When it comes to the poll of public opinion, the jury is in: Gregg Berhalter needs to be sacked unless his poorly coached USMNT wins the Copa America. Anyone who has watched the team in the last two years can attest that winning the Copa America looks like a monumental task.
Despite being in a group with Bolivia and Panama, facing the likes of Uruguay and possibly Brazil or Colombia in the knockout rounds gives USMNT fans little hope. The USMNT has woefully underperformed against teams outside of Concacaf, and Saturday’s 5-1 defeat was another smack in the face to a national team that fancies itself as an up-and-coming soccer nation.
The USMNT fielded a starting lineup made up of players all playing in the top five European leagues. While an impressive stat, individually each player has their own story, and many are nothing more than bit players for some of their clubs.
Fans Want Change
From online fan pundits like 11Yanks or Tactical Manager to stronger voices like Tab Ramos, Tony Meola, and Jimmy Conrad, the voices for change are growing stronger and stronger.
As a product, the USMNT is at an all-time low. While playing in front of 50,000 in Washington DC against Colombia, the match could hardly be called a home game. In 2023, average attendance for the national team averaged, for the eighth year in a row, under 30,000.
When one thinks of the golden generation, one would figure it would be a hot ticket, yet the team rarely plays matches in venues over 30,000 seats. In fact, unless it’s against Mexico or a top nation, the US is a small venue team.
The way the team has played under Gregg Berhalter hasn’t helped matters either. Since his return as USMNT coach, the former Columbus Crew manager has a 6-4 record, with losses against Germany, Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Slovenia. The team continues to play a bland type of soccer, with comical play out of the back, prone to defensive blunders, and more importantly, a comatose style of play with little bite or intensity.
At this point, for many, Gregg Berhalter’s job has basically come down to win the Copa America or go. While the possibility that US Soccer would make such a change seems slim, the federation, in order to save any kind of credibility with its consumer going into the 2026 World Cup, may be forced to make a change.
While who could step in to guide the team now is up in the air, one thing is for certain: Gregg Berhalter has lost a lot of credit over the last six months. Even a deep run at the Copa America would be subject to what kind of results he and the team achieve and against whom.
Unless the USMNT is lifting the trophy in the middle of July, Gregg Berhalter’s time as USMNT head coach looks about done.
