THE MOURNING AFTER

U.S. Soccer should pull the plug on Gregg Berhalter, but will it?

Gregg Berhalter is under fire from many directions this morning. (Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports)

By Michael Lewis

Good morning, everyone.

Or should I say mourning?

Unless you have been trapped in a cave or in another universe, you already know that the U.S. men's national team exited Copa America in the group stage, exiting stage right, on Monday night.

A 0-2-1 record after a 1-0 loss to Uruguay usually will be the right pathway.

We can take all day and break down what the team did right and wrong, about coaching decisions and tactics, and whether the players were used correctly and whether this is a true "golden generation" of American men's players and that referee Kevin Ortega, who worked the middle of the Uruguay match, should be working recreational youth soccer, but we must look at the bigger picture:

Who is going to be directing the squad when the USA meets Canada and New Zealand in September?

Will it be Gregg Berhalter, an interim head coach or a new manager from the eastern side of the Atlantic Ocean?

That is the question facing the powers that be at U.S. Soccer today.

While the team has acquitted itself well in its region, winning three consecutive Concacaf Nations League titles, it has been another story against the rest of the world.

And Berhalter’s tactics and decisions have come under close scrutiny, especially in the 2-1 loss to Panama in its second game, in which the Americans played with 10 men for 70 minutes after Tim Weah’s ill-advised red card. It was the second stupid red in a year on the team. Remember Serginho Dest’s hissy fit that led to his expulsion in a CNL loss at Trinidad last year?

U.S. players have lost their cool and put the team in danger.

Berhalter’s situation is more complicated than just jettisoning a coach, and we’ll get to that in a minute.

During Monday's post-game press conference, Berhalter said that he felt that he should continue as head coach.

The question from The Athletic's Paul Tenorio:

"Do you believe that you still are the right voice, the right person with this group to push it forward ahead of the ’26 World Cup and into the ’26 World Cup?”

Berhalter's answer:

"Yes."

There is a history of teams not excelling or improving during a coaches' second cycle, at home and around the world.

Teams have been known to get stale.

There are exceptions, of course - ie. - Jill Ellis directing the U.S. women to successive world championships in 2015 and 2019. But that is the Mount Olympus of second cycles.

As for the U.S. men’s side slipping in a coach's second cycle, it has happened in the U.S., not once, not twice, but thrice this century.

In 2002, Bruce Arena's troops reached the quarterfinals of the Korea/Japan World Cup before losing to Germany, 1-0. And who knows, if there was VAR in those days, the men or women in the room might have picked up a German handball in the area, which might have changed history, and the U.S. might have reached the semifinals.

Outside of qualifying for the semifinals in a 13-team World Cup in 1930, the inaugural edition of the tournament, it was the best finish by a men's team.

Four years later in Germany, the U.S. failed to reach the knockout round, although it did play eventual champion Italy to a 1-1 draw in the group stage, if there was a little consolation.

Arena resigned after the final game and became the New York Red Bulls head coach.

Arena's successor, Bob Bradley guided the squad to the Round of 16 of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

After the U.S. suffered a 4-2 defeat to Mexico at the Rose Bowl at the 2011 Concacaf Gold Cup, Sunil Gulati, then the U.S. Soccer president, fired Bradley and brought in former German World Cup champion and national team head coach Klinsmann.

Klinsi coached the U.S. to the Round of 16 at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. The wheels started to fall off the wagon in 2015, with a discouraging fourth-place finish at the Concacaf Gold Cup. Then came a 2-1 World Cup loss to Mexico in Columbus, Ohio (birthplace of dos a cero), and a 4-0 thumping in Costar Rica. Several days later, Klihsmann got sacked.

Arena replaced Klinsmann, who got the team into contention for a spot at Russia 2018. The U.S. was eliminated in a 2-1 loss at Couva, Trinidad & Tobago, in its final qualifier. A few days later, Arena resigned. "No excuses," he said. "We didn’t get the job done, and I accept responsibility.”

Dave Sarachan eventually replaced Arena as an interim coach before Berhalter took over in December 2018.

Which brings us to July 2, 2024, slightly less than two years before the kickoff of the 2026 (which the USA, Mexico and Canada are co-hosting).

Anything less than reaching the second round, if not the quarterfinals, in the biggest soccer tournament ever on this planet (there will be a record 48 teams competing), would be considered an absolute failure and embarrassment because so much is on the line.

Berhalter’s goal was the change soccer in American for forever.

So far, he hasn’t.

Harken back to 1994, when the USA reached the Round of 16 before falling to eventual world champions Brazil. There was that 1-1 draw with Switzerland in the Silverdome, with an ailing Eric Wynalda striking for a beautiful free kick. And there was that stunning 2-1 triumph over Colombia, one of the World Cup favorites, and one of the biggest wins in the history of U.S. Soccer.

If the federation decides to keep Berhalter, like it or not, regardless how the team performs, the specter of the underachievement of Copa America and failing to reach the knockout round always will be hovering in the background and sometimes moving to the foreground when the team loses or underachieves.

What U.S. Soccer might be mulling over would not an easy decision because it comes down to money. I'm talking about millions of dollars.

If U.S. Soccer pursues a big-time name such as Jurgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola, it will cost the organization millions of dollars. And it won't be for just one coach. Under the federation's equal pay policy, the national team men's and women's coaches need to have equal salaries. So Emma Hayes' compensation would need to be bumped up.

I don't claim to be an expert on the federation's finances, but U.S. Soccer, wanting to keep a balanced budget, probably would need to find a way to bring in those millions. Perhaps sponsors could be persuaded to throw in a few million or so.

If U.S. Soccer does find the money, does it have the resolve to make a change?

Beyond cold, hard cash, the bottom line in sports is that results matter. That is magnified on home soil. If you can't win in your home country and ignite further passion in the sport and gain more supporters, where can you win?

The U.S. failed to get out of its group and embarrassed itself in the process.

It is time for a change.

The federation must act and must act soon. The clock won't slow down as we head toward the 2026 World Cup.