A day after Gregg Berhalter revealed details about a domestic altercation with his future wife 31 years ago, and cited attempts to pressure U.S. Soccer into firing him or risk the revealing of the incident, those responsible for bringing the altercation to U.S. Soccer’s attention have been identified and it is two people with long-standing ties to Berhalter.
According to multiple reports, Claudio Reyna and Danielle Reyna — parents of USMNT star Gio Reyna — informed U.S. Soccer officials of Berhalter’s three-decade-old altercation with his now-wife. After initial reports surfaced implicating the two in the attempt to pressure U.S. Soccer into dismissing Berhalter, Danielle Reyna released a statement to multiple media outlets attempting to take sole blame for notifying U.S. Soccer sporting director Earnie Stewart about the Berhalter incident, while also attempting to deny accusations of attempted blackmail or demands Berhalter be fired:
I’m writing now because there is currently a lot of speculation about my family in light of U.S. soccer’s release of a statement about Gregg Berhalter yesterday. To set the record straight, I did call Earnie Stewart on December 11, just after the news broke that Gregg had made negative statements about my son Gio at a leadership conference.
I have known Earnie for years and consider him to be a close friend. I wanted to let him know that I was absolutely outraged and devastated that Gio had been put in such a terrible position, and that I felt very personally betrayed by the actions of someone my family had considered a friend for decades.
As part of that conversation, I told Earnie that I thought it was especially unfair that Gio, who had apologized for acting immaturely about his playing time, was still being dragged through the mud when Gregg had asked for and received forgiveness for doing something so much worse at the same age. Without going into detail, the statements from yesterday significantly minimize the abuse on the night in question. Rosalind Berhalter was my roommate, teammate and best friend, and I supported her through the trauma that followed. It took a long time for me to forgive and accept Gregg afterward, but I worked hard to give him grace, and ultimately made both of them and their kids a huge part of my family’s life. I would have wanted and expected him to give the same grace to Gio. This is why the current situation is so very hurtful and hard.
As anyone who knows me can attest, I’m a very emotional person, and my children and family are everything to me.At the time I called Earnie, many people were trashing Gio on social media due to Gregg’s comments, and I didn’t know when or if this would stop. I just wanted Earnie to help make sure that there would be no further unwarranted attacks on my son. I thought our conversation would remain in confidence, and it didn’t occur to me at the time that anything I said could lead to an investigation. I’m not criticizing Earnie here. I very much commend the recent efforts by U.S. Soccer to address abuse of women players, and I understand now he had an obligation to investigate what I shared. But I want to be very clear that I did not ask for Gregg to be fired, I did not make any threats, and I don’t know anything about any blackmail attempts, nor have I ever had any discussions about anyone else on Gregg’s staff–I don’t know any of the other coaches. I did not communicate with anyone in U.S. Soccer about this matter before December 11, and no one else in my family has made any statements to U.S. Soccer regarding Gregg’s past at all.
I’m sorry that this information became public, and I regret that I played a role in something that could reopen wounds from the past.
— Danielle Reyna, to Fox Soccer and The Athletic
Claudio Reyna also released a statement, supporting his wife’s admission that she revealed the Berhalter domestic altercation, while at the same time denying that there was any truth to fresh reports linking him with attempts to pressure U.S. Soccer into firing Berhalter.
I support my wife, Danielle, and her statement. I too was upset by Gregg’s comments about Gio after the U.S. was out of the World Cup, and I also appealed to Earnie Stewart on December 11 asking him to prevent any additional comments.
While in Qatar, I shared my frustrations about my son’s World Cup experience with a number of close friends, Earnie and Brian McBride among them.
However, at no time did I ever threaten anyone, nor would I ever do so.
— Claudio Reyna
U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday that it had launched an investigation into Berhalter for an issue involving him and his current wife Rosalind back in 1991. Berhalter made his own statement earlier on Tuesday, saying “an individual contacted U.S. Soccer saying they had information that would “take him down”.
Berhalter drew the ire of the Reyna family after he revealed details of Gio Reyna’s behavior at the World Cup in a leadership conference just days after the USMNT was eliminated from the World Cup. Berhalter and U.S. Soccer insisted that Berhalter’s comments at the conference were never supposed to be made public, but the Reyna family has made multiple implications that Berhalter’s comments were intentionally released.
Gio Reyna was limited to 52 minutes at the World Cup, but just seven total minutes during the group stage. Berhalter later revealed that Reyna’s poor training habits and attitude led to an intervention that nearly concluded with Reyna being sent home before the young star ultimately apologized and improved his behavior.
Gio Reyna reacted to the release of Berhalter’s comments about his behavior with a statement that implied Berhalter told him he would have a limited role at the World Cup, though sources tell SBI Reyna was only informed he would not start the USMNT’s opening World Cup match against Wales, which led to an attitude shift that impacted his level of training and nearly led to his removal from the team.
Berhalter is currently out of contract and any potential return as USMNT head coach has been put on hold while U.S. Soccer further investigates the incident with his wife. Danielle Reyna’s implication that Berhalter’s altercation with wife Rosalind was worse than Berhalter implied in the statement he released on Tuesday further complicates an already-messy situation.
While Berhalter awaits his fate, the Reyna family are also facing backlash for their involvement in the scandal, raising questions about how the latest developments will impact Gio Reyna as well as Claudio Reyna, who is currently the sporting director of Austin FC.
Vac, I will preface this by saying that I believe people’s opinions are based on their life experiences and it stands to reason that no two people will share the same opinions about everything since no two people have the same life experiences. I don’t consider my opinions to be any better than anyone else’s. The whole purpose of this forum is for people to express their opinions and I like hearing other people’s opinions even if I don’t agree with them. I agreed with some stuff PeterP said but not all. I responded to him to acknowledge his effort in sharing his opinions because I enjoyed reading what he had to say and in my opinion, it was worthy of some acknowledgement especially since he did that on a short break and it would have taken me 2 hours to write that much. IMO, we don’t necessarily know the actual timeline of events. I think all of the statements that have been made were carefully crafted by lawyers and each party has only told us the information they want the public to know. I also see a theme in your responses. “You haven’t walked in my shoes so don’t judge my decisions.” For 5 points what episode?
Tele 57,
I’ll have to pass. My Rockford radar is not equal to yours but here’s another favorite James Garner quote:
“I don’t do horror pictures, or I would take my clothes off. ”
I appreciate your perspective.
This latest Leadership Gregg episode is noteworthy for a couple of things.
Gregg’s commentary on this situation going back to when he gave his explanation about the “tightness” with Gio were all self serving. Which is pretty orthodox.
He’s very conscious about his image and how he looks. Do I have a problem with that? No, coach speak is an accepted way of saying ” I don’t want to talk about it”.
If a manager has a problem with a player’s attitude that’s between them. It’s the manager’s job to get that attitude adjusted to where the player is productive. If that doesn’t happen, then the manager has failed.
If I’m Earnie and McBride I tell Gregg a manager is responsible for a player’s productivity and you dropped the ball big time with Gio. He needed to dump the player and get that production from somewhere else.
I would have had no problems with Gregg sending Gio home if that’s what it came down to. What I would criticize Gregg for in that situation is that his replacements for Gio, apparently, were Jordan and Ferreira.
That’s like sending Taylor Swift home and replacing her with , with all due respect, Ashlee Simpson.
But you deal with what you have and I don’t think even the Reynas would have had a problem with Gregg if he had done that, Because that’s a failure of both Gio and Uncle Gregg .
Where it seems to me that it all really hit the proverbial fan, was with the Gregg the Leader thing, which was after the World Cup and which was , at best , very stupid and careless on Gregg’s part and at worst , a cynical attempt at portraying himself as a great leader of young men all at Gio’s expense.
At that point what we see from the Reynas is all no holds barred, bare knuckles attack. I don’t know them but they Reynas aren’t stupid and knew damn well that sites like SBI would be full of people damning the Reynas to hell and calling Danielle all kinds of names.
I don’t think they give a shit. It’s pretty clear that attack my son and “Fuck you all and Gregg ” is their attitude.
And Gregg is entirely on defense, which is funny given that this seems to me to be the direct result of his Leadership big mouth.
Like you I’m an outsider. I don’t know these people and everything I write is based on what both sides have released that I have seen. To me the Reynas are willing to make public their battle with Gregg and his wife probably because they are under the mistaken impression that it will hurt Gregg’s chances to come back.
Gio is part of this but off to the side a little.
He’ll be okay because, he seems pretty secure at BVB where I’ve never heard a bad thing about him. And if he reaches his potential with them, he should go on to have a long and productive career.
As for the USMNT, I think it’s likely Gregg will be back. He’s the USSF’s boy and why would Gio want to play for uncle Gregg ?
The USMNT will be fine without Gio. Not great but fine.
But make no mistake they just might be missing out on one hell of player.
If he works hard , with a little luck Gio can become exactly the kind of player who can raise the USMNT to another level and how’s that going to look when Gregg has to start Djorde or Ariolla in Gio’s place? Well there’s always Roldan or Brooks Lennon. And of course Taylor Booth and Brendan’s brother are sure fire, guaranteed to become World Class.
Do I approve of the Reyna’s actions?
Assault 30 years ago is still assault today and just because the offended party didn’t press charges, that doesn’t make it okay. Rosalind chose to forgive Gregg but she also chose to involve Danielle by telling her about it. That meant that Danielle now also had the burden of consenting to keep the secret of a crime committed along with Rosalind. It’s bullshit to say that it was Rosalind’s story alone to tell. Not true. It was also Danielle’s story.
It’s ironic that neither Berhalter seems to understand that the only way to keep a secret is to never tell anyone about it. Meaning don’t tell your best friend , teammate and room mate. And definitely don’t tell a bunch of workshop attendees who said “sure we won’t say anything. Honest! Cross our hearts and hope to die!”
I don’t know what to think about the Reynas actions because I don’t understand why they have gone nuclear right away.
I don’t know what else Gregg has done to the Reynas and vice versa.
That makes me think there’s a lot we aren’t aware off and that “this” has been building a long time.
What I know is the USSF is a mom and pop store trying to be Wal Mart and have been having their issues along the way. This is just the latest in the long line of unprofessional low rent shit they have pulled or had happen over the years.
I’m a USMNT fan but the USSF Clown Car been a day late and a dollar short for a very long time.
If the Reynas can live with their actions and they don’t appear to have told any untruths, just their opinions, then my attitude is that’s it’s a Reyna-vs Berhalter feud and is their business not mine. They have put the USSF and Gregg in an uncomfortable spot but on balance, it’s a spot the USSF and Gregg deserve and have worked hard to get to.
As they say in Jamaica:
Cock’s mouth kills cock.
.
Very good post..
On a short break again. Enjoyed your post.
some of you keep bringing up what does BD think of it all, and i pointed out where they thought USSF was being overly harsh on the player and didn’t recognize the substance in what they’d seen. but that aside, what some people keep ignoring is that not only was it about starting but GB’s “injury/fitness” excuse garnered the initial response, which his family and friends could rightfully see as undermining him with BD and the market. GR and family rightfully respond, having climbed out of injury hell, “no, he’s fine, this is a fib.” player then starts loafing. GB then starts using the loafing as the universal explanation. no, you never gave the honest explanation the first time. the loafing was an effect of benching. this is why BD doesn’t recognize reyna in this.
second, people can talk about soccer moms all they want, but if you got benched for a tournament, took your lumps, were told it was an internal matter and resolved, then you hear the coach is still talking about you to groups, what do you think happens? at minimum, if this is select you change teams. if this is college you transfer schools or quit the team until that coach changes. and that is the “passive” approach. are we really suggesting if he makes comments reaching the public nothing gets said back? GR was already in line. GB’s the one who went back to chattering away and apparently thought there would be no response. and, to be blunt, a guy who had to know he was marginal for another term wants to restir controversy, reopen the debate, when he had gotten the player to shut things down and admit he loafed and apologized? how stupid can you be?
this doesn’t excuse what the reynas did. i’m just saying elements of this would happen with any parent, not just some karen soccer mom. the coach of your team after messing over your kid makes your kid apologize, then says it will be private, then you hear he gave a speech. sorry, no, nothing will be the same after that, and the parents would not just let that sit. no one’s would.
Cmon IV,
A normal person/parent would say something like: “I think it’s very unprofessional to speak publicly about a situation that was promised to be kept private, and has now possibly damaged the reputation of my son in his young career.” Not attempt to blackmail a coach through backchannels because you personally know their boss, and when that didn’t work, try to get revenge by going public with a thirty year old incident that has only become a problem now because your son’s experience wasn’t what you wanted it to be.
“A normal person/parent would say something like: “I think it’s very unprofessional to speak publicly about a situation that was promised to be kept private, and has now possibly damaged the reputation of my son in his young career.”
Yeah you’re right. But as you said, that’s normal parents.
The Reynas are not normal. Gio isn’t normal. Normal kids don’t leave home at 16, 17 , move to a foreign country, live there alone, be BFF with the likes of Erling and Bellingham. I’m not saying they are better or worse. They’re just not “normal”.
If they were, none of y’all would know who they are or give a damn about them.
And by the way, this isn’t about Gio ‘s experience not being what he wanted it to be . This is about Gregg attacking their son and using Gio to make himself look like a “Leader”.
So many times anyone of the people involved could have cut this off by just not talking about it. Gio doesn’t throw a fit when told he won’t start against Wales. If Claudia doesn’t complain to McBride, Stewart, and apparently Wynalda. If Berhalter doesn’t brag about what a great “group” exercise it was to confront Gio and help him “reform” his bad attitude. If Danielle let’s Gio’s statement stand for itself instead of calling USSF. At any of those points these people just stop. Gio starts against Grenada and everyone forgets that this was a story.
I’d back that up one further step. 3G still hasn’t adequately explained why Gio was given a reduced playing role in the first place. Don’t forget 3G put Morris in when they were hunting a late goal in that Wales game. If 3G didn’t demote Gio to begin with there’s a good argument none of this ever happens. Pure speculation but it may have been for non-performance related issues. I was just reading that Reyna Sr didn’t exercise an option on 3Gs kid to keep him at Austin FC. Whether for that or something else it seems like there was a falling out between the once close Reynas and Berhalters that pre-dated the WC and without a good reason for the reduced playing role it starts to look like it was done for less than sporting reasons. A lot of commentary here seems to be coming down hard on Gio, let’s remember an ancient proverb; don’t visit the sins of the father (or mother) on the son. Arguably Gio has the highest ceiling of anyone in the pool. Let’s not be idiots like Mexico and burn the “Vela Bridge”. Gio should be welcomed back to the team under a new coach once the process here runs its course.
Gio started both fall friendlies. Against SA he had to come off in the first half. I think Berhalter just probably didn’t want to risk having to make an early sub in WC. Gio had also looked dangerous against tired legs in March off the bench. Gio then acts unprofessional in pre cup scrimmage because he was according to reports told he wouldn’t start against Wales. We don’t know when the vote occurred but the timeline would be tight for him to show he was truly turning the page on the detrimental behavior. Let’s not forget Gregg tried to cover for him by saying there was “tightness” instead of outing him with it was a “discipline issue.” Something that Gio confirmed in an interview with Yahoo after Wales but contradicted in other interviews.
Gio shouldn’t start against Grenada.
Those games should be reserved for prospects. And Gregg Hudson wouldn’t know what to do with him anyway.
And Gio had a shit year and a half for BVB and should focus on his Euro career. And he should call Vela and Benzema for tips life without your National team.
Gio could use a few years without the distraction.
and for the record, which I’ve said from jump, I’d prefer a new coach going forward, at least in a year or so. I’m not lobbying for GB to remain, though I respect what he accomplished
“I’m not lobbying for GB to remain, though I respect what he accomplished”
If a person does not want Gregg to manage the USMNT any more what difference does it make if that person does not respect his accomplishments?
Especially when those accomplishments do not necessarily merit further employment.
All things considered Gregg is to be commended for doing a credible job getting to Qatar and advancing . He accomplished exactly what Bob and JK did before him. So you wonder if it isn’t something inherent with the job.
But now the game changes. This core, which Gregg put together, now face a very different challenge. 2022 was one thing. 2026 is something all together different.
Is Gregg the person to make this thing better and push it forward?
If you want to keep Gregg you could say he has more to give, that there is a side to him we haven’t seen yet that will surprise and amaze us.
If you’re against keeping Gregg you think he just barely accomplished what he did and was very lucky to do so and that he’ll be in over his head going forward.
Many of his fans are focused on “But he did the job, qualifying and advancing out of the group stage!!”
So did JK and you think he was awful. So did Bob and he was practically hounded out of office, shunned by LD and and not beloved by the fans.
This brings to mind “the Peter Principle, also known as The Peter principle of Incompetence, claims that people who do their job well are promoted to positions of greater responsibility, and so on, until they reach a position in which they are incompetent, so they remain stuck in that position.”
I think the USSF would like Gregg to be manager more or less forever. .He’s compliant, a good company man, inexpensive, etc.
They have always been into promoting the game ( and perpetuating themselves) not necessarily sporting excellence or actually winning anything. Now they have a redemption story on their hands and can make the case that his detractors are all just sick meanies like Danielle.
I think the Reynas did Gregg a favor and made him even more appealing to the USSF and to the fans who hate the anti Berhalter crowd even more than they hate Gregg.
As a fan I find his all darkly amusing. You watch, this clown will be back in the saddle.
amused at a social media post noting that we have a parent who runs the whole country of liberia as president and of course the corruption scandal isn’t him it’s some jersey parents.
If anyone in this fiasco looks good, I don’t know who that is.
not the reynas but also not mr. corporate leadership speech. mr. speech’s goal is apparently the semis at home. this says a lot about mr. speech.
Parents like this are the bane of american sports…how many teams have you coached, for how many years? what do you know about it?
the speech, the speech, the speech…lol
post another wall of words, dude
I just hope Gio, the man, is pissed off at his mom and dad for treating him like a little boy who needs their help…….
Can you read that one loud and clear IV?
That he has realistic views about soccer.
BB: i watched my friend’s select team implode right after their national title from politics, that team was never the same. my state champion select team rebooted itself and dropped several long term players right before senior year, had a gatorade type player try out demanding his brother make the team. my HS team the parents went after the coach after he benched key players and failed to replicate what my select team did. i don’t need a lecture on how soccer parents can be.
to be fair, i think it’s part this weird thing where the team is so young it’s almost like age groups, with soccer parents along, but also part that for all the talk about creating some aloof deliberative GM who could make the tough decisions on coaches without fed politics, they obviously aren’t insulated enough from good old boys stuff — or IMO willing to make tough choices. personally i think any idiot running a NT looking at how the system clunked and the coach sucked, the decision would be obvious. i don’t see where the ambition level or standards have actually raised. or where we have taken politics out of the process. all i see is dithering and a poorly considered project trying ineffectively to make this a possession soccer team using athletic type players.
BB: and i have coached a couple times — successful both times — and what i learned is you make solely soccer decisions and you are transparent and honest about them. you don’t say it’s fitness if it’s something else. one of the key problems here is GB is unwilling to simply, bluntly say he prefers weah and doesn’t see reyna elsewhere on the field. one reason his parents got angry is the dishonesty of it all. he gives false reasons and conflates causes with effects. reyna wasn’t benched for fitness or loafing. he made a decision. he then acted like a moral paragon while ratting out his player on what he had told the player was an internal matter.
What a horrible wife, mother and person she is.
Karen Reyna wanted to talk to the US soccer manager regarding a domestic incident that she was ok with until her kid got into trouble. Typical Millennial parent, defend your perfect kid from the teacher/coaches.
Berhalter cant continue as US coach and dont call in Gio until Copa America (he will most likely be hurt anyways).
Having your mom fight your battles=Not Cool
Airing locker room secrets(berhalter)=Not Cool
Weaponizing domestic violence=Not Cool
Cancel Culture =Not cool.
Fire Claudio and Greg
dude, have people already forgotten this happened in two pulses, ie, (1) reyna benched and pout-loafs, family surrogate wynalda hits the podcast. (2) reyna apologizes, nearly gets sent home, coach says we will keep it in house, after the tournament he does a corporate speech using it as a hypothetical. this triggers mom response 2.
this was going to fizzle out with GB, whether bright coaching or not, having in most eyes woodshedded a loafing player. and then he brought it up again in self-praise of his moral leadership. mrs. reyna decided if he was going to hold himself up as a moral leader, and bash her kid ad nauseum, she was going to expose his idea of morality, stale or not.
i see what GB did in publicly discussing a situation he said would be kept quiet, as re-breaking spades on what followed. i thought he deserved the axe as much for that as his (in)effectiveness as a coach. and if the reynas had a brain in their head, they would have anonymously but fully dropped a dime to ives or goff and that might have been the finale. but i do agree that at that point instead of informing the debate and letting the conclusion naturally follow, they decided to throw some weight around and arm-twist. they may even ironically have hidden the mcguffin (what they knew) and basically tried to blackmail the result they wanted. “we know something bad about him and y’all either fire him or we expose it.”
if you are a GB critic it’s agonizing because they repeatedly turn circumstances where the fanbase is upset with dumb GB choices, and turn themselves into bigger bad guys. if we get this idiot back it’s ironically part their fault. so so f’ing stupid and counter-productive.
it does feel like some sort of select parent palace coup. but this is an adult team. i think it’s a mix of the youth of many of the players, and that for all the talk about aloof deliberative GMs making objective decisions about USMNT’s direction and coaching, it all feels a little good old boy network still. like the reynas believed they could pick up a phone and scuttle GB. that’s not quite making this apolitical like we talked about. at that point i want back flynn making quick executive decisions who our next coach would be, and being more aggressive in trying to make it better. to me deliberation is becoming paralysis and we seem to think this can be some permanent project. to me it’s tepid stuff to be a round of 16 team with the best talent we probably have ever had together at one time. it’s underperformance. objective GMs would see that. they would see benching reyna is stupid. mom and dad wouldn’t feel the need to pick up a phone.
to be blunt, and lay out how it’s not cancel culture, he was going to get to make his dumb coaching decisions and then chastize the upset player for loafing. he was out clean. his second term was going to be a soccer decision and his past was never going to be mentioned. he chose to take the band aid back off. i am not defending the reynas’ methods but this is still a running battle because he broke player trust and bashed his player some more. if USSF has a brain — and i question it — he’d get canned for that alone. GB is a little too in love with GB for a round of 16 coach. and while i appreciate principled transparent leadership, i don’t think that’s what this was. it wasn’t a bright soccer decision and our selection, tactical, and scandal mistakes all seem to revolve around him thinking he’s a genius and moral paragon when he’s not.
Similar, but admittedly not exactly on point, UT just fired their men’s basketball head coach for a recent arrest on a domestic violence charge. This is why USSF has to treat even these 30-year-old allegations seriously in this day and age.
This whole thing is like a car crash – I don’t want to watch, but I can’t help it. Lifelong friendships are being torn asunder.
U.S. Soccer is runned by a bunch of “Karens” and un-professionals!
Keep petty issues out of SOCCER!
from her statement she finesses how much she vented vs how much she vaguely threatened. if she alluded to events but didn’t describe them, then threatened consequences if the coach isn’t fired, that’s blackmail-ish. i know something. i leverage what i know to coerce action, without ever saying what i know. (worth noting, while USSF began investigating, we didn’t know what happened until USSF made a subsequent press release and GB and the reynas started making their own, 3 weeks later). now if she actually told USSF what GB did, that to me is different. i think a concerned parent who in fact spills the beans/drops a dime on a factually true abuse situation has every right to ask for action on what they told USSF. USSF then should make their own decision.
i think what reyna’s parents have done is counterproductive and perhaps illegal depending what exactly was said or not said. i think they’ve turned a situation where the coach was dumb on reyna use, and an event that would look bad for GB that the papers might have liked to publish, into reyna tanking practice and the parents being jerks, ie, they are now coming off the bad guys. far as i can tell they have complicated any coaching change, factually, legally. i do agree there is a certain hypocrisy about how the kid was hounded and the subject of continued storytelling and benching even after the apology, relative to his own youthful misdeed. but they didn’t raise his youthful activities when he was hired to coach their son, and it reads not just as information but leverage and coercion, because of how they went about it.
i mean if they would just leave things be it was a dumb coaching decision, a decision to continue to hound the kid, and a domestic incident which could have been handed to the press — without any arm twisting — to lead USSF naturally to the decision.
IV – what’s your take on what impact this parental involvement has on a professional soccer player? I am not certain that if I ran a Champions League level team, I pay a 20-year-old kid millions of bucks if his parents are going to complain about playing time like its a high school competition.
English fans tore into Pulisic’ dad for a single tweet. What is this going to do in Germany?
(1) dortmund’s pattern with everyone, haaland, sancho, pulisic, seems eventually to be to ship you out for money. when we thought pulisic was doing good there, he got benched then transferred. they kept sancho. then they sold sancho too. they don’t come across, at least for foreign players, like a careerlong thing. even for the best, most productive.
(2) we don’t quite know how dortmund is reacting because they’ve been on hiatus and don’t play for another 5 days.
(3) i personally always thought it was lame and unfair to hear about your “other team” when you’re with your regular one. i was grouchy when i returned from winning a spring league state title to my college coach having somehow heard about a rare red i’d gotten in the process. “that’s the part you want to talk about? we won state. with me starting.” i personally think it’s best compartmentalized. that’s about you and that coach. we’re different. i judge you on here. my select coach thought my HS coach was an idiot. but is that how BD thinks?
(4) mind you, by those standards, BD was hit and miss using him before the WC. he would play a lot in UCL. he didn’t play a lot in league and was subbing in mostly. so he’s probably being watched closely, though as much for his never ending injuries as anything. the scandal i doubt helps.
(5) my impression B.1 is supposed to be super serious and intense training with high expectations. if he pulls the same stuff he will be sold in january. poof. if he behaves, i doubt he’s permanent BD but if they are professional they don’t care about his US problems. i think we’re a mess and while he and his parents are part of it, it’s only part. but who knows what BD thinks, we’ll see when the games start if he starts, subs, rots.
fwiw shortly after the WC and the infamous GB leadership conference speech, BD’s sporting director said GR was working through some injuries, but was professional with them, that the doubt of him was incomprehensible and didn’t reflect their sense of the player. that was after everything you can hold against GR, for which he was called on the carpet and nearly sent home. the rest is do you punish him for his parents.
personally i think GB hopes people forget GR was benched AND THEN started loafing. he’s been kind of hiding behind people thinking the player was benched for loafing, which is flipping cause and effect.
“if I ran a Champions League level team, I pay a 20-year-old kid millions of bucks if his parents are going to complain about playing time like its a high school competition.”
I’m not confident Gregg will be replacing Harry Potter or Carlo Ancellotti anytime soon.
Regardless , that team will tell the Reynas to, in so many words, go fuck themselves or get a lawyer and start proceedings.
The Reynas are a very big deal in American soccer.
What they think does not have the same pull with , for example, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich as they do with little old small potatoes, mom and pop USSF.
Sorry, knowing what I know now…that picture of them looks like a couple of smug-a$$ parents that raise the jock kid that thought he can run everything
Is it possible us soccer is just using it to get rid of Berhalter, I don’t understand why an event from 30 years ago is still relevant when the family addressed it and moved on.
That’s what I think as well. The incident was a long time ago. He addressed the issue. They got married and started a family. The Reynas obviously know how the whole situation went down. They also violated the trust of Gregg’s wife by using that incident as a bargaining chip to get him fired. So he does play his so called best friend’s son, so now Gregg is a terrible person all of a sudden.
To me the issue has more to do with the fact that they wanted to get Gio’s stock up by having him exhibited in Qatar. GB didn’t see him in his plans for whatever reason.
More than anything this should probably upset someone like a Pepi who was left off the squad. While someone that was supposed to be a key contributor didn’t factor at all.
The Reynas definitely come off as a bunch of d-bags. You have an issue that was so appalling that didn’t end your 25+ friendships when it happened initially. But the minute your kid doesn’t get played, now GB is a monster. Not when you were socializing at each other’s homes.
This is a mess. Mrs. Reyna made it a public mess by involving US Soccer and at least implying to GB that she would do so. GB taking that as blackmail did what he could to limit the damage to his reputation and to maintain his independence.
There may be soccer reasons not to rehire GB as USMNT coach, but this subterfuge is NOT a reason for that. (At least if the story as told is true.)
FWIW, I worried before the WC that Gio looked disinterested while playing for Dortmund, I wrote it off as his, justified, fear of being re-injured, something that would fade with playing time and that Dortmund’s choice to bring him up to the full 90 minutes slowly was similarly based on injury history. Now I wonder.
That Dortmund piece is important
“Mrs. Reyna made it a public mess by involving US Soccer and at least implying to GB that she would do so.”
There have always been rumors about all this stuff. Wynalda was saying stuff which quickly got shot down because, well, it’s Eric and he’s not popular in certain areas.
But Dear Leadership Gregg has always been the one who has officially made things public.
Gregg made this whole thing a public mess before Danielle ever got into it.
He’s also the one who first broke the alleged “blackmail” scheme . Playing the victim as usual.
If Dear Leader doesn’t make all this official would it have remained just background noise and rumours?
Who knows.
We may not see Gio with the national team for awhile. The media will focus on this situation versus asking sport questions and USMNT questions. At some point I think Gio is going to have to release something to the press.
Unfortunately he now become collateral damage created by his parents.
Gio is better off that way.
Gregg has never shown any ability or desire to make good use of him anyway.
Gio could use a few years off from the grind and needs to focus on his club anyway.
Gregg might be gone after 2026 ( maybe) so Gio can think about it then.
This is not a good look for the Reyna family especially more info comes out that Berhalter only said to Gio that he wouldn’t be starting the first game. Not that he wouldn’t get playing time in the tournament.
For those who care about my opinion, people perceive things differently. All of us that post on this site can watch the same event ( a soccer game) and come up with 50 different opinions about what happened even though we all watched the same exact thing. To me, it is plausible that Gregg and USSF think the Reyna’s attempted criminal blackmail and the Reyna’s don’t. I don’t know what happened but both statements from the Reyna’s say they did not threaten which would be necessary for it to be blackmail and Gregg ‘s statement says that an attempt to blackmail him was made. All three may believe they are telling the truth. Unfortunately, when the Reyna’s contacted Stewart, they really left him no choice but to report it to USSF, as Mrs. Reyna acknowledged in her statement, which has forced an investigation and made the whole thing public. US soccer has already indicated in a statement that the investigation now includes the individuals that are suspected of acting inappropriately and that the results of their investigation will be made public so this not likely to go away and is likely to get much worse.
Agreed. Pure speculation, but I don’t understand why Gregg would go public with any of this unless he and/or USSF want to pursue legal action. If so, this will get way worse. Time to move on from these idiots and give Gio some semblance of a chance to move on.
Quaker, the only real way to get rid of a blackmailer is to remove their leverage by going public with the event before they do and getting your version out first. If Gregg’s perception was they were attempting to blackmail him he couldn’t go on coaching the US without removing their leverage. Where would he think it would stop? Have to play Gio at a certain position, have to select players Gio likes, can’t select players Gio doesn’t like? I’m not saying that was the reality, but that may have been what Gregg perceived as the reality. No coach wants to coach under those conditions even when it is just from an owner that says it’s my team and you are going to play the players I tell you to, which is completely legal.
That makes sense, Tele. Gregg was obviously getting out in front. My speculation arises from Gregg and USSF issuing joint statements, and, as you mentioned, Gregg’s perception that he was being blackmailed or coerced. And then there’s whatever was in the content of Claudio’s messages to Stewart, or McBride, or all of the above. Informal language in text messages can have massive legal consequences. Maybe there’s some claim to meddling in contract negotiations? Not my practice areas. I hope it does down, but I doubt it will
There is no reason / excuse for Gregg going public. Outing Gio was wrong because Gio had nothing to do with the situation and it breaks the veil of trust of his other players who believe that what happens in the locker room stays in the locker room.. Even if Gio was in up to his elbows, once the investigations start and the accusation are made smart people shut up and let their representatives handle it. Outing Gio didn’t help Gregg it tainted him.
To Alex:
“Outing Gio” to the media is something that happens in pro sports. Some coaches feel like they have to do this to motivate/get thru to certain players. Phil Jackson was well known for calling out his players in press conferences if they didn’t perform the way he wanted or if they didn’t give the necessary effort (Gio would definitely qualify). It actually seemed to me like Berhalter was trying to protect Gio (and the locker room) by not bringing this up during the Cup. I don’t like what Gregg did by letting the cat out of the bag at his conference, but what the Reyna’s did and have done since have taken things to an entirely different and malicious level.
jb,
“Outing Gio” to the media is something that happens in pro sports.”
That whole incident over Gio was going to come out sooner or later so it coming out was inevitable.
But being exposed by enterprising reporters is one thing. Gregg has no blame there.
But Gregg beat everyone to the punch and was the first out with the info.
Some say he never named Gio directly but that’s just bullshit. Anyone with half a brain or less knew who he was talking about.
When your manager uses you to make himself look better than he was being portrayed ( Gregg was getting a lot of flak about failing to get anything out of Gio), that’s something else.
“It actually seemed to me like Berhalter was trying to protect Gio (and the locker room) by not bringing this up during the Cup.”
Fooled you didn’t he? Gregg was covering his own ass. If this came out during the Cup everyone involved with the team would have been in a huge shitshow.
According to Tim Ream, Gio was being a dick, the team confronted him, he was humiliated and made to grovel and beg for forgiveness and ultimately was forgiven by his teammates. End of story according to Ream. We all move on. Gio played some vs. England and then more later vs. Louie VG.
Except for Gregg.
Still under fire for getting bupkus out of Reyna, Gregg decides to use a public forum to point out how smart he is and what a great leader he is by setting up a leadership council who ultimately were the ones who handled the problem.
Now Gregg did do well with that and Gio’s discipline situation was handled appropriately.
But the point is it was handled. It was dead. It was over. And this whole fucking thing should have ended there more or less.
Sure, the Athletic or ESPN would have posted their story on it and there would be lots of rumors and whispers.
But then it was all coming from “the media”.
Not the backstabbing manager of the team.
IF you are cheating on your taxes there is an enormous difference between your brother turning you in or you getting caught by the IRS.
Gregg backstabbed Gio in the eyes of his mother. And not because he didn’t give Gio playing time but because he outed Gio when he did not have to.
“I don’t like what Gregg did by letting the cat out of the bag at his conference, but what the Reyna’s did and have done since have taken things to an entirely different and malicious level.”
From their point of view the Reynas seem to think that Gregg went after their son in a Leadership Conference AFTER the WC was over to save his sorry ass reputation. That was unnecessary. And the Reynas responded in kind.
Remember, the Reynas are very protective of their kids. Gio’s brother Jack died not that long ago and they weren’t going to let some punk go after their surviving kid ( Gio has another brother and a sister).
One other thing.
I doubt that there are too many people who know Gregg better than the Reynas. Maybe, just maybe, Gregg is a big dick in real life and the Reynas know this. And maybe this was the proverbial straw.
.
You might want to consider that when you think about why they reacted to Gregg’s actions this way. What do they know about Gregg that we don’t?
the question is did she ever say what it was he did 30 years ago, when she was on the phone. because here’s the deal. if she just vaguely says GB did something he should be ashamed of 30 years ago, but he’s being a jerk to my kid over relative nothing now, spin aside, that’s nothing to report to USSF. “he did something he shouldn’t be proud of.” what is that. what is there to ask to investigate. but that can be blackmail if she’s like do something about this _______ or i smear them and you. conversely, if she says, “don’t you know, when we were in college he hit his wife,” it is something concrete that has to be investigated, and it’s not blackmail. you can’t force them to fire him but you can ask for it without coercing.
i do feel like the competing releases, while enlightening of some facts, are probably also incomplete. reyna’s wife suggests GB is downplaying what happened in the event. USSF suggests reyna’s wife didn’t just pass on facts, complain about hypocrisy, and hang up, that she asked for him to be canned or some sort of coercive approach where they got the authorities involved. i don’t think they would have expanded the investigation for innocent whistleblowing. this is being talked about like it was closer to or past a line. so i agree with your instinct. but who knows.
Who does Gio Reyna think he is? The entitlement here is so overwhelming that its nothing short of mind-blowing. Gio Reyna (AND HIS PARENTS) feels like he is entitled to start for the USMNT. WHAT??? He automatically stops putting in the necessary team effort into training and practice because he was benched……and because of this the coach almost sent him home because he was destroying the comradery of the team…….which is exactly what should happen. Everybody was making a big deal of why Gio didn’t have much playing time with the team, so the coach finally makes a statement to clarify. Let’s be real, nobody wants a spoiled, mopping, immature player on a team that is fighting for recognition and progression on the world stage. Nobody. SO, WHAT IS THE ISSUE? If any other player (without their parent’s so-called influence on the team) had done the same, they would be treated the same. So, Gio Reyna’s parents think their son can half a$$ in camp with no consequences because of their relationship to Ernie Stewart???? Wow…..The entitlement here is appalling.
Now Gio’s mommy gets involved to try to get GB fired with something that happened 30+ years ago, so her son can have playing-time with a new coach???? Good luck with that. If anything, she has just made manners worst for her son, the comradery with his teammates and his future with the USMNT.
Have to agree with you, bizzy. The parents come across as petty and vindictive in this situation. Any reasonable person can look at this allegation at face value, and draw the same conclusion. The reputation of Gio’s parents are taking a well-deserved hit. Their son is a seasoned professional, and knows how to fight for playing time with the US just like he does at Dortmond. Gio at this point needs to stand on his own two feet and tell his parents to back off.
what a lot of people don’t know, and don’t take it from me, one can hear it from someone that has the inside track to the USMNT by listening to the “In Soccer We Trust” podcast with Jimmy Conrad, Heath Pearce and Chuck Davies, to know that Gio’s attitude, and arrogance had been manifesting itself in not only USYNT set ups, but also right up to, during and after the Nations League triumph. Davies points out that a lot of players were put off by his shenanigans then, and to be honest, Berhalter’s relationship with Reyna’s may have been what aided in Gio being brought to the WC in the first place after you take in to consideration that Gio hadn’t played in over a year bc of injuries and wasn’t really fit even aside from the few games he started for Dortmund before the WC.
What manager will want to deal with this type of head case, and *stupid* drama, absent consistent, elite-level production on the field? Neymar and Mbappe can pull this kind of crap, but Gio isn’t at their level. Not even in terms of potential. Yes, players with bad attitudes can get playing time and transfers. But how much more would they get, and how much farther would they go, if they just dropped the attitude?
—
For his sake, and ours, I hope the kid turns it around, pulls his head out, and produces on the field in Europe consistently for the next few years. Whatever happens, Gio’s parents need a muzzle. They are helping *no one.*
For what it’s worth, I’m not sure Gio deserves too much flack for this. Many pro players pout about their playing time, including some veterans. It sounds like he apologized, hopefully learned an important lesson. It is all the stuff that came after from the supposed adults that created such a sh**show.
Gio deserves flack for what he did. He’s a professional who has featured for Dortmunds first team (and bench) for 2 years. Given his sulking and immaturity, I think it’s also fair to draw some inferences from his parents behavior about the depths and origins of his incubated personality issues. The fact that he’s “young” is not an excuse for me. That said, I do hope he can grow. It’s been a hard 18 months for him. I’m not writing him off, but he has a lot more to prove.
And, for what it’s worth, it wasn’t just sulking or attitude. It was apparently a refusal to train at a professional level, at the World Cup. Even Gio admitted that much. Coming full circle — unless you’re Iverson, Neymar, Messi, or Mbappe — you need to practice and earn your spot in training.
Anyway, not trying to flame people. None of us really knows exactly what happened or what will come of it. Suffice it to say, I’m entertained.
“What manager will want to deal with this type of head case, and *stupid* drama, absent consistent, elite-level production on the field?”
Edin Terzic
I have no great contacts in Germany but I’ve never heard a bad thing about Gio at Dortmund. I hear he and Haaland are BFF and the same with Bellingham, two reasonably talented players who have said great things about Gio.
In the year or so before Qatar, Gio was injured and re-injured a few times basically losing about one and a half seasons.
Obviously you haven’t heard Tim Ream say Gio was being a dick, the team confronted him, beat him up and made him beg for forgiveness, which was granted, he agreed to be better and that was it. It was over as far as the team was concerned. Gio played some vs England and Holland.
End of story.
But not for Mr. Leadership Conference who needed to talk about his brilliant leadership skills .
If you don’t follow European soccer very closely , you may be surprised to know that you’ll find your fair share of young talented players who are just as big behavioral problems as Gio was/is. Man U. had a really promising striker named Mason Greenwood who was about Gio’s age and who was playing great but then managed to get himself thrown in jail for raping someone.. He’s still in jail. They had to cut ties. I don’t think Gio has been accused of being a rapist yet.
But those teams often have managers who know how to handle them and you probably don’t hear a lot about it, because it’s so common. Gio would never act like this at BVB because he knows they would sell him or cut him. Which tells you something about Gio but even more about the USMNT culture.
Real managers are supposed to handle punks like Gio and get production out of them. But Gregg doesn’t know how to handle talented divas. That’s why he keeps his boys on the team. It’s easy to push around and dazzle a Lletget or a Yueill, Long, etc. I’m guessing what he does with them probably doesn’t work on Gio, who besides having real managers in Europe has known Gregg all of his life, literally.
What does Gio know about his “uncle Gregg” that we don’t?
This is where the incestuous mom and pop atmosphere of the USSF comes home to roost.
How happy will you be when Gregg is brought back and Paul Ariolla is starting instead of Gio at Copa America? (Timo will be injured). Backed up by Brooks Lennon?
Doesn’t matter who the next coach is…..Gio is going to look like the player on the team who’s mommy ran to the principal’s office with threats….He has such talent too….
Danielle looks horrible in this. Because she was ok with an abuser as the men’s head coach up until the point where he “embarrassed” her son publicly. She looks incredibly hypocritical. And now we are supposed to take the abuse seriously? Are you kidding. She completely diminished the real and serious issues of spousal and dating abuse.
And let’s get real. A threat is a threat, whether you mean it or not.
I imagine that Mrs Reyna has never been happy with what occurred between her friend and her friend’s boyfriend at college. Reports state that GB and CR were lifelong friends and best men at each other’s weddings. Conspicuously absent from those reports were wether the wives remained friends after college. Friends of “victims” often hold grudges much pinger than the victems themselves do.
From what I read in a long article by my local paper’s soccer reporter, the two women continued as close friends until very recently. Apparently the two families would even vacation together on a frequent basis. According to this other article, relations between the 2 families began to fray when the son of the Berhalters was returned prematurely to Columbus from a loan to the Austin soccer team this season where Claudio Reyna is general manager.
I couldn’t disagree more with you post.
And I couldn’t agree more with he post
HHA!!! Nice try Malkin in the middle but with no intelligence. It was a typo, moron.
Dude – PeterP – why so testy? Malkin hasn’t aired your dirty laundry from 30 years ago. And yes, we all make typos on this posting system. You got to have a sense of humor about it.
As an aside – PeterP – with whom did you originally disagree?
Sorry Malkin.
This goes deeper than a mother getting mad because her son wasn’t playing enough. These are the rumors going out there now and probably true. This great friendship was severed some time ago before the WC even started. It’s all about revenge. First, Claudio, being the sporting director of Austin FC, didn’t rate Gregg’s kid very highly and sent him packing via a transfer- and we all know how vengeful GB is. If you don’t buy into his whole belief system, you are canceled. But that is so ironic, because now he is canceled. Now, due to GB’s past, it’s believed that GB was going to do the same thing to Gio. He told Gio that he wasn’t going to get much time at the WC and lied to the fans and media by saying that Gio wasn’t playing because he was hurt. When Reyna made a fool out of GB by saying that he was fine, GB stated that he did not play Gio due to tactical reasons. Knowing that he wasn’t going to have much playing time before the WC even started, Gio started to become difficult to handle. Gio then apologized and GB stated to the press that all was fine, but that was a lie too. Rumors also state that Claudio spoke to Gregg but things got really bad and that they fought. Then, after the WC, in that Conference, GB spewed lots of venom that could really damage Gio’s career. Why did he do it? Revenge. GB is a scumbag, period. This is where Gio’s mom came in to protect and to get her own revenge because GB was making her kid look like a monster in her opinion. Was it the best way to handle things? No. Did she do it because the idiots that the USSF are would have had the audacity to actually renew this buffoon’s contract? Yes. Is she a horrible person? No. She would be if she boiled him in oil, but she didn’t. It wasn’t the correct thing to do, but she gave this dirt bag his same medicine.
This will be a mess for a while with probably lawsuits. There is a lot of drama here but it’s not like the French or Belgium sides. There are multiple parents butting in in everything in those national teams and scandals all over the place. France even won the WC with all the problems they had not to mention the Benzema blackmail sex video scandal he conspired with others, and he is back with the team now.
The USSF needs a complete overall. All these ex-player executives have no idea what the heck they are doing. They were very good players and I liked them as players very much; but as executives, they are a bunch of Benny Hills.
Mr. P.
Only one thing you did not mention.
Claudio and Danielle lost their son, Gio’s brother back in 2012 at the age of 13. Gio , Joah and Carolina are his surviving siblings.
So if the Reynas are perhaps a tad overzealous in how they respond to anyone who they perceive as attacking their kids, maybe people might want to think about that before they criticize them.
Gregg , of all people, should have been well aware of that.
Losing a kid is about the worst thing that can happen. Does that make Danielle right? I doubt she gives a fuck. I think if you’re really honest, you’ll find a lot of moms who would have done pretty much the same thing in defense of their kids. The difference is Danielle is on a first name basis with Earnie and has his number.
She’s clearly very , very angry at Gregg. That level of anger takes a while to build up.
Which brings me to my last point.
The Reynas probably know Gregg better than just about anyone.
Maybe, just maybe, Gregg is a seriously flawed person in real life and the Reynas know this. And maybe this was the proverbial straw.
.
Everyone might want to consider that when you think about why the Claudio and Danielle reacted to Gregg’s actions this way. What do they know about Gregg that we don’t?
This seems like it’s about a lot more than just soccer.
so let me ask you this, if Greg had told the media that Gio wasn’t playing after the Wales game because he had an attitude problem and wasn’t training like a responsible professional at a WC should, do you think that message goes over better with the media and fanbase, as opposed to telling a lie, but a little white lie to help keep the team from having to deal with negative coverage that could have potentially derailed the rest of the WC, because that would’ve have been an untenable situation for sure? I think you make a lot of presumptions/insinuations that have no basis in fact, like saying Berhalter was avenging his son not getting an extension from a Claudio Reyna led Austin FC by flipping the script on Gio, when to be honest Gio may have been brought to the WC in the first place because of his relationship with the Berhalter family considering he hadn’t played regularly for over a year, coupled with the lack of real depth in certain areas of the team. Greg didn’t owe Gio anything, he’s the manager and every player should be expected to abide by them whether they deem them fair or not, and more importantly no parent at that level should be butting in and trying to influence decisions to subvert the managers wishes. I find it hard to believe that a young man in Gio, who has been living in Germany by himself for several years hasn’t grown up to the point that he can take this news better than he did, so clearly he has a lot to work on outside of football. And finally, this idea that the Reyna’s harkened back to the death of the elder son to use as some sort of shield to protect Gio is silly, these are two different situations, this one being about not getting what they deem as not enough minutes in a sport. You can’t use a death as a scapegoat for this situation as a means to exact revenge on people you consider great friends for decades. People may be let wondering if Greg Berhalter is a bad person after all of this, I don’t think there is enough info to come to that conclusion yet, but what is not open for debate is the Reyna’s are bad people for what they did, and if Gio isn’t careful and doesn’t address his mentality, he’ll be left wondering what happened to a once promising career
I am on a quick break, so I am going to post this quickly. I wish we could be talking about tactics, formations and other fun stuff, but it is what it is. First of all, GB could care less about anybody but himself in this particular matter. If you are insinuating that he was trying to protect Gio, this was not the case. He was trying to save face and then save his own butt. He tried to save face at first because he lied about Gio’s injury. He had no intention of giving him meaningful minutes at all from the start despite playing him every game for the national team, prior to the WC, when healthy. Gio wasn’t brought to the WC because of his relationship with the Berhalter family. Really? Gio’s not some scrub like Morris, Roldan, Long… and other who had no business at the WC. He is arguably the most talented player on the team and probably the third best player, and he was ready to go. We have to ask ourselves why Gio wasn’t going to play an important role at the WC? And this was before Gio’s poor attitude. GB’s intention was to not give him much time which makes no sense if healthy. He stated this to Gio before the competition and like any player, he became upset. Was it because of what happened at Austin FC and because Claudio didn’t rate GB’s kid Sebastian enough or do everything in his power to let Sebastian stay at Austin after being on loan? People are starting to believe this might be the case. GB knew that he would get a lot of criticism for not playing Gio, so he lied and said that he was hurt. This was so fans and critics would not think he was a nut for not playing Gio. GB thought he could just ride this lie through the whole WC. Liars get caught most of the time, especially the dumb ones. Then, when Gio said that he was not hurt, GB became livid and never let go. This was the problem; he just never buried it when he said that everything was fine after Gio’s apology. He then went to a conference and spewed his venom knowing that this could damage Gio emotionally and possibly his career. GB didn’t care about Gio here; he wanted to save his career thinking it might be damaged due to his own idiocy.
This should have never even gotten this far. After Gio apologized, it should have been over and buried. It isn’t GB’s job to save Gio. If Gio was being terrible, not contributing in practice, and everything was that bad, then you send him home end of story and that’s it; you don’t keep him around to make things worse. On another note, I am not condoning what his mother did, but I can understand it. If GB liked treating his girlfriend as soccer ball and she forgave him, that’s their business. That should not factor in at all as far as being the USMNT coach. The past is the past. However, GB has no business coaching this national team, ever, because he is a terrible and toxic coach. Fans want a competent coach that can deal with egos and get the best team out there. They do not want a coach that cancels good players out just because they may be a bit difficult or are bothered by a coaching style.
PeterP, you are apparently much more productive on a quick break than I am all day. Doh!!
Tele, I wish I were concise and to the point as you. Doh!
Mr. P,
Nice work.
Just two things:
Hey Ronnie:
“the Reyna’s harkened back to the death of the elder son to use as some sort of shield to protect Gio is silly, these are two different situations, this one being about not getting what they deem as not enough minutes in a sport.”
God forbid you ever lose a child because if you do you’ll understand
Danielle just a little bit better.
Also, in everything I ‘ve read Danielle says she bitched to Earnie not about playing time but about Gio getting his name dragged around AFTER the World Cup at the Leadership Conference. I haven’t read anything anywhere about her complaining about Gio’s playing time.
This whole thing would have never gotten to this point if Gregg had just kept his mouth shut at the Leadership conference. Follow the timeline.
This is a Berhalter own goal all the way.