In a turn of events, Gregg Berhalter has returned as the U.S. men’s national team head coach after his contract expired Dec. 21, 2022. It has been a tumultuous time in the U.S. camp since its World Cup elimination in the round of 16, a period in which the 49-year-old was the subject of an investigation after allegations of domestic violence against him — information shared to U.S. Soccer by midfielder Gio Reyna‘s parents, who were unhappy with the lack of playing time for their son and comments by Berhalter about Reyna at a news conference.
After the investigation, U.S. Soccer deemed that the incident between Berhalter and his wife in 1992 did not eliminate him from consideration for another cycle as the men’s head coach. The search for the next manager continued, with the team being linked to Jesse Marsch, Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry and Zinedine Zidane, to name a few. We’ve come full circle to Berhalter, who led the USMNT to 37 wins, 11 losses and 12 draws over his previous stint, but how will the team dynamic change? Can Berhalter continue to build on his success? And most importantly, was this the best decision?
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ESPN writers Kyle Bonagura, Jeff Carlisle, Bill Connelly, Cesar Hernandez and Luis Miguel Echegaray give their views on Berhalter’s reappointment, whether they agree with it and what to expect next.
Berhalter rehire is underwhelming, but can he build on foundations he laid down?
Berhalter’s return as USMNT manager feels safe. He’s a known quantity, one that isn’t going to push the USSF out of its comfort zone. It’s certainly not going to generate excitement in the U.S. fan base, a significant swath of which has wanted him gone for a while in favor of a bigger name.
As I wrote after Thursday’s win over Mexico, there were some compelling reasons for not bringing Berhalter back. A domestic violence incident, no matter how long ago, and even though restorative steps have clearly been taken, isn’t easy to get past. The outing of locker room dirty laundry related to nearly sending Reyna home from the World Cup, no matter how obliquely Berhalter tried to do it, hinted at potential problems with the players. And then there is the second-cycle syndrome, where returning national team coaches don’t improve on their first go-round. The history of second cycles in the U.S., from Bruce Arena to Bob Bradley to Jurgen Klinsmann, hasn’t been an encouraging one.
U.S. soccer play it safe ahead of 2026 World Cup
It was easy to feel like the U.S. could find an upgrade over Berhalter. He was tactically outclassed by Louis van Gaal in the World Cup round of 16, and frankly, his fear of falling victim to Concacaf nonsense (primarily in road games during World Cup qualification) seemed to lead to a paranoid and overly cautious approach. Some of his squad selections were confusing and/or frustrating, and while he obviously wanted a pressing-and-possession style, a lot of the worst moments the U.S. produced under his command were with constant, aimless possession that made it seem like the talent wasn’t suited for the tactics.
Throw in the soap opera that unfolded with the Reyna family in December, the long gap between his contract expiration and the present, and the ongoing assumptions that things frequently go wrong in a national team coach’s second cycle, and this felt like a solid time for a clean break.
At the same time, even with plenty of shaky moments, the U.S. played almost exactly to its talent levels under Berhalter at the World Cup. They have more depth of talent than Iran and Wales, and they advanced past them; they had less than the Netherlands, and they lost to them. And since the World Cup, under two different interim coaches, the tactics and personnel decisions have been almost indistinguishable from Berhalter’s, and the U.S. has continued to perform as one would expect against opponents at hand.
If the country’s golden generation of early- to mid-20s players continues to mature in the coming years, the U.S. will have its best roster ever for the 2026 World Cup. Knowing that the players like him and play to their talent levels under him, it’s easy to think, “Hey, bird in hand!” and go back to the Berhalter well. Maybe you could improve upon his abilities by making a new hire, but maybe you could do worse, too.
Uninspiring logic? Absolutely, especially when you think about how much stock we’re putting into a four-match sample (and if you think, like I did, that the U.S. underachieved in World Cup qualification.) But his overall record was still solid at worst. The long delay in making this decision seems ridiculous in retrospect — and if it turns out that he and Reyna can never restore a healthy relationship, it will seem far worse — but many of the team’s star players spoke in his favor, and there’s plenty of time for Reyna restoration.
I’d love to think there was a perfect successor out there, but unicorns don’t exist, and there’s at least a strain of logic in bringing him back. — Connelly
Herculez Gomez and Sebastian Salazar debate the biggest storylines and break down the best highlights that soccer in the Americas has to offer. Stream on ESPN+ (U.S. only)
But what was noticeable in recent months was that even though Berhalter was out of contract in 2023, high-profile members of the USMNT like Weah and Pulisic still backed him. Even with B.J. Callaghan, the interim head coach, taking charge against Mexico in the Nations League, it was also easy to see the Berhalter influence that helped guide a player like Pulisic to the incredible MOTM performance he had over the USMNT’s longtime rivals.
All that said, there is something quite funny and bizarre about U.S. Soccer stating Friday that sporting director Matt Crocker “led a worldwide search process” for a new head coach before landing back on Berhalter again. Time will tell whether it’s the right decision and whether they should have searched a little more. — Hernandez
