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OT - Gregg Berhalter

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Haha. Wasn’t me. But I wonder, could it be connected to the Claudio Reyna/Gio Reyna incident? Claudio and Durphalter were friends back then?

The whole Reyna thing was weird. Claudio and Greg are best friends.

I dont think it took a 30 year old incident to have him removed. He accomplished the bare minimum for the USMNT.
 
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The whole Reyna thing was weird. Claudio and Greg are best friends.

I dont think it took a 30 year old incident to have him removed. He accomplished the bare minimum for the USMNT.
Geo’s mom and Gregg’s wife were roommates at UNC. Think she’d know?
 
Geo’s mom and Gregg’s wife were roommates at UNC. Think she’d know?

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Huh? 20 years ago we were a blown handball on the goal line from advancing to the semi.
OK, once we went one step closer. Actually I'm talking about people who think we will contend for a title. Even in 2026, I don't see it? But maybe they'll prove me wrong?
 
OK, once we went one step closer. Actually I'm talking about people who think we will contend for a title. Even in 2026, I don't see it? But maybe they'll prove me wrong?
We finished in round of 16, as we did this year, 4 times.

We finished in the quarters once as mentioned above.

We finished in the semi once.

Berhalter met expectations this year. The expectation is to advance out of group play regardless of who the coach is. He did that. That won’t be the expectation in 4 years. Our next coach will be hired with the expectation of advancing in the knockout rounds.
 
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But that was about as good as the USA has ever done at the WC. People thinking, we were serious contenders are insane.

Those that follow the team would tell you we underachieved

- despite CONCACAF being the worst its been in awhile, we only qualified on the last day because we only lost to Costa Rica by 1 instead of 5 or 6. It shouldn't have come to that.

- the group was very weak deapite Wales and Iran's FIFA rankings. The draw with England was nice but 1 win, 1 draw, and only 2 goals vs Wales and Iran was bad.

- this Netherlands team wasnt that good and we looked totally outclassed

For me, the goal was the quarterfinals. Round of 16 is acceptable but just the bare minimum
 
Those that follow the team would tell you we underachieved

- despite CONCACAF being the worst its been in awhile, we only qualified on the last day because we only lost to Costa Rica by 1 instead of 5 or 6. It shouldn't have come to that.

- the group was very weak deapite Wales and Iran's FIFA rankings. The draw with England was nice but 1 win, 1 draw, and only 2 goals vs Wales and Iran was bad.

- this Netherlands team wasnt that good and we looked totally outclassed

For me, the goal was the quarterfinals. Round of 16 is acceptable but just the bare minimum
I think some of you are nuts thinking this is somehow a way better USMNT just because they have so many players in Europe. Sure, they do, but in Europe, these guys aren't big high-level stars, even Pulisic isn't much more than an average player IN EUROPE.
 
So Claudio Reyna was mad that his 20 year old son didn't get enough playing time so he pulled up some dirt from 30 years ago? This is incredible content, but he's the type of parent that makes people avoid coaching!
 
Lol. Thanks for sharing. But connecting those dots weren’t that difficult.

Btw…I’ll just say one thing…

Soccer mom.

What a mess.
Oh once you said it I realize connecting the dots were easy as a possibility. I remember someone saying the go back as friends. But that’s still a nasty shot not all would take.

Imagine it’s safe to say that relationship is now strained.
 
How do you justify holding onto this information and only releasing it now? Wouldn't this be something you would bring up when he was hired, if you actually cared?
 
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So Claudio Reyna was mad that his 20 year old son didn't get enough playing time so he pulled up some dirt from 30 years ago? This is incredible content, but he's the type of parent that makes people avoid coaching!
I coached High School and never once had an issue but I averaged one parental meeting per season because I set the expectation that I don’t talk to parents, even casually. When parents think there’s a direct link to the coach, they get a little more emboldened. I had a protocol that conversations were handled between my players, myself and my coaches. I never had a player meeting without another coach present. If that didn’t satisfy , then it would progress to a parental meeting and then if that wasn’t satisfactory then it would progress to a meeting with the AD. Usually the issues were resolved between myself, the player and the coaches and then roughly once a year it would progress to the parents. I never once had a meeting or issue progress to my AD. But, I left the business feeling fortunate that I never had a disgruntled player and crazy parents try to ruin my name. This Reyna situation is happening because The Reyna’s we’re emboldened by knowing Berhalter personally and feel like they are Us Soccer royalty.
 
Why would US Men’s Soccer even entertain looking into this. Am I understanding correctly that this is from kicking a woman 25-30 years ago, same woman he has since been married to for 25+ years?

Is there more to this story?
 
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This is really incredible stuff. These are close family friends willing to risk everything over playing time. I mean we all agree Reyna should have been playing more but to resort to blackmail is something I'm not sure we've ever seen in sports.
 
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This is really incredible stuff. These are close family friends willing to risk everything over playing time. I mean we all agree Reyna should have been playing more but to resort to blackmail is something I'm not sure we've ever seen in sports.
I thought I read that the Reyna’s floated this to US Soccer after Berhalters comments after the World Cup? I admit that this stuff doesn’t interest me so I’m only casually following.

Just find a new coach who will mend fences with Gio and move on.
 
As Alexi Lalas says “US Soccer… we eat our own”

They shouldn't be in charge. US Soccer has become bigger than the tight-knit group of former USMNT players than run it. We need new ideas. We need to figure out how to attract and retain the best athletes. We still lose most to football, baseball, and basketball. Can we find a way to the elite-ish clubs free so the best athletes dont quit? Zlatan Ibrahamovic was shocked when he learned he had to pay $3500 for his son to play in LA.
 
I thought I read that the Reyna’s floated this to US Soccer after Berhalters comments after the World Cup? I admit that this stuff doesn’t interest me so I’m only casually following.

Just find a new coach who will mend fences with Gio and move on.

I don't want to go through a 1-2 year period with interim coaches. We need a guy for the Gold Cup. Not that its a huge tournament but its after the Club season. Identify your 2026 guy and hire him. He gets the Gold Cup as a warm-up then Copa America as a nice preview for the World Cup.
 
I don't want to go through a 1-2 year period with interim coaches. We need a guy for the Gold Cup. Not that its a huge tournament but its after the Club season. Identify your 2026 guy and hire him. He gets the Gold Cup as a warm-up then Copa America as a nice preview for the World Cup.
Ernie Stewart just said that a full investigation will be completed on the Berhalter “abuse”. Because of the sexual abuse in the womens game, US Soccer has to do due diligence. He also said Berhalter is under consideration for the coaching job so no decisions will be made until the investigation is over.
 
As Alexi Lalas says “US Soccer… we eat our own”
Soccer mom and dad over stepped because they felt betrayed by Gregg in his treatment of Gio because they were all best friends.

This is why Berhalter and the US soccer nepotism to hire him was a bad idea because there’s expected nepotism between a family and a coach. Not Berhalters fault, but US Soccer should have hired someone else.
 
US Soccer needs to be reorganized and a new plan to find and develop players. Country might just be too large for the association to manage this. Maybe find better coaches at every level and invest heavily in development. Something isn’t working in house.
 
US Soccer needs to be reorganized and a new plan to find and develop players. Country might just be too large for the association to manage this. Maybe find better coaches at every level and invest heavily in development. Something isn’t working in house.

Put me in charge. I'll fix it no time

- I would have US Soccer, not MLS, not local clubs, OWN the youth sytem

- US Soccer hires and pays the youth coaches and pays for all costs starting at the U8 or U9 level.

- Have somewhere around 250-500 of these clubs. Tryouts at age 7 or 8 involve NO soccer skills. Simply testing athleticsm. We can teach you soccer. Guarantee that if they stick with the program, they either get a college scholarship, pro contract, or their first year of college paid for if they arent good enough for a scholarship.

- Massive marketing for tryouts. Everyone in WPA should know about US Soccer-Pittsburgh tryouts. Each local representative should recruit local clubs and elementary schools. Talk to gym teachers, youth coaches, etc to find out who the best athletes in the town are. These towns produce D1 football, basketball, baseball. We want those kids choosing my US Soccer program instead.
 
Now for 2 difficult questions:

1. What do you do about a domestic violence incident between 2 18 year olds 30 years ago who have since married?

2. What do you do about a sports CEO slapping his wife twice on camera (Dana White)?

In Berhalter's case, his contact wasnt going to be renewed anyway but man, 30 years ago? They got married and if the investigation reveals it was a one time thing, then I really dont think he should face any suspensions. There's never an excuse for that but this case is so unique since it was so long ago and hasnt happened since and they are married.

In White's case, I realized she slapped him first but you cant hit back and he did it twice. I think White has to at least face a one year suspension if they dont fire him.
 
Put me in charge. I'll fix it no time

- I would have US Soccer, not MLS, not local clubs, OWN the youth sytem

- US Soccer hires and pays the youth coaches and pays for all costs starting at the U8 or U9 level.

- Have somewhere around 250-500 of these clubs. Tryouts at age 7 or 8 involve NO soccer skills. Simply testing athleticsm. We can teach you soccer. Guarantee that if they stick with the program, they either get a college scholarship, pro contract, or their first year of college paid for if they arent good enough for a scholarship.

- Massive marketing for tryouts. Everyone in WPA should know about US Soccer-Pittsburgh tryouts. Each local representative should recruit local clubs and elementary schools. Talk to gym teachers, youth coaches, etc to find out who the best athletes in the town are. These towns produce D1 football, basketball, baseball. We want those kids choosing my US Soccer program instead.
Does US Soccer have the funds to be paying salaries of thousands of coaches across the country? As well as paying college tuition?

You also have a major issue with identifying talent. The best athletes at ages 7 or 8 aren't necessarily the best athletes at ages 16 and up, but you are gonna guarantee 1st year college tuition for all of those 7 year olds?
 
So Claudio Reyna was mad that his 20 year old son didn't get enough playing time so he pulled up some dirt from 30 years ago? This is incredible content, but he's the type of parent that makes people avoid coaching!
 
Does US Soccer have the funds to be paying salaries of thousands of coaches across the country? As well as paying college tuition?

You also have a major issue with identifying talent. The best athletes at ages 7 or 8 aren't necessarily the best athletes at ages 16 and up, but you are gonna guarantee 1st year college tuition for all of those 7 year olds?

They do. European kids dont pay for these teams.

And I disagree about athleticism to an extent. As part of my plan, you would have the kids tested for their biological age, I think its called to weed out that 8 year old that is the best player simply because he is bigger, stronger, and looks like he's 12. US Soccer has tried to do something like this but not on a big scale where they medically test kids for their % to maturity to make sure smaller kids arent being left behind.
 

Absolutely. Literally the worst soccer mom of all time. Talk about entitlement. You hear these stories about parents confronting youth coaches about playing time for their 10 year olds....but at least the kids are too young to speak for themselves. This is a mom who blackmails one of her BEST FRIENDS because her son didn't get to play much in the WORLD CUP. And while I agree he should have been playing, the team was the most talented in US history. You could make a case that his style didnt fit in that starting 11. Jester's cousin was playing over him and scored one of the 3 goals and had a good tournament. He also plays in a big league like Gio.
 
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