USMNT: Why Gregg Berhalter needs to adapt the high press

Gregg Berhalter wants the USMNT to play out from the back and control matches through extended periods of possession. It is an admirable and potentially successful strategy, but to make it successful, he needs to also adopt the high press.

After the U.S. Men’s National Team were waxed by Mexico 3-0 in an international friendly, head coach Gregg Berhalter controversially said that he was more pleased with that match than he was the Gold Cup final months before in which his side only lost 1-0 to the same opponent.

“From my perspective, I’m happier about this game than the Gold Cup final,” Berhalter boldly told reporters after the match. “In the Gold final, I felt our only solution was to play the ball long. Now we’re doing what I’m envisioning.”

Specifically, Berhalter was referring to his insistence on playing out from the back, which he explained in a press conference following the match. “We want to be able to break lines, we want to open up and disorganize the opponent,” he said. “It was a huge emphasis against Mexico in that game to show the guys they can do that, be brave against a high-pressing team and you can succeed.”

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Berhalter is right. His team will have to learn to play out from the back successfully against high-pressing opponents if they are to find success in the modern game. World football has proven over and over that those that can control matches through extended periods of possession will be more successful than those that cannot. And to do that, you must be able to play out from the back so that you can maintain possession in the first place.

As this excellent piece from Bill Connelly in ESPN details, Berhalter has introduced this ball-orientated style with the USMNT. In 2019, the U.S. played nine matches against opponents ranked in the top 50 of FIFA’s world rankings. They outperformed their opponents in possession-based metrics across those matches.

In those nine matches, the U.S. played more passes per 90 minutes than their opponents, played more passes in their own half per 90, played a greater proportion of their passes backwards, maintained a higher pass completion rate, and, most tellingly, had a longer average possession duration and more possession with nine or more passes involved per 90. These all paint a very clear picture: even against good opposition, Berhalter wants to dominate possession and control matches.

It is an admirable — and I would argue correct — strategy to take. But where Berhalter goes wrong in his application on the other side of the ball.

What allows Pep Guardiola teams to control matches is a combination of their excellent playing out from the back, which Berhalter has recognised and is now trying to emulate, and their intense high press, especially following turnovers. Guardiola has a famous six-second rule in which his players hunt the ball intensely for six seconds in a great effort to win it back. Berhalter does not replicate this side of the strategy, and this is where his USMNT falls painfully short.

Berhalter uses a mid to low-block structure. The attackers position themselves in zones away from the passer, clogging up passing lanes instead of putting pressure on the ball, the midfield drops to within ten yards in front of the defence, and the entire team sits outside of the penalty area but spans 30 or so yards from front to back.

In the nine matches against top-50 opponents, the USMNT recovered possession just four times in the final third. This deeper starting defensive position means that when they do recover possession, it tends to be closer to their own goal and in tighter spaces, making it both more difficult to successfully recycle possession and keep the ball and more dangerous if that process fails.

That is a recipe for disaster, and it is where the U.S. have gone horribly wrong. Their giveaways in their own half come from failing to establish territory. They sit too deep, invite opponents onto them, and then lack the quality to play their way out. By implementing a high press and marrying that with a possession-based approach, the U.S. can then control matches both in and out of possession.

Berhalter is not necessarily wrong to want to play out from the back, despite what most fans would have you believe. But his implementation of the approach is not exploiting its efficacy to the best of its ability and is inviting unnecessary pressure onto players who are already being challenged by a difficult tactical way to play. Berhalter needs to adopt the high press. Without it, he might not be the USMNT head coach for much longer.