USMNT Vs Chile: Gregg Berhalter must adapt style

The USMNT host Chile in the second of two March international friendlies on Tuesday night. The friendly will challenge Gregg Berhalter to change his possession-based style, with Chile posing different problems to previous opponents.

It has been rather smooth going for Gregg Berhalter as head coach of the U.S. Men’s National Team thus far. Taking the job in the winter, the former Columbus Crew coach has been in charge for three games. He has seen his team win all three, conceding zero goals.

More than just the results in semi-meaningless friendlies, however, there has been a clear plan of action that is being implemented. Systems and shapes are being worked on, Berhalter is instilling a culture and philosophy that his players are buying into, and there is now hope again for the future of the USMNT.

Much of the early success of the Berhalter era has stemmed from a motivation to want the ball. His system prioritises possession, and he has developed a shape that allows his players to dictate play through their control of the ball and neat, tidy combination play in deep and midfield areas.

Against lesser sides like Ecuador and Panama, two of the three opponents that the U.S. have beaten under Berhalter, this possession-based style makes a lot of sense. Controlling matches, building pressure, and providing foundations to attack from are critical elements that superior teams must master. But in his fourth friendly as USMNT head coach, Berhalter must adapt.

On Tuesday night, the U.S. host Chile at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston. Chile are the best team that he has faced, and by some distance. They pose not only a more difficult proposition but a very different proposition. This is what Berhalter had to say about the challenge this week:

"“This is going to be a great challenge for this group, really excited about this game because I think this gives us the opportunity to have to play through some really intense pressure <…> Ecuador ended up playing in a low block and with Chile I don’t think we are going to see that. I think we are going to see high pressing and a lot of physicality and a lot of duels.”"

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Berhalter rightly acknowledges that the defensive, deep-lying tactics of Ecuador will not be replicated by Chile. And that means that his team will have to adapt and play in a different manner to what they have so far under his management. Specifically speaking, the U.S. must now execute the opposite side of the coin: disciplined, compact defending, and quick-strike, explosive counter-attacking.

In his press conference, Berhalter said, ‘We want to set up to give [Chile] problems and it’s just about the right moments that we are able to play through them and get opportunities and I think that is the key.’ That sounds like a man who understands that his team must now learn how to — and then properly execute what they learn — defend and counter-attack.

Chile will not be the only superior team that the USMNT face under Berhalter. There will be plenty more down the line. As a result, it is important that they are capable of playing in several different ways. And defending and counter-attacking will be a crucial style for the U.S. to have in their arsenal.

For Berhalter, this is the perfect testing friendly. He needs his players to be challenged in a different manner to what they have been. And that is precisely what will happen on Tuesday night. The question now, then, is whether he and his players can successfully adapt.