Gregg Berhalter faces process and personnel questions, but his USMNT should at least be more pleasing on the eyes.
Kartik Krishnaiyer on the long road ahead.
Much has been made of the process to arrive at Gregg Berhalter as the new US Men’s National Team (USMNT) Head Coach. The process seemed both flawed and pre-ordained from the get-go and many fashionable potential choices such as Juan Carlos Osorio, Jesse Marsch and Peter Vermes didn’t even get a real look. Complicating matters further is the hiring of Tata Martino by rival Mexico – Martino fresh off an MLS Cup triumph with an Atlanta United team that seemingly reinvented how soccer could be played in the US’ top flight league.
Additionally, question marks about Berhlater’s hiring have revolved around his brother Jay serving as the Chief Operating Officer of US Soccer. Jay Berhalter has, per our sources, exercised the power of a technical director at times in the past; but now newly hired USMNT General Manager Earnie Stewart, who played with Gregg Berhalter at the national team level and against him in the Netherlands, puts a formal institutional layer between the brothers.
All of this baggage has made it difficult for Berhalter to get a fair shake from those concerned with and connected to American soccer.
That’s unfortunate, because the new Head Coach for the US does have virtues that bring a skill set unique compared to many of the previous occupants to the job.
Berhalter played the entire formative period of his professional career in the Dutch leagues and while for some observers that may be less impressive than playing in Spain or England, from a tactical development standpoint it’s probably more useful.
Later, while managing Hammarby in Sweden, Berhalter gained the reputation of being a defensive manager. But when he came to manage Columbus in MLS, his tactics were fairly progressive; though the Crew did not always have the personnel at his disposal to execute a possession-based style regularly. Nevertheless, we have enough observations to know that very clearly, Berhalter prefers slow build up out of the back, defenders who can move the ball quickly on the ground from the back, midfielders who can string together passes and attackers with smart, fluid movement.
The desire to play this way begets another observation, which is that Berhalter consistently signed foreign players to fit critical roles in his tactical setup while in Columbus. Perhaps that reflects negatively on the depth of the USMNT player pool the last several years; but viewed differently, the fact it so often was successful reflects positively on Berhalter’s ability to identify talent and use whatever players can help his side be successful. This past season, Columbus regularly used as many as eight non-USMNT eligible field players in the starting lineup. Berhalter also appears to limit “favorites”, shuffling his rotations at a rate that was among the highest in MLS, which should be a welcome relief after two US regimes that, at least in competitive matches, were heavily reliant on a favored core of manager favorites (only Panama, saddled by a much smaller player pool, changed its starting 11 less than the United States in the HEX).
The United States certainly appeared to begin to adjust for Berhalter late in 2018 when, in later friendlies under Dave Sarachan, they began to utilize Berhalter’s preferred 4-2-3-1 formation. In this setup Columbus was able to thrive reaching an MLS Cup Final in 2015 and enjoying good seasons throughout Berhalter’s time with the club.
Columbus tended to play fluid passing football under Berhalter.
Calling it possession-based would be a stretch– though the Crew were comfortable with the ball, unlike many professional teams in the US Soccer pyramid, and many of the Crew’s most effective attacking moves were created from slow building from back – movement that always worked through Wil Trapp, who became among the most influential number six’s in MLS.
Trapp represents one of the few finished and reliable articles Berhalter inherits with the US. Arguably the best USMNT field player in 2018, Trapp wore the captains armband on multiple occasions and appears a good building block for Berhalter to shape his side around. However, Trapp has been criticized unmercifully by some quarters of USMNT fandom, perhaps because many don’t quite grasp the importance of his role in any fluid attacking setup.
Considering that the majority of good attacking moves from the Crew tend to begin with Trapp either recirculating the ball in midfield or linking up with defenders who play it short to him, then picking a pass that caught defenders out, his role will be critical with the national team whether fans like it or not.. With Trapp in the USMNT player pool and the ability to recall the venerable Michael Bradley if Berhalter feels the need to, the ability to at least attempt to dictate tempo and string together attacking moves remains solid.
Flanking Trapp or Bradley in central midfield will be undoubtedly Weston McKennie, who has been the best American player at the European club level over the last twelve months. McKennie will offer more than the likes of Tony Tchani and Artur have for the Crew through the years, and Weston’s willingness to dig in and help defensively should help offset Trapp’s lack of pace and help make Trapp more effective in his tempo dictating role.
Throughout his tenure with the Crew Berhalter’s most influential attacking player was
Federico Higuaín, playing in a central attacking midfield role. As Kim McCauley noted this week at SB Nation, the dynamism of Higuaín and the effectiveness of his smart movements off the ball cannot be understated. The US simply does not have a player right now with Higuaín’s skill set. The closest might be Julian Green, but he is some distance from being a seasoned, reliable player. Higuaín linked the play together brilliantly in the attacking half, often helping to finish what Trapp started. FIguring out who will play this role is a question central to the Americans progress in 2019.
Elsewhere on the pitch the Crew’s use of fullbacks higher up the pitch and utilization of ball-playing central defenders tends to mirror what’s currently in the USMNT pool. But again, it must be stated that Berhalter when given the chance to sign Americans to play these roles in Columbus opted for foreign players, indicating the technical level of US players outside perhaps the top 10-15 in the pool would have a hard time playing in his system. The US is also one CB short here, with the excellent John Brooks still in dire need of a consistent partner. Matt Miazga’s disappointing club season has only magnified these fears.
Wide midfielders in the Berhalter system have to be able to dribble and cut inside.
This suits Christian Pulisic’s game to a tee but the big question is whether anyone else in the USMNT’s current pool can play in this role effectively. Perhaps the aforementioned Julian Green or Tim Weah can mask over some of the deficiencies. Timothy Weah’s off-ball movement should reap dividends in Berhalter’s system as either a channel-running wide midfielder or a number nine: the key now is getting consistent minutes and building confidence at Celtic, where Weah should be a man amongst boys in a bad league. Don’t expect too much from Weah too soon: he’s very much a work in progress.
Green is an interesting player – a skilled technical player who is a virtual flame out at club level that doesn’t do anything particularly well but strangely always seems to raise his game when called into the national team. Freddy Adu used to do this– it nearly won the US a Gold Cup– and as long as Green plays well in an American shirt, there’s little harm in keeping him in camps.
It’s possible Gyasi Zardes, who played a more advanced role with the Crew last season, will be the other wide midfielder in the USMNT setup. Given his goal scoring record as a striker in the same system it might represent a calculated risk to move him to a wide position, but he’s comfortable cutting inside and it’s tough to make a case that he should play ahead of Bundesliga forwards Josh Sargent or Bobby Wood up top.
The Goalkeeper position remains one where controversy is abound.
Zack Steffen’s success under Berhalter at Columbus has earned him a move to Manchester City. However, Steffen still has deficiencies in his game, and Brad Guzan seems at least from the vantage point of this writer (and MLS goalkeeping analytics) a far more reliable option right now.
Further controversy has come from Bill Hamid this week. Speaking at MLS Media Day he said “I believe in my ability.”. “I saw the four they called in. I’m going to just keep it real with you: I feel like I’m better than all four of them.”
Whether Hamid, who has gotten looks from the last three USMNT Managers, is in Berhlater’s plans or not is an open question. But Steffen isn’t the finished article yet and concerns are abound that he will be pushed ahead of the likes of Guzan and Ethan Horvath because of his success in Columbus under Berhalter.
At a minimum, Gregg Berhlater’s USMNT should be at the very least pleasing on the eye in terms of style even if the results continue to be as uneven as they have been for the national team over the last few years.
Kartik Krishnaiter is an Editor at TYAC. The author of multiple books about the beautiful game, he has also served as Communications Director for the North American Soccer League and Fort Lauderdale Strikers. Follow him on Twitter @kkfla737.