We’re two matches into the Gregg Berhalter era, and things are going well, but he’s already lied to us. Thankfully, it’s the kind of lie we need. The kind of lie that could push this coach and these players to put an inspired product on the field this summer at the Gold Cup. But that kind of optimism certainly puts the cart before the horse; let’s first revisit the scene of the victimless crime…
It’s Sunday night in America, and the US Men’s National Team has a manager and a match. Gregg Berhalter makes a fine coaching debut, with his “C-team” wholly outplaying a version of Panama that somehow looks even less like the true Canaleros than Berhalter’s band looked like the American first string. The Yanks score three times, Djordje Mihailovic forces me into learning how to spell his name, and somehow Berhalter still stole the show with his halftime and post-match interviews.
Talk tactics, and soccer writers will love you.
And, in truth, we’ve all been swooning since Gregg embraced pointed soccer questions, waxing poetic about pressure, skill-sets, and positioning on the day US Soccer finally unveiled their new manager. Yes, we took a week off to digest Marcelo Bielsa’s nominee for greatest press conference of all time, but in fairness, that was the soccer equivalent of Bill Belichick justifying spygate by telling us exactly how he was using the video to gain an advantage. It was glorious. But after that brief-but-fun field trip, Berhalter was quick to get all of us kids back on his bus.
With the type of verbal performance art that’s already his calling card, Gregg used two short one-on-one interviews to address his team’s strategy against Panama, and his players’ performances within that scheme. It was awe-inspiring to a fanbase that’s used to those interviews being mostly fluff. That’s not just a soccer thing either. Across sports, the coach-on-the-field interview is generally used to praise players and the opponent, then maybe smile at the interviewer and get outta Dodge.Take Mike Krzyzewski, the greatest to ever do it. He thinks these interviews are so useless he gives them to his assistant. That speaks volumes to the fact it’s accepted practice that no one says much of anything.
But in this case, we got more tactical nuggets from Berhalter in two short back-and-forths than we’d ever get from the national team’s last two managers at a full press conference. It was a revelation!
What’s this? Honesty? An actual soccer answer to a question? I feel like going out and expressing myself. Unfortunately, there are others ahead of me.
But we also got the lie.
Gregg Berhalter let us know that he plays two “10’s,” or dedicated, playmaking attacking midfielders. Then everyone predictably ran with it, and it was no surprise when we got ninety minutes of Stu Holden referencing the 10’s the next weekend.
That was fine, but the premise isn’t true.
The team we just watched doesn’t play with two dedicated attacking midfielders, even if Gregg calling them 10’s is alright by me. I’m not going to go into great detail as to why these guys aren’t 10’s, they just aren’t. Whether your tip-off was Cristian Roldan playing this role, sideline mics picking up Berhalter yelling at Milhailovic to get back defensively, or just watching how the team played, you’re right. We’re all right. These are central midfielders that have free reign to attack, but they’re not 10’s, and that’s a good thing.
Calling them “two number tens” certainly wouldn’t be and isn’t the first time a soccer manager used a little artistic license to make his squad seem more fun. I can remember Sam Allardyce telling anyone who would listen that West Ham were really going for it, playing three at the back, even. All of this during a spell when Sam, reliably as ever, was clearly playing a five-man defense (and a midfield more comfortable tracking back than passing forward).
Quite unlike Big Sam, I don’t think Gregg’s even willfully misleading us.
He could very well believe these player roles to be how a couple 10’s or even trequartistas, play within his system. I’m good with that. In fact, if he’s requiring the responsibility of an “8,” but calling the player a “10” to create a mindset, I might even love the move. Especially because this is all done, I’d imagine, with an end goal of deploying the “wundertwinds” ™ Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams together in these positions.
As everyone from long-tenured beat writers to casual soccer observers has already pointed out, getting these two talents together in the center of the park should be a priority. If they’re used in these positions as modeled by Milhailovic, Roldan, and Lletget, the two-way play of the national team’s two bright central midfield talents could allow Berhalter to stick to his “let’s try to possess the ball” principles against any team in the world (yes, I’m still scarred by Jurgen going full bunker versus Belgium).
IMPORTANT NOTE: Please continue to brace for Tyler Adams (and maybe even McKennie) playing the dedicated defensive midfield role at some point for Berhalter. I know it’s not what you want, but it could happen. Hopefully this important note saves you from screaming at your phone screen at work, or getting kicked out of a chain restaurant where you were going to watch a match eating good in the neighborhood for some reason.
While we’re all hoping Adams and McKennie work in the way we’ve seen it happen when we’re holding the controller (hey, Lampard and Gerrard were a nice videogame pairing too), it’s already clear that Sebastian Lletget has finally found his “just right” midfield position. I write this as a fan of Lletget that followed his progress at West Ham, watching youth matches and preseason friendlies hoping the American would shine. He was always more attack-minded than a true central midfielder, but he was never really a 10 or a winger. It took less than 30 minutes on Saturday for Seba “The Jet” Lletget (nickname that never caught on) to win and help seal the game for the US. He simply outclassed Costa Rica’s defensive unit on a couple occasions. Lletget may not be Adams or McKennie, but he’s absolutely a part of this team going forward, and possibly the most natural positional fit for one of Berhalter’s faux 10 roles.
Outside of natural fits like Lletget, it’ll be very interesting to see just how offensive the new manager is willing to get with these positions. Obviously, he was comfortable enough to play young Djordje, provided he knew Roldan was next to him doing all the right things. Does that mean we’ll see Berhalter experiment with deploying Pulisic this far from goal at some point? Provided he’s got someone like Adams or McKennie next to him? Or did I just mention Pulisic because all US Soccer writers are required to use his name at least once in every article? I guess we’re gonna find out.
IMPORTANT NOTE #2 (IMPORTANTER NOTE): At some point Gregg Berhalter may start, sub, or shift Michael Bradley into one of the roles he refers to as “10’s.” There will likely be a pragmatic tactical reason for this. Do not panic. This is not Jurgen Klinsmann asking Bradley to play out of position for an entire World Cup. That happened, and it was not ideal. But this is not that. Remain calm if possible. Thank you.
BONUS CONTENT!: In the name of self-reporting biases, the sentences you’re about to read are written by known Paul Arriola fan Jon Levy. So… y’all see Paul Arriola own that second half against Costa Rica?!
I thought he looked slightly more useful than Corey Baird in the first half, though neither was making the most of their opportunities. I think you could argue Baird put himself in great pass-receiving positions over the course of two games, but he didn’t do much with the ball once he got it. Arriola looked slightly more a threat with the ball at his feet in the first half versus Costa Rica, and his passing might have been slightly more efficient, but there wasn’t much between the two in that match heading into halftime. Then Arriola jumped off the screen in the second half.
He was threatening on the right wing, then the left, then he scored a sweet FIFA counterattack goal complete with a chipped finish that gets you an Ultimate Team bonus pack with a few contracts and a middling forward from the Turkish Super Lig. Like Lletget, I think Arriola, a winger who can also play right back, is a great fit for the role Berhalter’s got him playing. Viva Paul Arriola! And viva Mevlut Erdinc (he’s that Turkish striker you got who plays for Antalyaspor on loan from Istanbul Basaksehir and he’s not gonna fetch much on a transfer so you might as well just play him and try to score)!
Jon Levy co-founded The Yanks Are Coming and has been writing about American soccer for ten years. He is an award-winning journalist, TV news director and teaches Journalism at the University of Florida. Follow him on Twitter @TYAC_Jon.