Why U.S. Soccer Must Do Without Berhalter After Copa Failure

Jeff Carlisle, American football correspondentJuly 2, 2024, 2:28 a.m. ET

CloseJeff Carlisle covers MLS and the U.S. national team for ESPN FC.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As Gregg Berhalter spoke to the media Monday following the U.S. men's national soccer team's 1-0 loss to Uruguay, a result that eliminated it from the 2024 Copa America in the group stage, he was asked if he was the right voice and the right person to lead the Americans to the 2026 World Cup.

He answered with a barely audible “yes.”

Berhalter's response is not surprising. While resignations at press conferences are not uncommon, it is rare for a coach to refuse to defend himself at such a time. That said, Berhalter's response is contrary to the facts. The United States was eliminated from the Copa America in the first round of a tournament that it not only hosted in front of an enthusiastic crowd, but in which it was given a very manageable group that, in addition to Uruguay, included Bolivia and Panama.

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But even those tailwinds weren't enough to propel the United States into the round of 16. Instead, we saw a team that hurt itself with crippling mistakes and failed to produce the results it wanted.

Do the players deserve some of the blame? Sure. But Berhalter also needs to take responsibility for his performance. As a result, the U.S. Soccer Federation needs to move on and find a new coach who can better generate the kind of momentum that the 2026 World Cup has the potential to provide.

To be clear, the reasons for calling for a new coach are not limited to the results of a single tournament. The most damning is that the United States has not made any significant progress from its encouraging performance at the 2022 World Cup, where a young team reached the round of 16. The team’s young core was expected to improve and take the next steps toward joining the world’s elite.

Instead, the U.S. team appears to be regressing, even with the addition of forward Folarin Balogun — arguably the team’s best player of the tournament — and a more involved Giovanni Reyna. The gap between the U.S. and Concacaf teams other than Mexico appears to be closing. At the time, the second-leg loss to Trinidad and Tobago in the Concacaf Nations League (the U.S. still won on aggregate) and the CNL semifinal performance against Jamaica (which took a fortuitous own goal in second-half injury time to ultimately win in overtime) seemed like blips. In hindsight, they now seem like harbingers of things to come, whether it’s defensive breakdowns, lack of discipline or lack of creativity. Add it all up and you get a team that looks disjointed and inconsistent on the pitch.

That was evident Monday night. The United States started well and gave Uruguay, currently ranked second in South America’s World Cup qualifying standings, a run for its money. And there was a minute, seconds, when it looked like the U.S. might sneak into the round of 16. Bruno Miranda had just equalized for Bolivia in its match against Panama, and with the U.S. tied 0-0 with Uruguay, the Americans were poised to advance on goal difference. What seemed out of reach before the game was suddenly within reach.

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Moreno explains the mistakes made by the US team against Uruguay

Alejandro Moreno believes the United States had the wrong game plan against Uruguay in their crucial Copa America group stage match.

And then the game ended in defeat. Uruguayan defender Mathas Olivera collected a rebound from Ronald Arajo's header to give the Celeste the lead in the 66th minute, on a play that appeared offside at the restart. Panama quickly regained the lead against Bolivia. And with Uruguay's notorious physical play grinding the United States into dust, the goal of qualifying for the Copa America was out of sight.

But that was just one of many missed opportunities for the United States in this tournament. There was the failure to punish Bolivia by scoring more goals in the first game, to improve its goal differential. There was also the catastrophic red card given to Timothy Weah early in the loss to Panama. That incident in itself is not Berhalter’s fault. But the fact that the United States took the lead in that game through Balogun, only to immediately concede and ultimately score the winning goal late in the game, is another example of how underperforming this team has been. Too often, it seems as though the United States is putting itself in a position to advance only to fail to capitalize on those opportunities.

Group CGPWDLGDPTS1 – Uruguay3300892 – Panama3201163 – United States3102034 – Bolivia3003-901, 2: Qualified for the quarter-finals

Berhalter and some of his players stressed that the intensity with which the team started the game had to be present throughout the match.

“I think we have to do better among ourselves,” goalie Matt Turner said. “We have to set a higher standard for ourselves. We have to keep that base intensity that we showed in this game every game and every minute. Because in a tournament, every decision, every call, every missed shot, every saved shot, every unblocked shot, it’s magnified.”

After five years of Berhalter leading the team, why? Berhalter doesn't really have an answer for that question. Neither does Turner. One reason that doesn't hold water is the team's relative youth. These are players in their prime with a lot of experience under their belt. Playing with intensity shouldn't be a problem, and yet it always is.

The team’s relative lack of creativity continues to be a problem, having finished the game with an expected goals (xG) rating of just 0.56. Against Uruguay, there was a touch that was a little too loose or a shot that took a little too long to get going. Kudos to Uruguay. The team defended with tenacity, which is the ethos that has been the backbone of their success for over 100 years. The United States did too, but for some reason it comes and goes. It’s also Berhalter’s fault.

The players have always supported Berhalter. There has been a lot of self-criticism.

“I don’t think this tournament really has anything to do with the staff, the tactics or the way we play,” Reyna said. “I think it’s more individual mistakes, and I don’t think the staff can do much. I think ultimately the players have to kind of take the initiative on the court. And I think ultimately the players didn’t do enough to get through.”

There is some truth in all this. There is much praise for this generation of players who are already five years old. Given what some of them have achieved at club level, this is partly justified. But there is also a certain stagnation. Some players are not getting the necessary playing time with their club, which is the main source of their progress.

But there also seems to be a certain level of comfort within the team that is not healthy. There is usually a tension within national teams when a major tournament is on the horizon. Is a player part of the manager's plans? How can he stay there? If not, how can he get there? That does not seem to be the case at the moment. Changing managers every cycle recalibrates that tension, because everyone is starting over. That is partly why a change of manager seems necessary now.

What's next? After the game, U.S. Soccer Federation sporting director Matt Crocker made the following statement:

“Our performance in the tournament did not live up to our expectations. We must do better. We will conduct a full review of our performance in the Copa America and determine how best to improve the team and results in preparation for the 2026 World Cup.”

It’s eerily similar to the process used after the U.S. women’s soccer team was eliminated in the round of 16 at last year’s Women’s World Cup, its first World Cup elimination. Weeks later, then-coach Vlatko Andonovski resigned. It wouldn’t be surprising if Berhalter suffered a similar fate.

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