I don’t know about you but last night I was celebrating. It wasn’t because England beat the Netherlands and will now face Spain in the Euro 2024 Final on Sunday, but it was indeed soccer related. By now you all know that the US Soccer Federation came to its senses and gave their two-time national team coach, Gregg Berhalter the boot, freeing the fans from having to suffer two more years of having to say, “how did we lose to …” and “can they just get rid of the guy now?”
To be honest, I didn’t think that it would ever happen. The USSF seemed to be suffering from Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity, “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” But the deed is done and Berhalter is gone.
There is no need to go over how bad he was or what a nice guy he is; it’s over for the Jersey native, at least as the head coach.
I honestly don’t think that USSF is done with him and that he will still be involved somehow but again, at this time it doesn’t matter. What matters now is finding a competent coach to replace him. The team needs a coach that knows how to win and has actually won something before, not another coach who made the MLS play-offs as his great achievement.
According to Matt Crocker, the technical director of USSF, the search has already begun. The Welshman is also the guy in charge of the search. Remember, however, that he was also the guy in charge of the search for a new coach right after the 2022 World Cup when Berhalter’s contract ran out. He is the same guy that who spent a lot of time and spent a lot of money to hire an agency to get out there and do his job for him.
He is also the same guy that rehired and then just fired Berhalter.
Let’s try to stay positive however. The federation is going to break the bank and, unlike last time, find us a good coach to lead the team into the 2026 World Cup that will be held in the USA. That’s what we’re hoping. Ignoring the question, “who can we afford?” because of the asinine pay structure President Cone and the gang created, let’s just see who is worthy of the job and who may want the job. There were rumors that the likes of Jose Mourinho and Zinadine Zidane were approach and (politely) turned down the chance to interview for the job.
Betty’s little boy, Matt has stated that “We are looking for a serial winning coach and a coach that can also build on the work that has already been put in place. Clearly, there’s still a lot of potential in the group and we have to turn out the performance and results, so that’s what I’ll be looking for and that’ll be my absolute No. 1 priority.”
The frontrunner, the name on every American fan’s lips is former Liverpool FC coach, Jurgen Klopp. The German however stated that after he left the English club after the end of the season that he was burned out and probably would not return to coaching again.
Should that stop Crocker from approaching him? Begging him even? Hell no!
Give him a short term contract; from tomorrow until the end of the next World Cup. Coaching a national team takes up a lot less time than a club team where he has to report to the training ground every day and games every weekend. Hell, he doesn’t even have to move to the USA full time. He can stay in his German or English house and work from home while checking in on the players in the leagues around Europe. He can organize friendlies in Europe against formidable European teams and not just Mexico other minnows that are, on paper, inferior to Team USA.
He was making around $20 million a year from Liverpool. Berhalter was on less than $2 million. But there are ways to raise money. USSF can talk to the Canadian Soccer Association and see how they were able to afford the man who should have been our coach – Jesse Marsch.
Word on the sports pages however have said that Klopp was approached and said, Nein, danke.” If it’s left at that, then USSF isn’t as ambitious as we’d like them to be.
There are other possibilities however. One name that I was surprised to hear was current England coach, Gareth Southgate. Although he has had that job for a very long time and could well win the Euros against Spain in a few days, I don’t think he is the man for the job. To me he is pretty similar to Berhalter, where he keeps trying the same thing over and over again although it isn’t successful. His saving grace is that his team is a lot better than the USA, so his players rescue him from the occasional bad decision.
Zinedine Zidane is another of the fantasy coaches that would make the fans happy. Like Klopp, he is currently unemployed but there has been talk that his dream job would be to coach the French national team and win the next World Cup with them.
In my humble opinion, he would be the perfect coach. He has a nice collection of coaching trophies including two La Liga championships, three Champions League trophies and a couple of pieces of FIFA Club World Cup silverware. What would be his greatest asset however would be the fear he would put into the American players who are part of the blame of the team’s failures as well as the former coach.
The players wanted Berhalter back after the supposed worldwide coach search earlier this year because they were “comfortable” with him. And there was the problem. Comfort isn’t always a good thing. Comfort leads to complacency. It’s time for the players to feel uncomfortable. Zizu would be the man. The best option.
Thomas Tuchel has won the Bundesliga title once, Ligue 1 twice and the Champions League. He is also unemployed after leaving Bayern Munich. The German is attack minded and with the players that he would inherit, he could turn this team around and get the best out of them leading up to 2026.
OK, let’s be realistic and talk about what we can expect. I personally feel that we’re going to end up with another MLS coach. USSF will be pinching pennies and go to the bargain basement that is Major League Soccer.
Steve Cherundolo’s name has been kicked around a bit. Winning a MLS Cup is hardly a padded resume worthy of taking over the USMNT. His experience is limited but on his side is the fact that he’s a part of the old boy network and was a national teammate of Berhalter. Take that for what its worth.
Pat Noonan is another MLSer who will probably get a close look. In his trophy cabinet is just a MLS Supporters’ Shield, which isn’t a real trophy. True, he is having a very good season in charge of FC Cincinnati but the season isn’t over yet.
At this point there is no telling who the USSF is going to hire. Let’s just hope that it’s a coach who has a winning record and has won something. And please football gods, don’t let them make the same mistake thrice.
