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Gregg Berhalter is the right man for U.S. Soccer

By Harrison Hamm

HARRISON, NJ - NOVEMBER 11: Gregg Berhalter Head Coach of Columbus Crew SC on the sidelines during the Audi 2018 MLS Cup Eastern Conference Semifinal Leg 2 match between Columbus Crew and New York Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena on November 11, 2018 in Harrison, NJ, USA. The Red Bulls won the match with a score of 3 to 0. The Red Bulls advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. (Photo by Ira L. Black/Corbis via Getty Images)
HARRISON, NJ - NOVEMBER 11: Gregg Berhalter Head Coach of Columbus Crew SC on the sidelines during the Audi 2018 MLS Cup Eastern Conference Semifinal Leg 2 match between Columbus Crew and New York Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena on November 11, 2018 in Harrison, NJ, USA. The Red Bulls won the match with a score of 3 to 0. The Red Bulls advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. (Photo by Ira L. Black/Corbis via Getty Images) /
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U.S. Soccer finally hired a manager! Gregg Berhalter was the right hire, even if it took longer than expected to hire him.

U.S. Soccer kept us waiting for as long as they possibly could. The worst-kept secret in soccer has finally been confirmed: Gregg Berhalter will take over as USMNT coach, nearly 14 months after the infamous night of Oct. 10, 2017.

The U.S. don’t have a ton of good reasons for waiting, and none of them speak especially well of the organization as a whole. They may have wanted to delay until Berhalter finished his MLS campaign in Columbus, but they easily could have hired him after last season and spared us a brutally useless 365 days. Holding off on a coaching hire until they could find a general manager is understandable, but they waited too long to hire one of those, too. Ernie Stewart arrived in the summer and then unnecessarily waited months for Berhalter to finish his MLS season.

Some speculated that the US wanted to wait until the World Cup and European club season ended, when various managers would lose their jobs and potentially look to a cushy international landing spot. Given that U.S. Soccer apparently interviewed very few actual candidates, and none of them fit this description, that explanation is essentially void.

The consensus among everyone from perpetually dissatisfied glass-half-empty fans — which make up a large vocal minority of the US Soccer fanbase — to more reasonable observers can agree the U.S. bungled the search. Even if Berhalter was always going to be the hire, they could have at least interviewed and discussed other candidates of various backgrounds. Speaking Spanish as a first language (a la Tata Martino) was a dubious disqualification.

But none of this takes away from Berhalter’s coaching ability, which has always been worthy of a national team job. Berhalter established a system in Columbus that made a cheap, often-dysfunctional Crew team greater than the sum of its parts. Despite lacking any competent attackers beyond Gyasi Zardes this season, he nearly knocked off the regular season champion Red Bulls in the postseason, having already gone on the road and beaten a red-hot D.C. United. Berhalter wins games.

There are questions surrounding whether his style — of spreading the field horizontally and passing the ball a lot — translates to the international game, where he’ll have considerably less time to mold his personnel. He’s shown the ability to adjust in Columbus, indicating that he would be willing to tone things down in exchange for clarity.

But when was the last time a USMNT manager had a style of play? Bob Bradley? Jurgen Klinsmann’s style was to throw guys in random spots, give them little to no direction, and call himself a tactical genius. Poor Dave Sarachan was forced to play the interim role for way longer than he ever should have. Bradley is and was a good coach, but it’s time the US evolved into the modern attacking game.

Berhalter, with his uses of full-backs in possession and emphasis on generating simple finishes for his strikers, is in tune with modern trends. He’s used three-at-the-back formations in the past. He knows how to instill both grand concepts and short-term solutions to problems posed by opposing teams. His Crew were one of the most fun MLS clubs to watch for years, in part because Berhalter had a way of making every game a chess match. Only good coaches, in any sport, can truly accomplish that.

One of the most promising things about Berhalter: He’s proven his chops as a big game manager. Columbus were never a regular season team. Much of that falls on their weaker on-field talent — Berhalter was the coach and GM under literally one of the worst pro sports owners of all time. The Crew had a tendency to sleepwalk through the regular season, producing the occasional tiresome 0-0 draw.

Berhalter’s Crew always rose for the playoffs, though. They hosted the MLS Cup final in 2015, and after a disappointing 2016, they sparred with Toronto FC in the 2017 Eastern Conference finals, nearly knocking out the best team MLS has ever seen in an instant classic. This year, with relocation hanging over their heads and Pedro Santos unintentionally sabotaging every Columbus attack, they came exceptionally close to beating the Red Bulls.

On the international stage, you have to be able to win individual games and play good teams. Berhalter can handle it.

The U.S. have to contend with both vastly inferior CONCACAF sides and superior European and South American teams on the world stage, in addition to the crucial battles with Mexico. Berhalter’s possession style will be a welcome reprieve from the USMNT’s inability to boss the likes of Honduras and Trinidad and Tobago, particularly on the road. Whther he can do the same to Spain and Brazil could prove his biggest test.

Competence lacks throughout U.S. Soccer, with a young and uncertain player pool and terrible leadership from the top-down. Berhalter is more than competent. Plenty of hope exists with legit on-field talent, and now a real, intelligent manager is ready to take the reigns.

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