Gregg Berhalter fires the right move for the USA
The firing of men’s national team coach Gregg Berhalter by the U.S. Soccer Association on Wednesday is the right step, according to Taylor Twellman.
Berhalter was fired a week after the U.S. men’s national team was eliminated from the 2024 Copa América with just three points in the group stage.
Berhalter coached the U.S. men’s team for five years in two separate terms, but Twellman said a change was necessary.
Twellman, a television soccer commentator for the MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, is taking part in the American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament at Edgewood Tahoe for the first time this week.
He said there needs to be accountability in the U.S. men’s soccer program.
“You have to make it clear to your fans, sponsors and players that the most important summer in the history of American men’s soccer is less than two years away, and you have to take that seriously,” Twellman said. “Gregg Berhalter has done a great job of reviving the program, but his statement was as sophisticated and honest as it could be. He has to take 100 percent responsibility for the results of the Copa América. He raised his hand, and now we’re moving on.”
The United States will host the World Cup in 2026, increasing the pressure on the next U.S. coach. Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp reportedly turned down the opportunity to coach the U.S. team on Thursday.
Twellman said the U.S. organization needs to make a splash when hiring its next employee.
“I’ve said it before and I’ll continue to say that the U.S. men have to be really bold and ambitious over the next 18 to 20 months because the 2026 World Cup is right here in their own backyard,” Twellman said.
Twellman, 44, was a professional soccer player from 1999 to 2010. He is best known for his time with the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer from 2002 to 2009, during which he scored more MLS goals than any other player.
In 2009, at age 29, he became the youngest player to score 100 goals in MLS and is New England’s all-time leading goalscorer.
Twellman said the U.S. has the players to succeed in international soccer, but has not shown that talent in recent games.
“We have players who play for AC Milan, Borussia Dortmund and Juventus in the English Premier League. That’s something my generation never got to experience. That has 100 percent changed,” he said. “What hasn’t really changed is the ability to compete against the bigger nations, the better teams, and I think that’s ultimately what it’s all about.”
“This group of players may undoubtedly be more talented, but I’m not sure they’re better overall than anything we’ve seen before because under Gregg Berhalter, with the exception of Mexico, they haven’t beaten a top-20 team. The other generations have done that.”
Twellman said the U.S. needs a new perspective to lead the team in the coming years.
“My perspective is all about how to get the most out of the group. And I think it has to be an external mindset, an external viewpoint and an external ideal,” Twellman said. “When the United States men go into a World Cup in your backyard with this, quote-unquote, golden generation of players, I think you need a bold, brash personality, someone who can come into the room and tell everyone they need to start with a blank sheet of paper and figure out who they want to be at this World Cup.
“You need a personality that can walk into the room and earn the respect of the players but also keep the players on their toes to get them back on track, get the ship back on course and get them in the right place because right now the program is not in the right mood to host a World Cup on their own country.”
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