When I look at Berhalter I am looking for a progression from Klinnsman. Arena doesn't count to me. Klinsmann opened the door for the European talent splash. That was for sure a big move. He also started the effort to essentially experiment anytime he could.
Greg is a good coach for rallying the troops. They like him and his message comes across. His lineup selections, and Klinnsman like experimentation don't make sense to me at times. I think as a whole that piece of his approach has limited our forward progression.
I do think he is improving in his role marginally but still struggles, especially in getting the right 11 on the pitch the first 45. So many sluggish starts vs much weaker opponents. That approach results in a razor thin margin of error. ES came 18 inches away from a huge goal against the run of play.
The other thing that is hard to place is that Berhalter is not getting what we need out of the Reyna and Pulisics of the roster. Even Mckennie has been mixed results. Some of that is the wrong lineup combos, some appears to be that while liked, his command of the squad is not what it needs to be to maximize the talent finding the right mix and getting them to buy into what he needs them to do. It's often a weird situation when your NTC is lobbying or pushing you to a better club situation. It's not clear with Greg's approach around this. For certain he hasn't helped anyone's case that I have seen. Not to mention the injuries that have occurred in WCQ and cup games that arguably can come back to matchups and lineup choices.
All that said Greg has been good for us in some ways but is still a stepping stone. My concern is he won't be able to harness and guide the talent we have in Qatar and we go home after group. The Asia and African nations can bite you with a single goal. They will finish better than most of concacaf. Going down 1-0 then trying to unlock 11 behind the ball is still a major worry for me from what I have seen.
So color me lukewarm vs completely cynical here.
I give Berhalter really high marks for rebuilding the entire program after the debacle of 2018.
And he seems to have created tight cohesion within the locker room.
I think, as he has figured out his team, there is less experimentation in terms of formations and positions than there was earlier in qualifying and back into the summer although this last game was a problem).
Having said all of the above, I agree completely with your concerns and the reasons for those concerns.
He is not a next level coach, at this time, and I have my doubts as to whether he can become a next level coach.
The key to coaching is putting your optimal eleven on the pitch, not necessarily your best eleven, and then making sure each player's role on the field contributes to that optimality. I think he is struggling in this area.
Let me give you an example which, I believe, 100% support your point:
The big problem in the first El Salvador game was spacing upfront. Reyna was deployed as a winger but kept cutting inside to the point that he and Pepi were on top of each other. Aaronson, who in this game was deployed as the third leg of the midfield trident, was also consistently invading that same space. 3 guys in the same area is no bueno. McKennie also kept rushing into that same space.
What was fixed? Well, Weah was the right wing for this game, instead of Reyna, and he thrives in that role - both staying advanced and providing width. McKennie's spacing with Weah was much better and the trident of the two of them and Dest was very effective. No coincidence that most of the danger came down the right-hand side.
What stayed broken? Well, Pulisic took on the role of Reyna in this game, continually cutting into the middle of the field (which was packed with el Salvadoreans, btw). This created poor spacing between him and Musah (and took away the vertical thrusts down the channel that make Musah so effective) and also took away the width on the left side of the field.
What did Berhalter completely screw up? Ferreira's role in the game was more akin to a false 9 (To be clear, I did not realize this. I had to read it.) his dropping back into the midfield was by design (my assumption was that he was hunting the game) in order to help with possession. It is really hard to play the role of a false nine effectively and it is really hard to play with a false nine. Looking at teams that have had success with a false nine is looking at a who's who of great teams. Looking at a roster of successful false nines includes Messi, Benzema, Totti...We give you Ferreira??? While the idea was tactically sound, we just don't have the personnel, nor the soccer IQ, to execute it.
Much like the Honduras game with the formation change and putting Adams at RB, this was, IMHO, pure over-think.
Greg, you are not Guardiola and you do not have Lionel Messi, Xavi and Iniesta on your roster. This is also Concacaf, not Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. KISS and execute.
