Op-Ed: New US coach Gregg Berhalter is a good answer but not to every question plaguing US football

American soccer’s best kept secret was revealed on Sunday when U.S. Soccer announced that they had finally found their Men’s National Team head coach: Gregg Berhalter. The former Columbus Crew head coach was given the job roughly 13 months after the USMNT failed to qualify for the 2018 Men’s World Cup.

His appointment does end a very odd, strange year in which the failures of U.S. Soccer were exposed and some very serious, and for the most part fair, questions were asked. Those of us who come from a political background who were looking for a change of scenery in soccer were thrown back into the world of parliamentary procedure and the importance of states’ rights back in February. Those looking for a system more byzantine than the Electoral College found it in U.S. Soccer’s presidential election system.

The interview process also was very strange.

Depending on who you ask either U.S. Soccer had a boat of load of interviews or they interviewed no one. Getting information from the organization in recent years has been a very difficult process. While the perception is that their office has a huge staff, those who have worked with them over the years know that it is very much a small staff and it can at times be extremely insular. From a reporter’s perspective getting basic-level responses can take weeks at a time.

But here is where the separation from the past and the present needs to be made: Gregg Berhalter is not going to solve those issues.

Those looking for all of U.S. Soccer’s answers to be solved with the signing of one coach will never be pleased. Berhalter does now find himself in a position where his words carry weight, but the position itself doesn’t. As an institution U.S. Soccer centralizes some power but in other aspects it is very much de-centralized. The reasons for that are unclear but what is clear is that Berhalter only has so much power. So strapping him to the problems of the past or your local state association is unfair.

So Berhalter might not be the solution to all of the problems of U.S. Men’s soccer. But what he is a good coach who can get results in difficult situations. If you need proof of this, take a look at Columbus, a team that has been run by one of the most inept owners in all of professional sports.

For the past two-three years the Crew’s ownership, Precourt Sports Ventures, has done everything in their power to make Columbus one of the worst sides in Major League Soccer. Yet with an underfunded roster, zero marketing, and zero amenities Berhalter has built Columbus into one of the better sides in the league.

Yes, making MLS Cup Playoffs is a bit of a layup but making three consecutive appearances all of which were pretty deep runs is an accomplishment. If he can handle the problems posed by PSV why is it so difficult to believe that he cannot do the same with the USMNT.

The problem with American men’s soccer as we enter 2019 isn’t Berhalter or Earnie Stewart or Carlos Cordeiro. What it seems to be is that we still do not have an identity and taking a year off has only exacerbated our worst fears of the state of the game. We did have an identity for a time. Those of a certain age can remember pundits and broadcasters over emphasizing the Americans’ match fitness and ‘never say die’ attitude. It was at times not very pretty but it was for the most part effective.

The question is, and this is something that Berhalter will have to address is, does that style still work?

The rest of the world seems to have caught up to the United States on the match fitness aspect, As for the attitude issue the reason why that system was effective was that it came from necessity. Players from Berhalter’s era weren’t exactly given the same opportunities as the players of today.

The urgency is different. Players aren’t worried about having a league to play in but rather what is the best place to further their career. The attitude has shifted in terms of soccer in this country and that is a good thing. The question for Berhalter now is finding the points of motivation for his players to get back to that same point and then hopefully improve.

Berhalter should be given the chance to at least prove that he can do this. It is a tall ask but given his credentials he does seem to have the pedigree to at least get the USMNT back in order. But beyond his roster and his responsibilities it is difficult to see how our country’s goals can be met.