My Problem with Gregg Berhalter, USSF, and Fans

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I want to judge Gregg Berhalter on sporting merit. On real wins and losses. On his ability to build a roster, create effective gameplans, build and mend relationships that drive outcomes.

But here we are. We aren’t discussing any of that. With fervor and vitriol some spew negativity towards the US Soccer Federation and even other fans. In return the USSF makes baffling decision after baffling decision further entrenching themselves in a war against their own customers.

I really despise what social media has done to all of us. The internet is great, don’t get me wrong. I do enjoy having the world’s knowledge in my pocket, but there are moments now where I find myself wondering why people who obviously don’t live in the real world have the loudest and most elevated voices.

Those moments seem to happen more and more often now. With each day’s new iteration on the world, it seems to take less time between a coaching announcement and twitter posts comparing that coach to Hitler.

Gregg Berhalter is literally Hitler now. If you are neutral or any feeling except deeply unsatisfied with this hire you are labeled an abuser enabler. You obviously don’t care about this team, or this sport, or the success of US Soccer going forward. The loud minority of fans now want to be more outraged than their friends. The outrage is accelerated by people in the community that should know better. People that find themselves in positions to sway opinion.

And what do they do? Douse the situation in kerosene and light it on fire for more clicks, more views, more advertising dollars. Outrage is a currency.

You know who I’m talking about here. I don’t have to say their names or their channels or their socials. I expect that from them at this point. What is most appalling are the media teams on CBS and ESPN capitulating to the extremist fanbase viewpoint. I have a lot of respect for both Charlie Davies and Seb Salazar but they should be ashamed of their comments in recent days.

Charlie Davies made a wild claim that because the women’s team has equal pay that the men’s team can’t spend more on a coach. Not only is that patently false (and thoroughly debunked after the comments were made), but it feeds into the worst and most misogynistic conspiracy theories that seep into the USMNT ecosystem.

Then we have Sebastian Salazar on ESPN using Berhalter’s domestic violence from 30 years ago as a connection that US Soccer now endorses abusers. Nobody is endorsing abusers. Nobody is saying what Berhalter did was good. What the USSF has made a decision on is that the event happened a long time ago, he immediately seeked help, told his counselors and coaches, and the couple has since moved on. No other evidence of abuse has ever occurred.

For Charlie Davies to say what he said about equal pay and for Seb Salazar to say what he said about abuse, it validates the most negative and dangerous perspectives within US Soccer.

Can we all just take one big step back for a moment?

Why did you become a fan of this team? Was it to feel sad about a coach that won two trophies and got knocked out of the World Cup by a Netherlands team that hadn’t lost in 10 straight? Did you become a fan so that when the team wins a tournament, you don’t enjoy it because of who the coach will be in the future? Did you become a fan so that you can hope for the team to fail so the coach gets fired?

Grow the fuck up. Enjoy life. Feel good about things when things are going good.

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By the way - I didn’t want Gregg to get rehired, but the reasons I didn’t want him were actual reasons. Like his roster construction, or how he manages in-game when plan A fails, or how he alleviates conflict with important players. But we’re not able to discuss any of that because the fanbase and USSF have gotten into a war of emotion.

Why is your hatred blinding and deafening you from seeing and hearing any good that has come from Gregg? Have you forgotten Gregg recruited Sergino Dest, Yunus Musah, Ricardo Pepi, and started the conversations with Folarin Balogun? Have you forgotten Gregg took a team that didn’t qualify for the 2018 World Cup and won two regional tournaments in two straight finals against our biggest rivals? Have you forgotten that we didn’t give up a single goal during the run of play in the 2022 World Cup group stage and lost to a world power in the knockout rounds?

Gregg isn’t perfect. There is a lot to improve on, but the guy had some success.

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US Soccer is not innocent in all of this. I wouldn’t be writing this if they hadn’t announced the hiring decision literally during the USA’s best performance maybe ever against Mexico. I wouldn’t be writing this if Gregg Berhalter was coaching the Gold Cup. By the way… why the fuck is Gregg Berhalter not coaching the Gold Cup? I wouldn’t be writing this if there wasn’t a press conference the morning after the Mexico game where Matt Crocker outlined the extensive and robust coaching search that ended in hiring the same coach we had before.

I wouldn’t be writing this if US Soccer had just taken one small moment to think of a better way to present all of this. Here’s a few tips for any USSF rep reading this.

Announce the hire after the Nations League. Allow Gregg Berhalter to coach the Gold Cup immediately. Don’t condescendingly talk about the extensive and robust hiring process and then show us three slides detailing the perfect candidate (which funnily enough describes Gregg Berhalter).

It is really sad that we need to depend on Christian Pulisic and Timothy Weah to come to Gregg’s rescue and tell the fans to back off. If the team likes Berhalter and wants to play for him, that’s honestly enough for me. I didn’t want him back but the players know way more than I do.

By the way, nobody is holding a gun to these player’s heads. Pulisic, Weah, and Pepi are all media trained. They could have said “Yeah it’s great to have a permanent coach in, can’t wait to get started on the next chapter.” but instead they provided ringing endorsements.

Fun fact - Christian Pulisic knows way more than you or me about Gregg Berhalter as the USMNT coach.

Ok… I think that’s it. We can finally discuss Gregg Berhalter on merit alone.