches so if you are going to hire someone it's going to have to be a coach that is to a large extent unproven. It's not a job that experienced coaches would look at as a way to build the resume.
But above all, there is a huge difference in the sporting culture and sporting landscape of the USA compared to any other nation in the world (with the arguable exception of Australia). There are things going on in the sporting landscape of the USA that you just won't get as a foreigner arriving here. After the disaster that was Klinsmann, the newly hired coach had to be American. Between those two constraints, it could only have been Berhalter.
@@celebrim1 the misguided expectations allows for some baked in outrage.
@@YankReport Well, that and...
a) PTSD after missing WC in 2018. The generation that couldn't really remember US soccer before 1990 didn't have scar tissue. As a European fan said, "Now the Americans will know the pain of being real soccer fans."
b) The general human inability to admit when you are wrong. There are still fans out there that no matter how JK beclowned himself before, after, or during his tenure with the USMNT, and no matter what comes out about his time as a coach, will still insist he was the best coach we ever had, that he shouldn't have been fired, and that Gregg is just riding his coattails. Part of this I think comes from being too young to remember just how many players we had in Europe in the early 2000's and not realizing just how good players like Claudio Reyna, Steve Cherundolo, etc. etc. really were. People really need to go back and watch the US play in say the 2002 WC and take a look at the speed and power we had back then. Arena was working with insane levels of talent.
@@celebrim1 Thank you! You get it! After multiple decades of following the USMNT I was never so upset as when the USSF hired Klinsmann. Legendary player, but as a manager/coach he held a half page resume of farce and folly.
Nice job Sam. Has this changed my view of GGG, no. I honestly believe that we as fans see things with extreme bias. What we see as "truth" is rarely truth and rarely objective. Just as your LDLT question, was GGG slow, really? After all he did give LDLT a 7 match chance to prove himself, Luca just said, no. Even after that, 4 matches later LDLT was in a match for WCQ.
So the real question is, is GGG slow to change or are we as fans just not patient enough? My guess is somewhere in between, but probably more toward our impatience.
That's an excellent point. One of my biggest sliding doors theories about WCQ is what would the team have looked like if LDT accepts the Gold Cup call up? Is he brought into the midfield sooner and does that change some of the early results from the first two windows. It's an interesting question. Overall I do agree that fans are impatient and tend to not see the forest for the trees.
@smth 9021 I disagree on your last point. Both Canada matches are prime examples of blaming the "talent". As if GGG said hey let's take 3 or 4 extra touches to move the ball from one side to the other. We will disguise our attempt to unbalance them with extra slow play. Yet that is exactly what our "talent" did!
Or does he not get established with his team like Hoppe and is completely out of the picture now. I think that is the most likely what would have happened.
@@robertgeist883 It was a gamble. However, if i am not mistaken he was already a regular starter for his club by the end of the season. Hoppe is a completely different story. Hoppe only played professionally for 9 months. He should have said no to the call-up.
However, the point is what is good for the player or what is good for the coach, it is the fan's perspective is generally out of line and lacks actual knowledge of the what is really going on. We as fans are quick to point fingers yet refuse to actually have the patience to know the complete story.
This is good!
In spite of Greggg.... he's stubborn, conservative and slow to change things up and yes after 2017's failure we took forever to select a replacement and then after only interviewing all of two... count em, two candidates.
We clearly haven't played much against any non CONCACAF sides in some time so the talk of how great our success was... it was against few truly strong sides.
The reality of always playing a 4-3-3 and a high line has left us often with either both wide defenders upfield and only one midfielder in front of a pair of center backs meaning we over depended upon Miles Robinson's ability to make a recovery run... but now he's out for the year so we find our central defense being caught out on the counter attack.
Add to this the sad fact that we just don't have a dependable center forward and Berhalter's aversion to ever play either a second "satellite" striker or an attacking central midfielder.
We had problems scoring even against CONCACAF sides and the idea that we never did well against a low block style has yet to be resolved.
If we continue to use the tactics that only halfway worked against sides we clearly should be dominating now against stronger opponents, say England or the Netherlands... we face not getting many chances to score and that won't get us into the knock out round without a great deal of luck.
That said this draw in Qatar is as good as we've been given in a very very long time and honestly we could see a run to a quarter final... but if we press hard playing a 4-3-3 we risk a counter attack and not getting out of the group stage...
I simply have doubts GGG will change tactics, and to succeed against Grop B and Group A will require to adjust or crash and burn.
good content & evaluation. however, not sure how well this has aged given the vast improvement in player pool yet WC performance meeting the bare minimum. Now, USSF has doubled down on GGG even after the addition for Fologun giving the Nats way better attacking tools. I doubt GGG will know how to maximize that performance, or get over his own ego after the Gio debacle.
You're right. The WC will determine his legacy. He's been frustratingly slow to adapt both for players left out and players he clung to,The apparent Grudgge against John Brooks, the ease with which Morris and Long were guided back into the team (Morris is looking much better now with club minutes under his belt, but nonetheless)...
Brooks has been out of form for the better part of two years, he stinks at defending a high line, and now he's unemployed with a cold market.
The mystery is how so many fans like you can be aware of these facts but somehow still don't understand why Brooks doesn't deserve national team minutes.
Me gusta Roberto Martínez y Jorge Luis Pinto
Real question though, will since 76 be dropping any Hoodies or sweaters? It’ll be cold for all of us not going to Qatar in November!
That's a good question. I'll look into that.
HBD Gregg. Love him or hate him or somewhere in between, he's our guy heading into Qatar. Let's ride!
he still has a chance to scr*w the USA by taking much more MLS players which will be not only the detriment of USMNT but his future as a coach if we finish dead last in our group
honestly, if he really wants the USMNT to succeed, admit that the MLS gods have put a required quota on the team. If it will affect his place as a coach, then do it in Qatar where MLS can no longer touch him. And play these so called "qualified MLS" players sparingly if at All. What matters is that we not only make it out of our group, but advance at least to quarters
And what do you do if there isn't a quota in place? Opinionated perception seems a wasteful venture.
definitely in spite of berhalter not because of him... was really sad when he was announced as the usmnt head coach.
I look forward to the day when retrospect is clearer and we stop blaming Arena for his so-called "failure" to come in off the street and clean up the USSF and Klinsmann's 5+yr devolution of this team and its spirit.
Do you think hes ready for a job at a club? Like for example Ajax.
Edited because it sounds too harsh.
Berhalter has grown into a competent head coach/manager. Irrespective of his growth, the one thing I will not accept as acceptable is the fact that Berhalter was completely unprepared to be the USMNT manager. He desperately needed to grow. That said, it is not Greg's fault that he got the job. US Soccer is pathetic and corrupt. Period. Unfortunately, while I feel that Berhalter has got us on an Ok place, there are still some warning signs. He still takes WAY too long to acknowledge the limitations of "his" guys, in contrast to the short leash he gives less familiar players. This is particularly evident regarding Lleget, Arriola, and Roldan. Long and Morris reveal his blindness in a different way. Before their injuries, they were definitely valuable players, but now they are a couple steps slower, a fact that Berhalter doesn't seem to acknowledge. I still cringe watching replays of Long getting turned and having to foul against Uruguay. Also, Berhalter is too slow to make in game adjustments. Maybe he needs to pre-plan them because he is a very good tactical analyst.
Gregg Berhalter doesn’t use a playmaker, which even a basset hound knows you have to use.
Underperformed in 'qualifiying'. Had the talent to finish first. Over values and leans too heavily on MLS players. If he's really intent on implementing a system that suits the strengths of his players, he should play Gio Reyna centrally where he can use his creativity to unlock defenses (or 'disorganize' them as he aptly put it once). A 4-2-3-1 formation with an attacking midfielder playing under the striker would go a long way toward resolving the team's scoring woes. Moreover, Brooks and Richards need to anchor the backline in Qatar. What are Zimmerman and Long gonna do with the ball at their feet when they're pressed? It only takes one careless mistake to set the wrong tone for the tournament(think Bocanegra in 2006 in the opener versus the Czech Republic). Unlike Long and Zimmerman, Richards and Brooks not only have the skill set to work their way out of trouble against elite competition but they also possess the ability to deliver line-breaking passes that can unsettle an opposing team. Excluding and underutilizing our best talents will be Gregg's undoing. Gregg's success thus far can be mostly ascribed to his inheriting a talented generation of young players. His tactics and player selection have not come remotely close to maximizing the potential of this group. Overall grade: C-
Him leaving off brooks because of a personal matter just shows he will never be a good coach despite his growth.
One can usually spot the brainless fans in this base by their whining about Brooks.
Facts:
- Brooks hasn't been in good form since early 2021
- he struggles defending a high line, which makes him unsuited for modern tactics
- these issues have culminated with him being literally out of a job while preseason is already fully under way for European clubs
And yet you clowns whinge about imaginary personal issues with Berhalter and don't understand why he isn't getting Nats minutes.
He's not getting called up because calling up unemployed, out of form players to national team duty is what terrible, talent-barren programs have to do. 🙄 🤦
And Gio would have more Nats minutes playing CAM if he weren't always injured, galaxy-brain. Good grief.
so the US manager is copying the newcastle manager ?!
In my opinion, Berhalter and the USMNT have to at least make it past the group stage if Berhalter is going to keep his job after the World Cup.
Personally not making it out would be more on the players then Gregg since most fans think we have this golden generation of talented players
@@samplingmastersxlr8660 I agree with you that it would really be the players fault if they don’t make it through the group stage. Yet even though it wasn’t Gregg’s fault he would still not be brought back as coach. That is just the way it works. Coaches are easily replaceable.
@@bryanb4379 the powers that be will decide that
Our national team isn’t very promising if we are being honest
I think players are also replaceable
@@samplingmastersxlr8660 by far the best players we had in years, they aren’t legends but they are good. You have protected berhalter this entire time and you can’t deny that his tactics and player selection with average mls players is a big deal.
@@samplingmastersxlr8660 players are not nearly as replaceable as coaches. Coaching is overrated at this level. I could replace Berhalter in a day. The national team would be fine. However, attempting to replace Pulisic, McKinnie, Adams, and Reyna, just these four alone, would send the USMNT team back into irrelevancy.
Too kind for phase 3. And the most recent friendlies looked more like phase 1 than 3.
The coach can coach mls but no amount of experience since to improve his coaching skills … sadly … we may come out from group play in World Cup … if we do , it will be because of players not coaching
Turns out that there was indeed no evolution
GGG has favorites that he overrates despite their mediocrity. It's plain to see.
If panama doesn’t happen maybe Gregg is still disliked but not ostracized as much as he’s is now
To be fair he’s come out and said it was a mistake
I blame the players more because most people make excuses for them regardless of their performance
@@samplingmastersxlr8660 true but Gregg put them out there that line up was brutal
@@joselopez1892 that no excuses for the poor performance, there are things the players can control and they don’t do it
@@samplingmastersxlr8660 moore,arriola,zardes,lletget,bello all talented players but they should never be staring a World Cup qualifier
He should have never got the job and I don't care if he wins the world cup we need to raise hell to make sure that he's gone next year
FIRE BERHALTER
Leeds could use Walker Zimmerman ,, just sayin...
This didn’t age well.
BERHALTER ball is
HIGH press DEFENSIVELY
And very TECHNICAL ball Skilled players OFFENSIVELY.
And this Style WORKS!