• Moderators, please send me a PM if you are unable to access mod permissions. Thanks, Habsy.

2021-22-23 News Thread

Speaking of which ... a weird, weird story about Berhalter broke yesterday. Apparently somebody from outside the program tired to blackmail him during the World Cup by contacting US Soccer with details surrounding a domestic violence incident between Berhalter and his then girlfriend and future/current wife when they were undergrads at UNC ... nearly 30 years ago. It involved alcohol and Berhalter kicking his date/wife in an argument. No arrest was made and according to Berhalter the authorities were never even involved. So I guess the blackmailer tried to smear Berhalter with what amounts to just a story. Which is ... a thing. Obviously I don't condone under-age drinking, a man striking a woman in anger, or being in Chapel Hill bars (the freaking worst), but this is obviously something the Berhalters dealt with and got past a long, long time ago.

This whole thing is nuts, honestly. US Soccer is investigating, and reassures us all that they do actually know that there's a camp coming up. They say they'll "have leadership in place" which sounds a lot like an interim scenario to me.

Here's a link https://www.espn.com/soccer/united-...ls-investigation-into-manager-gregg-berhalter
 
I feel (I do not know) that US soccer wants to keep GGG. but know atm he's too hot to do that with so hoping to buy time for it to cool off.

I will be disappointed if that happens since there are coaches available now and there likely won't be later so we'll be "stuck" with GGG.
But that's what I'll assume will happen anyway.. since competence and USA Mens soccer are foreign entities of each other. Look we still won't be WC Championship contenders but I don't see GGG as a way to improve dramatically and probably by less then our talent will increase by.
 
Honestly, World Cup cycles are really more like 2 year things. If they planned to just continue with Berhalter on a 2 year deal and then re-evaluate before the real work of getting ready for 2026 kicked in, I think that's probably defense-able. I wouldn't like it, but I'd get it. But this? God knows? I'm not sure this story even really puts any heat on them or Berhalter ... mostly people just seem confused by the whole thing.
 
Honestly, World Cup cycles are really more like 2 year things. If they planned to just continue with Berhalter on a 2 year deal and then re-evaluate before the real work of getting ready for 2026 kicked in, I think that's probably defense-able. I wouldn't like it, but I'd get it. But this? God knows? I'm not sure this story even really puts any heat on them or Berhalter ... mostly people just seem confused by the whole thing.
Oh I agree on that.. this story isn't really a thing..at least to me.. I just worry since there is only like 1 or 2 tournaments to get ready for the world cup if we wait 2 years.. I'd rather the team get's more experience together.. in hopefully a new system..
For example Jedi is not a good crosser and from his Corners Neither is Pulisic.. That we keep insisting on doing things these players are not good at seems well stubborn. I'll freely admit I don't know the answer but given the fact at this point they will at most improve at these thing in an incremental manner doesn't inspire me with faith
 
Oh, don't get me wrong. I would prefer a different manager like yesterday. I don't think Berhalter is a good enough tactician to get much else out of this group and I feel like it's wasteful to keep expecting him to learn on the job. Plus, if his relationship with Reyna really is broken, then the guy has to go. Period. But it's a weird year, so if they just want to cycle him out on a short extension while they find somebody else for the Cup buildup proper, then I could see it. Like, if they want to make a run at Jessie Marsch or anybody else with a club job in Europe, then that window doesn't open until summer.
 
The story got weirder ... which frankly is getting to be a stretch. Paul Tenorio at The Athletic is reporting that the source of the complaint to US Soccer about Berhalter was ... Gio Reyna's Mom. Danielle Reyna admits discussing the issue with US GM Earnie Stewart but her framing does NOT include anything I'd call blackmail. She says she loaded her complaints about how Berhalter was treating her son with a backstory about Berhalter also acting like a jerk when he was a similar age. That's her version at least. She was Rosalind Berhalter's friend and roommate at the time. Berhalter is the one who injected the word blackmail into proceedings, but IMO he's being as big a drama queen as anybody else in this little telenovella.

If you're Earnie Stewart and US Soccer, you just can't keep going with this, can you? And if so, how the heck do you present it to the public? Hire an adult and be done with it.
 
Well, they could have Tata Martino or Roberto Martinez right now.

I’ll show myself out.
Not sure Matinez is even a tactical upgrade over Berhalter, but he's an experienced hand. I'd hire Tata in a NY minute, but I think the optics might be bad with him having failed at Mexico so recently. I 100% know that's more on the Federation than it is on Tata, but still ... might be a hard sell.
 
From:

Danielle Reyna's full statement about Berhalter accusations​

“To set the record straight, I did call (U.S. Soccer sporting director) Earnie Stewart on December 11, just after the news broke that Gregg had made negative statements about my son Gio at a leadership conference,” Danielle Reyna said in a statement on Wednesday. “I have known Earnie for years and consider him to be a close friend. I wanted to let him know that I was absolutely outraged and devasted that Gio had been put in such a terrible position, and that I felt very personally betrayed by the actions of someone my family had considered a friend for decades."

"As part of that conversation, I told Earnie that I thought it was especially unfair that Gio, who had apologized for acting immaturely about his playing time, was still being dragged through the mud when Gregg had asked for and received forgiveness for doing something so much worse at the same age. Without going into detail, the statements from yesterday significantly minimize the abuse on the night in question. Rosalind Berhalter was my roommate, teammate and best friend, and I supported her through the trauma that followed. It took a long time for me to forgive and accept Gregg afterward, but I worked hard to give him grace, and ultimately made both of them and their kids a huge part of my family’s life. I would have wanted and expected him to give the same grace to Gio. This is why the current situation is so very hurtful and hard.”

Danielle Reyna’s statement continued: “At the time I called Earnie, many people were trashing Gio on social media due to Gregg’s comments, and I didn’t know when or if this would stop. I just wanted Earnie to help make sure that there would be no further unwarranted attacks on my son. I thought our conversation would remain in confidence, and it didn’t occur to me at the time that anything I said could lead to an investigation. I’m not criticizing Earnie here. I very much commend the recent efforts by U.S. Soccer to address abuse of women players, and I understand now he had an obligation to investigate what I shared. But I want to be very clear that I did not ask for Gregg to be fired, I did not make any threats, and I don’t know anything about any blackmail attempts, nor have I ever had any discussions about anyone else on Gregg’s staff—I don’t know any of the other coaches. I did not communicate with anyone in U.S. Soccer about this matter before December 11, and no one else in my family has made any statements to U.S. Soccer regarding Gregg’s past at all.

“I’m sorry that this information became public, and I regret that I played a role in something that could reopen wounds from the past.”

Purge them all :)
 
From:


Purge them all :)
All of that makes Danielle Reyna the worst kind of helicopter parent.

Apparantly, there is no difference between her kid being called out for dogging it in practice and an abuse allegation
 
All of that makes Danielle Reyna the worst kind of helicopter parent.
I mean, it does yes. Does it make her a blackmailer though? And does it make the way Berhalter treated her kid look any better? You can't fire crazy parents, but you CAN get rid of coaches who can't manage their player pools ... which ALWAYS includes a LOT of guys with crazy parents. You think a guy like Tata or Bielsa gets himself into this position? Because ... not a chance.
 
BTW, the more I read about this awful stew, the more I'm struck with how weak the leadership staff at US Soccer was. Earnie Stewart, Cindy Parlow Cone ... whoever. Somebody has to step into this boiling pot of childish behavior and be the adult in the room. Looks like either nobody bothered, or else they did so with zero effect. Either way, not even close to good enough.
 
L’Equipe says that Zinedine Zidane turned down a chance to coach the USMNT. He also turned down Brazil and Portugal (who hired Roberto Martinez) because he wants to coach France in the future. But France just extended Didier Deschamps until the 2026 World Cup.

 
I don't want to cast aspersions on L'Equipe, but I don't think anyone at US Soccer is technically in the position to offer the job to Zidane until that investigation is cleared and they make a formal decision on Berhalter.

And now to cast aspersions, because I was kidding before ... L'Equipe have been known to exaggerate, especially when it comes to the lesser provinces. I'm not saying no one at US Soccer talked to Zidane. I am saying no one offered him a job, and probably not even an interview because ... see stuff above. ESPN framed at as Zidane turning down an offer to discuss the US job. That seems correct. And hey, at least they showed interest in somebody people have heard of. How good an actual manager Zidane is can clearly be open to debate. I don't think he's a charlatan on the Klinsmann level, but he's never been in charge of a a senior team aside from freaking Real Madrid. That's hardly real world training. Heck, it's been since the early 90s since the guy even played on a team that wasn't a collection of all stars.
 
Last edited:
Gareth Bale announced his retirement from club and international soccer. He finished with 553 appearances for 4 clubs and 185 goals. He had 41 goals in 111 National Team appearances, the first of each as a 17 year old.
 
Last edited:
Heck of a career for Bale, despite how it went over the last few years. He'll go down as a legend for both Spurs and Wales and he certainly made an impression on his banker.
 
Back
Top