Former USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter critical of Christian Pulisic World Cup gameplan
Gregg Berhalter spent many years as the head coach of the United States Men’s National Team. Team USA went 44-17-13 during his time in charge and he coached them to a win over Iran in the group stage in 2022. He was relieved of his duties in 2024 but is back this year to support his son Sebastian Berhalter, who was a late sub in the US’s win over Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday.
Thursday morning on FanDuel’s “Coaches Corner” Berhalter was critical of the way Team USA was getting Christian Pulisic involved. Coaches’ Corner is a show hosted by Rob Stone that features Berhalter alongside fellow former USMNT coaches Bruce Arena and Bob Bradley.
Here’s the clip:
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“I would have liked to see that more from him,” said Berhalter. “Stay wide. Get the ball. Take the opponent on. And have players running from there. I don’t think we did that enough. I don’t think there was enough intention to get Christian the ball in those positions to really set him loose.”
Berhalter liked the way Pulisic’s first touch went but thought Team USA went away from that too much during the rest of the game. The good news is that they still won 2-0 and advanced to the Round of 16.
Coach Mauricio Pochettino may need to consider Berhalter’s idea here with Folarin Balogun set to miss the game against Belgium because of a red card. If he doesn’t he runs the risk of becoming the new co-host of “Coaches’ Corner.”
