Post Copa América Fallout
Ok, let’s start with the referee. Yes, he was completely out of his depth and lost control of the match very early. However, he was NOT the reason we lost the game. He called 12 fouls (2 yellows) on us and 12 (1 yellow) on Uruguay. He was a joke to be sure, but it wasn’t his fault we couldn’t create any chances. It doesn’t even matter that the Uruguay goal was clearly offside. Remember that we had to WIN to advance, and that usually requires scoring a goal.
Now compare that to Panama, where we had 4 fouls to their
19. After Tim Weah got his red card, that
match was easily the toughest watch for me since Couva. Yep, I’m being serious, and it’s not even
close. Did you know that César Blackman,
the guy who took out Matt Turner, wasn’t fouled by ANYONE on our team after
that play for the rest of his time on the pitch? Do you think Jermaine Jones or Kyle Beckerman
would have let that slide? Tyler Adams
is a good player and all, but the only guy in our player pool that will
purposely kick somebody is Johnny Cardoso.
Digging deeper into the fouls I found some pretty damning
stats.
What does this tell me? We are soft. Not only physically but mentally too. We get caught up in “but the ref” and then don’t know how to retaliate once the baseline is set for us. We lack the veteran savvy to partake in the “dark arts” like these other CONMEBOL and CONCACAF sides. I’ve been saying this for a while and it’s the main reason I was so high on Johnny from the start.
One more thing, we had a pass completion percentage of 75.4%
overall and 75.5% in the attacking third.
Both of which put us at 14 out of 16 teams.
With that said, it’s time to show all the ways we didn’t
change the way the world views American soccer.
Much less change soccer in America forever. I don’t even know where to start with all
these.
- We got grouped for the first time in 20 continental and
global tournaments played at home. That
encompasses 17 Gold Cups, 2 Copa Américas and 1 World Cup.
- Since the group stage was introduced in 1975, we are the
first host nation in the history of the Copa América to get grouped.
- We failed to advance to the knockout round after winning
our opening match for the first time EVER.
Previously we had advanced all 23 times we won our opening group stage
match.
- In 2024 we have lost 5 of our last 9 matches. That is our worst stretch since 2018 when we
lost 5 of 8.
- Amongst the CONCACAF teams in the Copa we finished 5th
of 6. Panama 6 points, Canada 4, Mexico
4, Costa Rica 4, USMNT 3 & Jamaica 0.
So how is Gregg Berhalter still employed 8 days later? It’s a combination of the US Soccer
Federation’s ineptitude and GGG’s reluctance to own any part of the blame. Neither of these are new, but let’s compare
ourselves to some other countries in the Copa.
- Jamaica got grouped with zero points and a -6 goal
differential. Their coach, Heimir
Hallgrimsson, resigned at his postgame press conference.
- Ecuador advanced from their group and lost to Argentina in
the Quarterfinals on penalty kicks. They
fired their coach Félix Sánchez just after midnight of the loss.
- Paraguay finished last in their group with a -5 goal
differential. They waited 6 days to fire
their coach, Daniel Garnero.
- Brazil’s coach, Dorival Júnior, took FULL RESPONSIBILITY
for his side losing to Uruguay on PKs in the Quarters.
GGG has never, and I repeat NEVER, taken responsibility for
any loss. Even in losses he says
something like “We had more xG” or how we “Dominated” Canada in a 0-2
loss. He’s also very quick to blame the
players or refs, but never himself. As I
see it GGG should have resigned immediately, or at the very least by now.
I mean just listen to the nonsense he spouts at his postgame
presser…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySH_2JlQKec
Are you the right person to lead this group to the 2026
World Cup? “Yes.” He also sees progress within the group and
will do a thorough review of the tournament to see what went wrong. The ego and borderline narcissism on him is just
sickening.
It doesn’t stop there though. His loser mentality has permeated the locker
room too. Matt Turner “Sees no issue
with the direction we are heading.”
Adams “Absolutely still has faith in him.” Weston McKennie says “We all have a
comfortability with Gregg.” Gio Reyna
“Doesn’t think this tournament really had anything to do with the staff or the
tactics or the way we play.” At least
Christian Pulisic had something different to say on his Instagram story. “You deserve and will get better US
fans. Better days ahead.”
So, what in the fuck is the US Soccer Federation doing? Well Sporting Director Matt Crocker is at the
heart of all this since his first big move in charge was rehiring GGG because
the players wanted him back. His post-match
statement was this: “Our tournament performance fell short of our expectations. We must do better. We will be conducting a comprehensive review
of our performance in Copa América and how best to improve the team and results
as we look towards the 2026 World Cup.”
The US Soccer Board had an “emergency” meeting the day after
the game that by all accounts got very testy.
From everything I’ve read the entire Board wanted GGG fired except…wait
for it…Crocker. This led to CEO JT
Batson and Crocker yelling at each other in front of the rest of the
Board. Suspiciously absent from all the
“leaks” is exactly where President Cindy Parlow Cone stands on all this.
You see Crocker doesn’t have social media (although he did
delete his LinkedIn account) and apparently told the rest of the Board “Who
cares what people think.” Batson’s take
was the fans are outraged and are organizing boycotts against all our main
sponsors. The entire Board met on Monday
to vote on GGG’s fate, because that’s what it takes to overrule Crocker. Another interesting thing that has come out
is that Crocker doesn’t live in the US and wasn’t even attending the Copa
matches. Instead, he was at the Euros
and was apparently annoyed he had to fly to Chicago on short notice!
Now this whole situation has gone from #BerhalterOut to
include #CrockerOut too. Supposedly GGG
will be fired Wednesday, but apparently Crocker has also floated the idea of
waiting until September. I think he’ll
get a chance to fix his biggest mistake, but if he misses again, he will also
be gone after the 2026 World Cup.
For me this is bittersweet.
On one hand, I’m glad to be rid of GGG so this same scenario didn’t
happen while were hosting the World Cup.
Which was my biggest fear. On the
other hand, we had to waste our only true tune up against top competition for
the World Cup to get rid of him. Which
was totally avoidable by not renewing his contract after it expired in 2022.
I said at the time he was rehired that it was one of the
biggest sporting disappointments in my life.
Akin to the Eagles losing in the Super Bowl or the Lakers losing the
Finals in Game 7. There were just so
many reasons not to rehire him. Our
history with second cycle coaches is terrible.
Bob Bradley and Jürgen Klinsmann both didn’t make it and Bruce Arena’s
return ended in Couva. The players
asking for him to return was a really bad sign about their comfort level with
him in charge.
Beyond all that he’s just not a good coach tactically. I’m not going to get into all the specifics
of why, but suffice it to say GGG was just scraping by doing the absolute
minimum. Barely qualifying for the 2022
World Cup in third place on goal differential.
Not being able to win on the road in CONCACAF during World Cup
Qualifying. Never beating a top-15 team
not named Mexico going 0-5-5. Needing
luck to beat Jamaica in the Nations League Semifinals. Starting with the Columbia friendly and
ending with the Uruguay Group Stage loss, his luck finally ran out.
WHERE THE PLAYERS STAND AFTER THIS WINDOW
Turner – He needs to find regular playing time somewhere
because his main attribute shot stopping isn’t what it used to be. His distribution with his feet is still
terrible and unlikely to improve much at this point.
Ethan Horvath – Was uncharacteristically nervous when he
came on. A full season as Cardiff City’s
#1 should improve that.
Sean Johnson – Didn’t play, but his time with the USMNT
should be over now. We need to blood a
young keeper as our new #3.
Antonee Robinson – One of the very few players who was up
for the fight this tournament presented.
Kristoffer Lund – Didn’t play but seemed like a good vibes
guy, especially to Folarin Balogun.
Joe Scally – He was also up for the challenge and solidified
his spot behind Sergiño Dest. “Joey
Clamps” might also be the preferred starter now in situations that call for a
more defensive approach.
Shaq Moore – When he was warming up during the Uruguay match
all I could think about is we are dead.
Should not be called into the USMNT again.
Chris Richards – He has to find a way to translate his form
with Crystal Palace to the USMNT.
Tim Ream – He was passable, but it’s time to move on from
him. We can’t have a 38-year-old
starting at center back in the World Cup.
Cameron Carter-Vickers – If he doesn’t move on from Celtic
soon, he’s nothing but a deep back up for the USMNT.
Mark McKenzie – Hopefully a new coach gives him a chance to
prove himself or fail. Hard to judge him
when he never plays. He also might be
getting a transfer from Genk to a higher level this summer.
Miles Robinson – Didn’t play but did make the Olympic
roster. Which is probably where he
belongs.
Adams – Thinks he’s better than he really is. MUST stay healthy for Bournemouth this season.
McKennie – I’m kind of tired of typing it at this point, but
something is WAY off with him. He
deserved to be benched several times during this window. His move to Aston Villa fell through because
of his salary demands and Juventus doesn’t seem to want him anymore. His career is at a crossroads at 26.
Reyna – GGG never played him as an attacking midfielder,
which is his best position. He played as
a deep lying mid and winger. If Dortmund
is no longer it for him, he has to get his club situation sorted this summer.
Yunus Musah – Was pretty invisible when he played and hasn’t
shown much improvement recently. I think
he needs to move on from AC Milan and drop to a mid-table club in a top-5
league to get more playing time.
Johnny – Thought he showed well in his limited
opportunities. I think he should stay at
Betis this season, but if a big club makes a huge offer for him, he probably
has to take it.
Malik Tillman – The talent is clearly there, but the
mentality under pressure is not. Another
season dominating at PSV should help him, but he’ll need to move to a better
level after that to truly be counted on.
Luca de la Torre – Much like McKenzie, LDLT has never been
given a real opportunity to sink or swim.
He certainly deserved a chance in this window given McKennie’s
struggles.
Pulisic – Further solidified himself as our unquestioned
best player and leader. It kind of feels
like we might have wasted his career season since very few players were up to
the task of joining him in the fight.
Weah – Ridiculous red card aside, he needs to find a club
where he can play regular minutes. At
Juventus he’s a backup right back. Prior
to that at Lille he was mostly a backup winger.
Another guy that needs to drop to a mid-table club in a top-5 league.
Brenden Aaronson – Seems to have plateaued a bit. He couldn’t hack the physicality of the
Premier League and then took most of the season to adjust to the
Bundesliga. Those are two of the most physical
leagues in the world. We’ll see if he’s
up for the physical demands of the rough and tumble Championship at Leeds.
Balogun – Locked down the #1 striker position and was the
fourth and final guy that was up for big moments. Hopefully he explodes at Monaco this season.
Ricardo Pepi – He’s currently 4th on my striker
depth chart. PSV is probably a good
level for him, but he’s going to be stuck behind Luuk de Jong again this
season. A loan might be a decent option
for him, but it’s a tough call.
Haji Wright – Looked dangerous in his limited minutes. If he has another big season for Coventry
City EPL clubs will probably start sniffing around.
Josh Sargent – Thought he held the ball up and combined well
with others in his short spells. He was
clearly an upgrade over Pepi and is currently my #2 striker. He needs to get his ankle/foot right and kill
it for Norwich City again this season.
Lots of good stuff from Tab Ramos here…
https://www.socceramerica.com/gregg-berhalter-tab-ramos-usmnt-copa/
Good summation here…
https://shedainad.wordpress.com/2024/07/02/the-usmnt-is-heading-in-the-wrong-direction/
A deep dive into tactics here…
posted by D$ at 12:30 PM
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