USMNT: Gregg Berhalter must heed Gary Neville warning

Gary Neville abandoned his philosophy and flamed out as Valencia head coach. USMNT Gregg Berhalter should heed the warning to replicate the same process.

Gregg Berhalter has been keen to implement the ‘system’ as U.S. Men’s National Team head coach. He has a specific approach that involves very detailed individual roles. He has attempted to install this scheme with the national team. It has endured varying success.

While there are those that believe in laying down the foundations, which involves instilling basic values, philosophies and tactical tenets, it is more difficult to do this at the international level than it is as a club manager. Thanks to simple time constraints, Berhalter works with his players less frequently than he did when he was the Colombus Crew head coach, for instance. It is difficult to install a detailed system in such circumstances.

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And this weekend, Berhalter conceded that he may have to amend his system as World Cup qualification looms. Speaking to Alexi Lalas and Fox Soccer, Berhalter said:

"“To me, what’s pivoted in my mind, is that it’s more about qualifying for the World Cup and doing well at the World Cup. That’s what’s most important. So, will there be alterations to this philosophy to get results in games? 100 percent, absolutely, because that’s what we need to do, and we understand that. But along the way, we keep chipping away, we keep teaching our principles and we will be able to play our game in most of the games we’re in.”"

Berhalter says that he wants to both continue installing the system while making amendments to it to win the next match. This is a difficult tightrope to walk, and it can lead to confusion, to endless switching of shapes, to players not understanding clearly what he wants them to execute on the pitch.

This was the experience of Gary Neville in his frightful four-month spell as Valencia head coach in 2016. “The moment I knew I was gone was Real Betis away,” Neville told Sky Sports’ podcast, Off Script. “When you start changing formations to the extent I did, you are in trouble. We started off at 4-3-3, changed to 5-3-2 – a system I don’t even like – then to 4-4-2 with a narrow midfield four.”

He later explained how his tactical tinkering reversed his initial eagerness to install a system and confused the players. “During the game, I put two big men up front and went direct to beat the press,” he continued. “I told the players to play in an old-fashioned style. Get into them. Be aggressive. When you do that, you know you’ve run out of ideas.

“I knew after we lost that game that I had to be sacked. I had zig-zagged around like I was on the Waltzers, changing systems and trying different things. Players need a consistent message and to believe in the process. I didn’t give them that.”

The point is this: it is difficult to install a system that the team is defined by and to build an adaptable squad that is designed to win nothing more than just the very next game. And that is what Berhalter is seemingly set to attempt.

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He should heed Neville’s warning and either commit to his system fully or abandon it entirely and work on a more results-based, game-to-game basis. Falling between the two will only incur confusion. And in that case, he will not be around much longer.

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