After a dismal performance at the Copa America and pressure from the fan base, the U.S. Soccer Federation announced on Wednesday that Gregg Berhalter has been relieved of his coaching duties, effectively immediately.
“I want to thank Gregg for his hard work and dedication to U.S. Soccer and our Men’s National Team,” U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone announced after the decision was finally made.
Although the Federation appeared to be indifferent about the USMNT’s results over the past few years and even made the audacious decision to rehire Berhalter after wasting six months to find a replacement after the 2022 World Cup, pressure from supporters’ groups such as The American Outlaws probably had some bearing on the decision. When money is involved, Parlowe Cone listened.
The search will now begin to find another coach as the U.S. Soccer President continued, “We are now focused on working with our Sporting Director Matt Crocker and leveraging his experience at the highest levels of the sport to ensure we find the right person to lead the USMNT into a new era of on-field success.”
It was Crocker who was involved in the decision to rehire Berhalter, so many fans are pessimistic that the Welshman is the right man to make such an important decision yet again.
“We are deeply grateful to Gregg for his commitment the past five years to the Men’s National Team and to U.S. Soccer,” said Crocker. “Gregg has earned the respect of everyone within our organization and has played a pivotal role in bringing together a young team and moving the program forward. We wish Gregg all the best in his future endeavors, and we know he will find success in his next coaching position.”
According to the former Southampton FC Director of Football Operations, “Our immediate focus is on finding a coach who can maximize our potential as we continue to prepare for the 2026 World Cup, and we have already begun our search process.”
The process of finding a new coach is underway and hopefully, it will not take very long for the U.S. Soccer to make an intelligent decision this time.
