Two worst kept secrets in US Soccer official today:
New York Red Bulls Transfer Tyler Adams to RB Leipzig
https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/20...halter-named-us-mens-national-team-head-coach
Really happy for Adams. He's one of the few prospects I like going to clubs with UCL ambitions because I think so highly of him. I would have personally rather seen some of our recently transferred talent take an approach that is closer to what Boca/Dempsey/McBride did so well 15 years ago. Go to a club where you won't immediately be replaced by the next best talent identified that will work for your long-term development and truly invest in you.
With Berhalter, I get why fans are so mad about this. I think we are going to hear a lot of behind the scenes stuff about this hire once roles turnover at USSoccer. A few things that I'd like to know:
1 - How much input did Ernie really have on hire? Ernie has brought a 'Euro' type feel to the running a club in the MLS (I think the USMNT will benefit from the job he did in Philly), if anyone was going to move away from Berhalter, it probably would have been him, but did he really have an option to?
2 - Why the long wait? I could understand waiting for the World Cup to end to try to snag a coach moving jobs, but it didn't seem like we looked at anyone who became available after the tournament. Was it because no one wanted us? Or we didn't want anyone else? Maybe because we had elections, then the appointment of a GM, then the WC/MLS season to wait out? It's just bizarre.
3 - What did other coaches think about the US job? There are some good coaches that were at least linked to us. Are there reasons that none of them seemed to consider us? Tata, Pareja, Moyes, etc. I get that the USMNT has unique challenges, such as trying to fix a broken youth system, but does that really make it that unattractive for candidates?
I think Berhalter will be a better coach than a lot of people. We'll see a few things that I think people will really like:
1 - His 4-4-2 is going to shift to a zonal 4-3-3 press defensively. It's a little akin to the Syracuse zone. His top three will lightly pressure the ball up top trying to force it into a situation where they can throw our middies into it to force sloppy passes and turnovers.
2 - Our wingers (Weah and Pulisic) are going to have a lot of freedom to roam, change position offensively to try and throw the defense off and be asked to create by cutting inside (rather than playing to the corner and crossing) more than we have seen in the past. I think it is a system they will really like playing in.
3 - Berhalter lover aggressively using guys like Yedlin to get forward to help with the attack. We'll see him bombing up the right side of the field quite a bit, even for him, these next four years.
What I don't really like about this system for us is that at C'bus he plays a lot through Will Trapp. He doesn't let his defenders be very creative or experimental playing the ball out of the back. This may create two problems for us. 1 - I think Brooks is a great distributor of the ball and I wouldn't want to take that aspect of his game away from us. And 2 - while Trapp plays that role well enough for the Crew, I don't think we have any players ready to step into that role in a highly competitive international match. We saw McKennie, Adams, and Trapp really struggle trying to play as a pivot against England. Luckily we've got time to develop them, but I'm not sure we have the personnel yet for consistent success with that style.
Anyway, here's hoping for the best. It's hard not seeing us have a better cycle than last year. We should survive. 2026 though -- watch out. Anyone catching those Gio Reyna highlights... my goodness.
