Arace: Gregg Berhalter leaves neat office for U.S. Soccer's new director to fill
Matt Crocker on Tuesday was introduced as the new sporting director of U.S. Soccer. Among the first questions he got was the obvious one: What will he be looking for in the next coach of the U.S. Men’s National Team?
The job has been vacant since the end of December, when the federation allowed Gregg Berhalter’s contract to lapse. At the time, the federation was investigating a 31-year-old assault incident involving Berhalter and his then-girlfriend. The two were students at the University of North Carolina when the incident occurred. Way back then, Berhalter made amends, the couple reconciled, and they got married. They celebrated their 25th anniversary earlier this year.
The federation’s investigation was spurred by Claudio and Danielle Reyna, parents of USMNT star Claudio Reyna, who dug up old dirt because they were unhappy the way sonny boy was used at the World Cup in November. Ultimately, the investigation exonerated Berhalter and excoriated the Reyna parents for years of nefarious meddling with national team coaches.
So, what is Crocker looking for as he begins identifying candidates for the coaching job?
Crocker: “What I see from the current team is an aggressive, forward-thinking (style), a fearless team, that went to the World Cup and did some great stuff. I'm really, really keen to make sure that we produce a coach that can replicate and continue to drive forward some of those behaviors. Secondly, the style of play is going to be really important.
“Clearly, there's been some great foundations put in place by Gregg and by (interim coach) Anthony (Hudson) around the style of play, and we want to continue to evolve that style of play. So to bring a coach in that can deliver that is also going to be fundamental to the process.
“The third and the most important thing is around leadership. We need the right leader. We need the right head coach to come in and give the players ownership and responsibility to build a really strong culture, or to continue to develop that really strong culture.”
Throughout the 45-minute press conference, Crocker added to the description of what he was looking for in the next coach, from building an emotional connection with the players to being a role model and a cultural leader for all of U.S. Soccer to an attention to planning and detail, on and off the field, but especially off, that is so integral to handling a national team, and so forth.
Wait. You know who embodies all of these qualities? Gregg Berhalter!
U.S. Soccer has been careful to say that Berhalter remains a candidate for his old job. Crocker said much the same thing. And Berhalter, for his part, hasn’t publicly shut the door. But they’re all reading from scripts written by lawyers.
Mommy and Daddy Reyna got their victim. Berhalter is done as coach of the USMNT, and everyone knows it.
The biggest knock on the federation is that it is insular to the point of being incestuous. Former sporting director Earnie Stewart and former USMNT general manager Brian McBride were pals and former teammates with Berhalter – as was Claudio Reyna, for that matter. Berhalter’s brother was a federation executive.
While the federation deserved criticism for its insularity, it got some things right – namely, Berhalter, who pulled the program out of the ashes of the previous World Cup cycle, knit together a young and progressive team and got it through the group stage in Qatar. Along the way, he became the winningest coach in USMNT history.
Now, the Chicago office has been cleared out, and federation president Cindy Parlow Cone and JT Batson, the CEO, have tapped Crocker to shape a new era. In Cone’s words, Crocker’s job is to, “set the sporting vision for U.S. Soccer and implement the technical plan for the women’s, men’s, extended and youth national teams.”
Given his bona fides, Crocker, 48, seems like an excellent choice. The Welshman helped mold successful national teams (men’s, women’s and youth) as head of development for the English Football Association. He built a pipeline of talent as Southhampton’s director of football operations. He has a vision for the big picture.
It should be noted that Crocker offered American Jesse Marsch -- formerly of the New York Red Bulls, Red Bull Salzberg, RB Leipzig and Leeds United, the coaching job at Southampton earlier this year. Marsch removed himself as a candidate at Southampton, and at Leicester City, and he remains a free agent. He seems like the shiniest bauble out there, but I'm not sure he's the right guy.
Is that where the coaching search begins, with Marsch? We shall see. Wherever it ends, Berhalter’s successor will find that much of the groundwork for the next World Cup, to be staged in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, is in place. Crocker has already grasped that much.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Berhalter leaves a neat office for U.S. Soccer's new director to fill
