Sometimes a worst-case scenario is visible to the naked eye. This one was plain to see in Gregg Berhalter’s grimace at the final whistle, in the assistant coach burying his face in both hands, in Malik Tillman sprawled on his back staring at the Missourian sky, in Christian Pulisic’s disbelieving look as he shuffled off the field.
The United States men’s national team bowed out of Copa América on home soil after just three games, following a 1-0 defeat to Uruguay. It flunked the only major test this still fairly young group of players will get to prepare for the 2026 World Cup, which will once again be hosted at home. In spite of a draw that was about as soft as the Yanks could have hoped for, the team was stranded before it even got the chance to play a knockout round game.
“We’re bitterly disappointed with the result,” Berhalter said after the game. “We know that we’re capable of more. And in this tournament, we didn’t show it. It is really as simple as that.”
Yes. True. But now what?
Monday night’s loss to Uruguay unloosed a level of disillusion in the American soccer scene not witnessed since the USMNT’s failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. If this is supposed to be a golden generation of American men’s players, why haven’t the results been, well, shinier?
There was some good over the course of this summer. Before the tournament began, the Americans followed up a 5-1 hammering at the hands of Colombia with a gamely 1-1 tie against nine-time Copa América winners Brazil. Then, to start the tournament, the U.S. played well against Bolivia, cruising to a 2-0 win that could’ve easily yielded two or three more American goals. The team looked poised to dominate Panama, too, until Tim Weah punched an opponent in the 18th minute and got himself sent off, an uncharacteristic lapse in judgment from an otherwise even-keeled player. After that, the Americans went on to take the lead before finally capitulating in the last 10 minutes to lose 2-1. They then put on a spirited display against Uruguay, masters of the press and of a utilitarian physicality, matching a well-drilled side in its frightful ferocity. The U.S. lost this rock fight, yes, but on a goal that looked very offside-y and in a game that was hampered by a glaringly inept referee.
Nevertheless, there were three ostensible objectives for the U.S. to accomplish in this Copa América: to get out of the group, to notch a signature win in an elimination game—a necessity framed as the next step in this team’s evolution—and to play stylishly, or at least cohesively, enough to demonstrate that there really is something special about this group, to justify all the chatter about how it finally possesses the talent to ascend to the global elite.
At this Copa América, this rare and precious chance to play some of the world’s best teams in meaningful competition, and in their own country, the Americans failed to deliver on a single one of those objectives.
Which, quite inevitably, brings the conversation back to Berhalter. After a credible performance at the 2022 World Cup with a team he had built more or less from scratch in the wake of the 2018 calamity, Berhalter was out of the job for six months, sidelined as a scandal unspooled. But he was brought back when a new U.S. Soccer sporting director, the Welshman Matt Crocker, with whom Berhalter had no previous relationship, reappointed him last June.
Berhalter, then, has technically been in the job for only a year and some change. But then, he really hasn’t. No American men’s head coach granted a second World Cup cycle has done well in the latter term. Bruce Arena’s 2006 World Cup team was a husk of its 2002 incarnation. Bob Bradley made it only a year into his second go-round. Jürgen Klinsmann didn’t make it to a second World Cup, setting off the whole reckoning and rebuild that brought us here.
There are valid questions to be posed about whether the Americans have stagnated. About these gifted forwards, who can’t seem to score goals against strong opponents. About the team’s tendency to play up to the big teams and down to the smaller ones. (Really, the USMNT knew exactly what it would take to get the job done against Panama, and the first thing was not to fall for classic CONCACAF provocations.) About whether the team’s closeness and much-discussed “culture” are liabilities, the mark of a team that’s too comfortable and undisciplined.
In a statement through U.S. Soccer on Monday night, Crocker announced that he planned to conduct “a comprehensive review of our performance in Copa América and how best to improve the team and results as we look towards the 2026 World Cup.”
Berhalter has never convinced a vocal segment of the fan base and will now have to convince his bosses all over again ahead of 2026. But more than ever, U.S. Soccer is run by what you could describe as “process people.” Crocker said that Berhalter’s hiring decision was heavily reliant on analytics. And there are enough excuses to be made for both American losses in this tournament to provide cover for the head coach. When the Americans had 11 players on the field, they were always competitive.
Besides, who to hire in Berhalter’s stead?
Installing a U.S. men’s head coach is not so straightforward. The world’s leading managers tend not to work in international soccer these days because it isn’t where the most interesting work happens—the cutting edge is found at the club level. Besides, U.S. Soccer would prefer a manager who speaks English and who won’t shy away from promotional work, further draining the pool of potential appointments. And the federation has never paid a manager more than the $3.3 million Klinsmann made annually, a fraction of what elite managers command nowadays. (Jürgen Klopp, an increasingly popular suggestion for the USMNT job, earned around $19 million a year at Liverpool, according to various reports.) Then there’s the steep learning curve for a newcomer to navigate in the complicated American game.
So, who then?
The most obvious candidate, Jesse Marsch, with his Premier League and Bundesliga experience, was left with a bad taste in his mouth after his failed job application a year ago. He took the Canada post instead and promptly led his new team to the quarterfinals of Copa—making his side the only one of the three 2026 World Cup cohosts to advance. Elsewhere, it feels too late to bring a Major League Soccer coach up to speed on the workings of international football since the Americans, whose berth is automatic, won’t have to play in the World Cup qualifiers.
Yet the status quo may well become untenable if the clamor to replace Berhalter gets any louder—after all, hosting a successful World Cup also entails uniting the nation. The trouble is that there just don’t appear to be any obvious alternatives. Perhaps the ongoing Euros will cost some well-suited candidate his job. The likelihood seems high, given the many disappointing performances produced by the major European nations. But even so, the American players will still be the same.
For all the “planning” and “intentionality” and other team-building buzzwords, this American team has yet to show us that it is truly special. “I don’t think this tournament really had anything to do with the staff or the tactics or the way we play,” Gio Reyna told Fox Sports after the game. “I think it was more individual mistakes. The staff can only do so much. … At the end of the day, the players didn’t do enough to go through.”
All the same, the American men will play a World Cup on home turf just two summers from now. By the languid clock of international soccer, which assembles for only a game or two every other month for most of the year, that’s ever so soon. And rather than putting the finishing touches on a rising team entering its prime, the U.S. is in crisis, and perhaps about to start from scratch.
So, yes, worst-case scenario.
Leander Schaerlaeckens is a regular contributor on soccer to The Ringer. The Long Game, his book on the United States men’s national team, will be published by Viking Books ahead of the 2026 World Cup. He teaches at Marist College.
Source link : https://www.theringer.com/platform/amp/soccer/2024/7/2/24190798/usmnt-uruguay-copa-america-usa-soccer-gregg-berhalter
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Publish date : 2024-07-02 11:37:50
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