Gregg Berhalter said there is “work to do” in “trying to rebuild” his relationship with Gio Reyna during his first news conference since the U.S. men’s national team announced the coach’s return to his previous position Friday. Here’s what you need to know:
- Berhalter confirmed he hasn’t met with or spoken to Reyna since the World Cup. He also said he hasn’t spoken with Zack Steffen or Ricardo Pepi, two players who were shocking omissions from the 2022 World Cup roster.
- Berhalter will not be coaching the CONCACAF Gold Cup in an effort to avoid creating “the environment of Gregg puts his boats straight back on, slides back into the environment and it’s very much business as usual,” U.S. Soccer Federation’s sporting director Matt Crocker said.
- Crocker added that there are “some real big ticket items around some real strategic stuff over the next couple of seasons we need to map out first.”
- U.S. Soccer CEO JT Batson confirmed that the board of directors’ vote to bring back Berhalter was not unanimous. There was one individual who “did not vote in the affirmative,” Batson said.
Support from USMNT players
Multiple star players, including Christian Pulisic and Tim Weah publicly voiced their support for Berhalter in the lead up to his return, and Crocker was asked how much input the athletes had in the search for a coach.
“I kept them up to speed throughout the process. I was also keen to tap into their skills because I don’t have context. I haven’t been in a camp with them yet. Asking them questions around, ‘What are the key skills that you want in a head coach?’ That enabled me to develop a really comprehensive coaching framework or competency framework, so the players are actually a part of this process al the way though,” Crocker said.
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How big was the search?
Crocker said there were “zero restrictions” on who he spoke to for filling the role, “whether they’re in contract, out contract, what leagues they’ve come from. It’s been a world-wide search, so I made sure from the beginning that I wanted to bring the best candidates to the table.”
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What else was said about Reyna?
“Gio is an important player to this team. He’s an extremely talented individual and I have the obligation and the commitment to coach him like I coach every other player. I want to get the best out of him. We want to get the best out of him, and we know that if we can unlock his talents, he’s going to be a game-changer for this program,” Berhalter said.
When asked when he’d speak to Reyna, Berhalter said “the most important thing for (Reyna) right now is to focus on playing in a final and winning a final. I can imagine after that he’d want some vacation, and meeting with me is not the priority. It’s for him to get rest and prepare for the upcoming season. We’ll have time to do that — it is a priority — but we’ll have time to do that before the September window.”
Backstory
As the U.S. coach from 2019-22, Berhalter won the 2021 Nations League and Gold Cup trophies, qualified for the 2022 World Cup with the youngest team in the world and then got out of group play at the World Cup with strong performances against Wales, Iran and England. The Americans’ five points were tied with the 2010 team for most in a group stage by any USMNT at a World Cup.
Berhalter, 49, currently has the highest win percentage of any USMNT coach with a 37-11-12 record.
Required reading
(Photo: Mike Stobe / Getty)
Gregg Berhalter: ‘Work to do’ in rebuilding relationship with Gio Reyna as coach returns to USMNT - The Athletic
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