Gregg Berhalter: The new USMNT head coach

Bring up the new United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) coach Gregg Berhalter’s name to fans, and their first image will most likely be his goal that never was against Germany in the 2002 World Cup quarter-finals. Now he has the task of rebuilding and putting his stamp on the USMNT program. As a player Berhalter was very well traveled, representing clubs in the Netherlands, Crystal Palace, and even 1860 Munich before heading back to the US to join LA Galaxy.

His coaching career began in Sweden with Hammarby. He was ultimately fired for not being able to produce enough goals with a team that should have been at the top of the league. This helped shape his philosophy on the road to his final destination in the MLS with Columbus Crew. In this tactical analysis, we are going to look at the tactical philosophy that Berhalter plans to implement with the USMNT, based off of his approach with Columbus Crew.

Philosophy at Columbus: Disorganise the opponent

A staple of Columbus Crew under Berhalter was the ability to create positional advantages in different areas of the pitch. He would set up his squad in an attacking system that allowed for fluidity up front and the ability to get numbers forward.  The number one thing required for this is constant off-the-ball movement in Berhalters system to create scoring opportunities.

This goal below by Gyasi Zardes, who redefined his career from bust back to prospect under Berhalter, shows the requirements of attacking players in this system. The ball is played to Frederico Higuian, who slides a ball through to Zardes, as the defence is being drawn out by another forward.

Another sequence against Colorado Rapids, which can be seen below, shows Berhalter’s system focusing on positional overloads. The combination play is rather simple, looking to exploit space behind the full-backs. This sequence did not lead to a goal, but is a staple under Berhalter, as many attempts are created off of crosses from these positional overloads.

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