The U.S. men’s national team will have a familiar face leading it following the Concacaf Gold Cup this summer.
Gregg Berhalter has been re-hired as USMNT head coach, U.S. Soccer announced Friday. Interim head coach B.J. Callaghan will remain in charge of the USMNT through Sunday’s Nations League Final and the upcoming Gold Cup.
“I want to thank Matt, and the entire U.S. Soccer Federation, for the trust they’ve placed in me,” said Berhalter. “I’m grateful to have the opportunity to build on our achievements at the World Cup and to contribute to this exciting time for soccer in our country. The entire group of players and staff have worked incredibly hard to establish our identity on and off the field. We look forward to continuing our journey together to make our fans and our nation proud.”
Berhalter had been without a job since his USMNT contract expired in December. He had previously been linked with Club America, Swansea City, and Sparta Rotterdam over recent weeks. U.S Soccer previously launched and completed an investigation of Berhalter in January after he admitted to an altercation with his wife Rosalind back in 1991.
The 49-year-old registered a 37-12-11 record in 60 matches in charge of the USMNT during his first spell in charge, winning the 2021 Concacaf Nations League and Gold Cup titles.
A former USMNT defender, Berhalter led the Americans to FIFA World Cup Qualification in 2022, leading them to the Round of 16 before suffering elimination at the hands of the Netherlands.
“When I started this search, my focus was on finding someone with the right vision to take this program to new heights in 2026,” said U.S. Soccer Sporting Director Matt Crocker. “Gregg has that vision, as well as the experience and growth mindset on and off the field to move this team forward. Appointing the right head coach for a National Team is a crucial decision that reflects U.S. Soccer’s identity and lays the foundation to grow soccer across the country for years to come. I am confident that Gregg is the right person for the job and looking forward to working in partnership with him.”
The USMNT is preparing for Sunday’s Nations League Final against Canada after rolling past rivals Mexico 3-0 on Thursday. Christian Pulisic scored a brace and earned Man of the Match honors, while Ricardo Pepi also scored once.
perhaps ussoccer had decided if GB got out of the group he would be rehired, which they did
so the Reynas, not wanting him back and being over the top meddling parents forever in their son’s USMNT career dating back to 2016!!! then did what they did
in the end, still GB
after the investigation revealed GB had long ago addressed this, while the investigation also revealed the Reynas meddling in Gio’s USMNT career since 2016
I think it’s that simple
Surprised that it took so long. That’s one of the big “bummer” parts for me. I’m sorta questioning the leadership at the top of US soccer. I was a GB supporter from the start. And I will support him and the team during the WC 2026 preparation stage. I can’t help not loving our team. But this re-hire—– is going to be a PR nightmare for the USMNT until and during the World Cup in 2026. The situation with Berhalter is going to be re-played time and time again. And once the World Cup starts— the media are going to run with it. For the non-soccer media in the USA— the Berhalter situation will be brought up again and re-hashed DURING the World Cup. That is where I have a problem. This will get drudged up consistently 3 years down the line. Something the team and US soccer don’t need.
Looks like USSoccer failed on sooooo many levels and just went back to what they knew.
1. Did the players have a big stake in the re-selection of the head coach?
2. Did USSoccer REALLY go behind the rumors and rhetoric to complete a thorough, detailed, professional, rigorous recruitment process and analysis – one which identifies the coach with the most potential?
3. Did the USSoccer start looking for a coach before they clearly identified what they want from the role (hence the reason they failed), then panicked to get GB back after they learned that he was being scouted by other team?
Poor management and leadership on so many levels. Why Is the Head Coach Recruitment Panel for the US always just from “inside the organization”, in terms of the Board members, the Executive .etc that relies heavily on former players? USSoccer has a habit of NOT GOING AFTER MANAGERS WITH A WORLD WIDE PROVEN RECORD to be in leadership / coaching positions when it comes to the national team…..and we have the deepest pockets in CONCACAF. Being a good former US player, US skills coach, US assistant coach or hands on coach of some sort is a very different role than that of successful head coach for the NATIONAL TEAM. The USMNT needs a coach possessing a detailed knowledge of modern skills, techniques, counter tactics and strategies of the sport at the highest level, with the experience of public relations, team development skills, leadership, resource management and conflict resolution. If GB, who has the best record of any US head coach, is STILL THE BEST WE CAN DO….then that tells you all you need to know about the standard and level of US Soccer.
Bizzy my thoughts on your questions.
1. Obviously they were consulted but I don’t think they had as much say as fans are claiming
2 and 3. I think they did do a thorough search. However, I think they started with qualities that Gregg had shown. So if you start with we want a coach like Gregg, they ended up with Gregg because he is the most Gregg of the candidates.
4. Mexico has deeper pockets than the US historically anyway they have paid more for Tata, Erickson, and Osorio. Not sure if they do for Mexican born managers.
He won’t be coaching at the Gold Cup. Apparently there are more important things, according to Crocker, than actually doing the job said Head Coach was hired to do. More none sense from USSF.
Bj and the other assistants already have the roster set and likely done all the prep for the group opponents. And let’s be honest the group for GC are mostly guys in the 30th-50th spots on the depth chart. I’m sure we’ll see Gregg visit training or sitting in the suite but Bj and the other guys have done the work let them finish it.
More of the same. Top 3 in Concacaf, maybe win some NL/ GC hardware and go out in the round of 16. Not bad, but not exactly taking things to the next level and over achieve. Van Haal outcoached GGG in WC 2022, why will 2026 be different? Ferreira over Pepi? Limiting Gio before the tournament? 2nd cycle coaches rarely work out, unlikely this will be the exception.
Im not sure GB was chosen because he is great, or because the players like him (it would only be someone who didn’t want to be on the USMNT roster who would say they don’t like GB).
I think that when you look at the names that were bandied about in a more or less serious way Marsch, Viera, and Cherundolo it is not so surprising.
Marsch, while I like him, has not shown that he can adjust to make a team better and tactically has been pretty 1 Dimensional.
Viera, while he was a great player, as not shown he is a great coach.
Cherundolo did well with LasVegas, mostly developing players for LAFC and when things worked well at LAFC he did very well, but he did have a lot of talent to work with compared to. the opposition, Now LAFC is struggling, partly due to injuries; it remains to see how flexible he can be in the way he has LAFC approach games tactically. I hope he and LAFC pull out of the tailspin they are in, but the jury is still out on that.
It would not have hurt to wait to appoint the USMNT coach until after the Gold Cup when LAFC might have returned to their winning ways and Cherundolo would have been seen as a better choice.
I do not understand the consistency of taking so much time before resigning GB but not waiting until mid summer to further access the talent pool of coaches.
With the transfer market opening clubs were finalizing their manager choices. I’m sure Gregg wasn’t the only one being interviewed that had club offerings coming in. It was likely figure it out or lose your top candidates.
Not surprised at the GB rehire but giving him full charge thru 2026 with guaranteed being coach for WC is a questionable decision. The Fed should be able to buy him out if he does not show tangible results like getting to the final of the 2024 Copa America. No other fed gives their coaches this type of leeway. Bottom line hasd the US not failed in Trinidad reaching the round of 16 would not have been that big of a deal. Seriously when did you not expect results vs Wales and Iran? Bradley achieved as much, Bora as much with less and Arena much more. I don’t dislike GB wish him the best but am not ok with him being coach without showing real improvement before the WC.
It also bothers me that I read an article in sports illustrated stating that making a change THIS LATE in the game could be disastrous. Are you kidding me great coaches implement a system in a matter of a season or less than a year. You can pull the plug on GB by the fall of 2024 and still have time to adjust to a new coach by 2025 Gold Cup. Professional players adapt and right now the player pool is fairly deep. Players are expected to perform or they are replaced (Pepi…btw nice return bro). Same should go for coaches
Despite the opinion of all the world class coaches in this site the only real knock on Berhalter was the way he dealt with Gigi Reyna’s antics.
Other than that his results were on-par with what should be expected with the talent he had.
A couple of entitled parents should not dictate the direction of the USMNT future.
He handled Gio positively publicly and privately. He kept Gio’s antics quiet during the World Cup. A player so self-absorbed that he pouted because his coach was honest with him. Gio had nagging injury problems to the point that we still don’t know if he is injury prone. And he was a sub for his club team with production that started not too long before the World Cup. GB being honest with him would have inspired a better player to prove it in training and on and off the pitch. GB never publicly outed Gio. It was Gio who raised his hand. All GB did was tell a story about an anonymous player and if you really listened the message was one of positivity and character. He credited the player and team with turning it around. It was the media and the sensitive Reyna’s that turned it into drama.
Otherwise I am in total agreement with your comment.
Having said this I am ready to move on as a fan and support everyone including Claudio believe it or not, though he has never taken ownership to my knowledge of his mistakes.
As a dad, I can’t imagine the pain of a child losing his brother to cancer or a dad losing his son and having to watch his other children go through that.
Gio looks like he’s developing a maturity and professionalism since last year. I trust Berhalter to care and try to get the best out of his players and help them reach their potential – including Gio.
He was not honest. GB lied to the press by telling them lies why Reyna was not playing, then, when caught in those lies, he said, basically, that he thought that Morris was better coming on as a sub in the Wales game because of his speed. Greg is an inept coach for not playing Gio, period. You talk like he was trying to protect Gio, He’s wasn’t protecting him. GB was only protecting himself. He anonymously talked about a player that was obviously Gio and talk crap about him after supposedly stating that everything was fine. GB was a total liar before the WC, during the WC and now after the WC. He’s a coach that has grudges and cancels players who may not be fan for his coaching style. The guy is an inept fool when it comes to coaching as well. He’s pathetic at managing almost every game and continuously gets out coached because he can’t adjust.
No, the knock is that GB he stinks and the USSF is corrupt. USSF is a joke for hiring this buffoon again. GB’s player selections, his line-ups, his substitutions and overall game management were horrible. USSF said that they were trying to find a coach like GB that would implement the same data model; then, basically said, “We found the perfect guy!! It’s Greg!!! It’s a miracle!!!” The federation doesn’t give a poop about the fan base. They will continue to lie and do a bad job at it and will expect us to believe it.
“his results were on-par with what should be expected with the talent he had.”
1. That’s a very low bar. A manager is expected to make his slayers better. If he cannot he’s really just a warden or a substitute teacher.
2. There are results and then there is how the team played and looked.
Two different things.
A good example of a game where they have done both in the same game is the last two games. And Gregg did not manage either one. Watching those games reminded of why I thought Gregg should not be the manager. BJ got his lineups right, got his subs right, and did not get in the way and we won and looked really good. I’ve never been able to say that about a Gregg managed team.
Over the course of Gregg’s 60 games the team got the results they needed to meet the bare minimum.
But they looked like varying degrees of shit for 56 of those games.
To everyone’s credit the 4 World Cup games were their best, both performance wise and results-wise.
Gregg and his team did the absolute bare minimum in terms of results.
In terms of how they looked they were godawful for the most part and greatly underachieved.
If not being a total fuck up is good enough then Gregg is good enough.
Just remember that things are going to be a lot different this time around.
The player pool is much better and more coherent now because they have played together but also because because they have matured at their clubs as professionals. Gregg had nothing to do with that.
Most of them have chips on their shoulders because they are mostly being dumped and offloaded. Most have their careers at this level under question. They are mostly in the questionable column as is Gregg.
Being humbled should be a good thing for this overall highly arrogant and immature manager and his immature and arrogant team.
They are going to face very much higher expectations so they better learn their lessons. Otherwise they are going to get fucked over in Copa America, a very brutal competition that is happy to oblige you if you want to b humiliated. The only advantage the USMNT will have is that it is not being held in South America.
That should make for a better working relationship and no matter what is said, I doubt Gregg will have the same kind of free reign he is used to having.
Maybe we will see less of his vanity tactical brain farts.
FWIW. GB has shown himself to be a competent coach. Further, news reports suggest the roster is very supportive of his return. And no other candidate was clearly superior. So the actual decision on GB as coach is sound. Give it “B to B+” grade.
What isn’t positive is that we are still left with the culture of USSF. The USSF has an incestuous culture that places value on being “connected,”. To the degree that the USSF makes decisions based on who you are rather than on the merits of your accomplishments, it does a great disservice to American soccer and the many constituencies that depend on it for growth and success.
It may be “unfair” to reject GB’s candidacy because of the Reyna episode, but it is a circumstance he helped create by discussing it publicly after the World Cup. So there is the lingering question of whether GB is the right coach, or that the USSF has once again closed ranks to protect one of their own.
For that reason, I would not have rehired GB. But I do think he is a good coach.
Pretty reasonable take. Look, so long as GGG doesn’t shoehorn everyone into his system and let’s them play… Can’t be much worse than what we’ve seen from Hudson or BJ.
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These are the questions though: Will we see The System? Will we see MLS dependency? If the answer to both is “No,” then ok. If GGG has learned, and has the locker room, and let’s them play… Fine. Neither Pep nor Ancelotti were going to magically make us win the WC.
So, why did this situation develop like it did? Here are a couple of things. Despite a fairly favorable group and an excellent core of players, the US did no better than the last couple of World Cup we were in. In qualifying we were a weak 3rd in the region. I think they wanted to rehire Berhalter all along, but they knew the WC performance wasn’t all that great and then there were the charges and the whole dustup with the Reynas. So, to rehire him right away would look bad. The pretense of a world wide search for the best available coach was put forth, but it was obviously a sham. It was all a cover for rehiring Berhalter, figuring that the passage of time would make it easier to swallow.
Yup. Pretty much. They re-hired him the same way they hired him.
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Sportsology is not about hiring coaches. It’s a PR firm. From their website: “Sportsology Group specializes in providing premium knowledge, insight, strategic advisory and operational support to franchise owners, global leagues…” Key phrase there: “strategic advisory.”
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In hindsight, I admit they finessed us (me) fairly well in the last 7 days or so with the news of: (i) Marsch not being the guy; (ii) purported “Club America” links with GGG; and (iii) the Viera farce. Interesting case study in how to create generic positive associations with the idea of a “coaching announcement” when they knew most of us would hate the actual re-hire.
We’re playing better now than I’ve ever seen. Just embarrassed our rival. It seems we’ve moved on and for the better. Why go back to GB now? Why? He was clearly not wanted anywhere else except MLS. Had he gotten a top 5 league offer he’d have taken it. Why are we so visionless? Our golden generation deserves a coach with equivalent experience on the managerial level. Pulisic is great no doubt but he ain’t Lebron and doesn’t get to pick the coach.
USSF is a sh!tshow. Based on the post-game interview last night it appears as if the player leadership council was asked about the possibility of GGG returning….which helps explain why some of the players (Pulisic, Weah, etc….). These guys aren’t STUPID they probably realized what USSF was intending to do, and therefore started speaking in/to media exhalating GGG’s positives…..insuring that they stay in Gregg’s good graces when he returns rather than be in his DOG HOUSE like Brooks and others.
The fact that USSF isnt installing Gregg until after the GC tells me that they are preparing for a disappointing GC exit. It’s clear by the names called into the US Squad for the GC that this is 100% a Gregg group….a bunch of players who are poor technically, tactically, and who are past the point that they could ever contribute to a GOOD international side.
This hole process has been a joke….but here we are. Without having to Qualify all I can hope for is that there are some SERIOUS objective goals outlined for this team over the next year….and that when Gregg fails to meet those objectives that the USSF Fires his a$$ and gets a quality manager before the actual WC.
This is/was a bad process. Looks like confirmation bias all over this thing. It is hard to see how one could look at the department and all the creative possibilities and simply say, “let’s run it back”.
#ClownShow
Is Crocker now the Chief Clown in Charge
davies — who seems like a fairly bright guy with a BC education (car wreck aside) — had an interesting theory that the real constraint on coaching choice may not be so much a budget as a perceived gender equity imperative. that the women’s coach couldn’t make dramatically less than the men’s coach. the fallacy there is that NT player compensation, either men’s or women’s, is not mindblowing. it’s low 6 figures. you can actually justify the equalized women’s amounts in terms of economics and not just equity. more games, similar revenue. and there might even be some women’s player in perhaps france making $200-300k salary off soccer.
i understand andonovski already makes a fraction of berhalter. that perhaps might be wise to correct. however i don’t think there are any women’s coaches out there earning $1m much less equivalent to mourinho or some of the people whose salary demands dempsey and davies were batting about. so we can’t pay the going rate for a men’s coach because……what…..there is no one at all making equivalent coaching women, not at the best paid job in their world?
i don’t buy it’s budget.
It’s interesting GB doesn’t start until after the Gold Cup. It’s Callaghan’s team, and it’s good for Callahan to burnish his credentials, and hope he lands somewhere.
Recall when we landed Klinsmann, with the thinking only a foreign coach of his experience could improve the team? If he was available, I’m not sure he’d be a better candidate than Marsch, Viera, Perez or any others under consideration. This team is at a different place than 2014.
Many of the players are now playing overseas, and many expressed support for GB, and that holds weight. By the autumn friendlies, club situations will be settled, we’ll know the keepers from the GC, and who from the U-19s can step up and contribute. Then we’ll see what has in mind for Germany, Ghana and others. The USSF had about 10 good quality candidates for the job, so at this point, good luck.
We’re FU<K3D! More Roland and Long types for USNT, while ignore talented/technical players and focus more on the 'system' 'pressuring' player!
USSF continue more social-trend and being "establishment" without understanding "soccer-culture" in working-class soccer fans.
i am not a fan of the press for reasons i have thrown out before tactically. i’d toss in it’s like a rule of thumb that even successful pressing coaches get about 3 years out of their teams before the thing collapses. liverpool was briefly good and now backsliding. i don’t know if it’s running your players into the ground or that the exploits on a strategy built around risk get figured out over time.
and that’s not even getting into more generic notions of “second cycle” swoon. ie diminishing returns.
i also agree with those who saw a team liberated most of last night.
Saw the same thing. I like situational pressing out of a base mid-block, mind, because it doesn’t run your guys into the ground near as bad and if your guys know their triggers well and everybody’s on the same page, the situational press can be just a whole lot more effective anyhow. But I am not a big fan of just blindly chasing like somebody stole your wallet all the time. Especially since a mid-block tends to invite teams to creep forward a little bit…which opens up space behind them our Very Fast Guys can then get into. Mexico found themselves in losing track meets all night.
Also, Gregg is kind of…I dunno, dour and joyless, and it does often seem to show up in the way the team plays. Last night was a lot freer with a lot more interchanging and a lot less Berhalter-ball rigidity…the guys just played and it was fun to watch. Also there was some subtle tactical tweaks that made a big difference – Jedi, for instance, was a lot more conservative than he usually was under Gregg, and wasn’t running up Pulisic’s butt all the time, and Dest was picking his moments a lot better too. Pulisic is just so much more effective when he can get sideline chalk on his heels and not have to pinch in because somebody else is in his space.
I certainly wouldn’t have picked Gregg, especially with guys like Steve Cherundolo and Patrick Viera available. We know Gregg’s limitations and we know he’s got significant Issues with guys like Gio and Pepi, and we also know second-cycle coaches tend to be a lot less effective and do not usually wear well. Kind of put a serious damper on what should have been an epic night for USMNT soccer.
Meh. This seems like exactly what we’ve come to expect and not love out of US Soccer.
Vac, I guess I owe you a 6 pack of Hacker Pschorr. Luckily the anonymity of the site will make it hard for you to collect. Can’t say I am not a little disappointed. Will hope for the best. Don’t want to see him try to play total pressure running guys into the ground but we will see.
GB isn’t some noob, we’ve already farted around all year, and this is a caretaker who was supposed to be continuity of his selections and ideas. makes literally zero sense to have him watching the games from the stands like we hired zidane or something.
comes across to me like an accountability shield for the summer. they played well last night, why are you scared? are we going to pretend a “callaghan team” isn’t fair for him to coach? it looks 99% like a GB team which has been one of my big recent complaints…..give or take balogun or reyna that’s a GB selection last night…..so go coach them…..
worth noting, if callaghan’s near-term destination is back to assisting GB, not sure how it costs us more money or complicates his contract to tell him to serve out the remainder of his caretaker deal as an assistant for interim head coach pay. probably a raise. if GB says do it and i’m keeping you on as an assistant beyond your interim deal, that’s job security. odd.
“give or take balogun or reyna that’s a GB selection last night…..so go coach them…”
You’re delusional if you think last night represents how Gregg is going to play. Last night was a Pulisic advert. “Come and buy me!!”.
If Gregg has all his starters and regular subs in place and the opponent is as willing to drop their pants and bend over like Mexico did last night, then there’s no issue.
The USMNT will doggy style the rest of CONCACAF. Unless Canada shows up.
But the USMNT have been doing that for decades.
Good teams are like France. Go into a World Cup missing the likes of Pogba, Kante and Benzema and still make the final.
As ever, how far they go in 2026 will depend, as ever, on the draw and injuries.
you’re conflating two different things. the sales pitch was this was berhalter continuity, tactics and personnel. i agree what i saw for long portions last night — though not all, they did sometimes backslide — was something else. however the fed is pretending it’s entirely the same ergo GB should be at home. if it’s in fact something somewhat different and arguably slightly better then that speaks to the wisdom of what we’ve done. that a no name assistant might make better choices. that this should be the endgame. but taking things at face value this is supposed to be no change at all so send mr. no changes back out there. it shouldn’t be different or worse. it should be better. or they messed up.