Oh I know and see it. It's just maddening maybe is the better term.
Berhalter is almost identical to Southgate for England. Both built new cultures for the next generation national team and replaced the old guard. Both faced hostile press, and won them over with their generally genial demeanor, and doing team building stuff at the center of it all, to create an e'sprit de corps.
Both are too conservative offensively, as these generations of talented young players have learned how to compete, but now need to learn how to excel. It seems like their players have both outgrown the ability of their coaches.
In England, Euro 24 is the likely end for Southgate, and the FA is putting out feelers to Guardiola.
If Brazil is being coached by Carlo Ancelotti in WC 26, then the England squad is probably Pep's best choice. He has been coaching there for years, has been exceptionally successful and really know the player pool. Imagine his legend if he coaches England to their 2nd World Cup triumph.
So, who would be that kind of candidate - but gettable, of course - for the US?
Let's say that Behalter fails to get out of the group stage at Copa America 24. He can't possibly keep his job in that circumstance for 2 more years. If we play flat, with sterile possession but not enough real threat going forward, then who is the person who can bring that to the US MNT?
The federation is going to say that whoever the coach is has to know MLS, since that's the backbone of where the player pool first gets identified. They go off to Europe earlier and earlier, but they get "found" mostly in MLS and their academies, and I suppose now in the NCAA, too. The college game is quite good quality, and has lots of international players these days.
Tata Martino with Messi at Miami is going to resurrect his coaching career. Could he be good enough? He has international experience coaching Argentina, Mexico, and a so-so stint at Barcelona.
Are other MLS coaches like Oscar Pareja, Peter Vermes, Steve Cherundolo or Caleb Porter viable choices?
Jesse Marsch is out there, and might be a good choice. We would be more "high energy", but his Leeds teams were awfully leaky at the back, and he didn't seem that tactically astute. Is Marcelo Bielsa a possibility?
DeZerbi at Brighton seems like he coaches very exciting well organized attacking football, basically a better version of Graham Potter, who also strikes me in the tepid mold of a Gareth Southgate or a Gregg Berhalter.
Edit: It looks to me like DeZerbi is going to have a good year at Brighton this year. They are off to a flying start. But let's say they taper off, due to European commitments and an untimely injury to what is not as deep a squad as it was last year. His move to bigger European clubs might be on hold, and a 2 year run with a talented US squad at home for the WC could be very tempting. I like him as a coach.
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