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 5^th 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 4^th 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…

https://mattemmert.substack.com/p/berhalters-dilemma?r=5w4dd&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&triedRedirect=true