Alexi Lalas reacts to John Hackworth’s comments on the USMNT dynamic between parents and Lalas explains why he is angered that Gregg Berhalter likely won’t be able to manage the United States in preparation for the 2026 FIFA World Cup
#StateOfTheUnion #USMNT #GreggBerhalter
Subscribe to get the latest from Alexi Lalas’ State of the Union: http://sprtspod.fox/SUBSCRIBEtoSOTU
Listen to Alexi Lalas’ State of the Union on Apple Podcasts: http://sprtspod.fox/sotu
Follow SOTU on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SOTUWithAlexi
Follow SOTU on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sotuwithalexi/
Follow SOTU on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sotuwithalexi
Like SOTU on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SOTUWithAlexi
► FOX Soccer’s YouTube channel: https://foxs.pt/SubscribeFOXSOCCER
► Club Shay Shay’s YouTube channel: http://sprtspod.fox/SubscribeCLUBSHAYSHAY
► First Things First’s YouTube channel: http://foxs.pt/SubscribeFIRSTTHINGSFIRST
► UNDISPUTED’s YouTube channel: http://foxs.pt/SubscribeUNDISPUTED
► The Herd with Colin Cowherd’s YouTube channel: http://foxs.pt/SubscribeTHEHERD
► SPEAK’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/SpeakOnFS1
► FOX Bet Live’s YouTube Channel: https://foxs.pt/SubscribeFOXBETLIVE
► Titus & Tate’s YouTube channel: http://foxs.pt/SubscribeTITUSANDTATE
► What’s Wright? with Nick Wright YouTube Channel: http://sprtspod.fox/whatswright/youtube
► The Skip Bayless Show YouTube Channel: http://sprtspod.fox/SUBSCRIBESkipShow
▶ The Carton Show’s YouTube Channel: http://sprtspod.fox/SubscribeCartonShow
About Alexi Lalas’ State of the Union Podcast:
U.S. Soccer legend Alexi Lalas discusses the biggest stories in the world of soccer from an American perspective. Join Alexi and soccer guru David Mosse, as they break down the USMNT, USWNT, MLS, Bundesliga, Premier League, World Cup & everything in between.
Alexi Lalas GOES OFF on Gregg Berhalter’s situation with USMNT | SOTU
Alexi Lalas’ State of the Union Podcast
https://www.youtube.com/c/StateOfTheUnion
35 Comments
Do you agree with Alexi?
Berhalter is a mediocre coach
The majority of the soccer community agreed before this whole situation that Gregg should be let go because he was a sub par coach. He is the epitome of medicracy.
Plus, the coach has 1 main goal. Get the team to play better than the sum of its parts. Gregg failed at this during his entire tenure so he shouldn't even be in consideration
Alexi, as long as you have "pay to play", Parents will demand that service be performed for that payment.That means that little Egbert will start regardless of his ability. If Egbert does not start, the parent in question will feel ripped off. It is not about the child, but about the parent.
Naming Berhalter is wrong for the USMNT. Berhalter, in his treatment of Gio, was just as personal and just as petty, as the Reynas response. He made a decision to deny Gio playing time because of a personal issue between the two families. He used his position as USMNT coach to settle a personal score. Both Berhalter and the Reynas were wrong and the USMNT suffered because of it. Berhalter is not a victim in this he was just as much a bad actor as the Reynas.
I find Greg’s favoritism towards lesser talented players and not selecting our best far more egregious than anything off the field… I feel if he is coach, half this cycle will be wrapped in politics and ultimately lessen our potential for 2026… I could care less about what he did in his personal life yesterday, let alone 30 yrs ago!
I empathize with your position Alexi. This thing is such a muddled mess. I think making Berhalter coach now perpetuates the root cause of the issue and adds another layer of confusion that we don't need.
In my mind the root cause is the personal conflicts of interest the USSF leadership have. It's the same reason psychologists don't counsel friends and family and it's a bad idea to have family working for you. The demands of the personal relationship and the professional relationships conflict. You cannot do both well. You have to choose one and let the other one suffer
Greg referred to Gio as family before the World Cup and by all accounts he was like an Uncle to Gio. There are similar relationships between the Reyna's and Brian McBride and Ernie Stewart. I am not surprised that Gio acted less professionally playing for his "Uncle" than he does playing for a professional coach at Dortmund. I am not surprised that the Reyna's openly confided in their friends more than they would have with professionals they didn't know. It's extremely unlikely they would have had the coach's or the USSF's leadership's cell phone number to call or text them if they hadn't been friends before.
These types of problems will continue as long as a group friends and relatives run USSF. To fix these problems we need to eliminate these conflicts of interests and make sure the relationships with coaches and leadership are clearly professional.
That's the real solution. Keeping Berhalter and some the USSF leadership who have conflicts of interest just sets us up for season two of this soap opera.
A
I'm not saying Gregg should never get a job again. He should not be coaching the US men's team
No, Greg can F-off to his next gig.
A national team coach should not publicly throw a player under the bus by making statements to a group of people about a settled incident within the team. The incident was settled within the team well before Berhalter made his statement which ultimately started this entire situation and infuriated the Reyna's. The question has to be asked, "What motivated Berhalter to make a statement to a separate group of soccer people and journalist? Why publicly bring out the "Dirty Laundry" if the issue was already settled amongst the team? For me this action demonstrates lack of foresight and weak leadership. I will call out Alexi Lalas and remind him of his public statement of One Cycle coach and the true merits of why this is important.
The back scratching in US soccer has to stop. Alexi nearly made me sick here trying to argue that we rehire Greg because he has been victimized in some way? No. He decided to play a stupid game and he won a stupid prize. Also, he thinks that his system, and his system alone works for any group of players. That’s why this group of ultra talented players will continue to under perform. They aren’t being asked to do the things that they excel at. None of y’all want to bring any of these issues up though.
This is why the real US soccer fans watch channels like tactical manager TV because they have an unbiased opinion of what’s going on and don’t have to worry about hurting friends or former teammates feelings… Or your own brother’s feelings? Oh😮 Yes, I am referring to how Greg got the job in the first place. His stupid brother hired him. Why won’t any of you guys talk about that?
Please grow a pair, Alexi. Avoiding these issues only hurts the growth of soccer in the US.
The Reyna’s made this horrible behavior super public.
I don't understand all this wailing and gnashing of teeth from 95% of comments in here. The US is made of a squad of mediocre players. If Berhalter says he's shooting to get the team to the quarter finals that's extremely optimistic. Do we actually think the USMNT can field a better squad than any the following teams?
1. France
2. Brasil
3. Argentina
4. Germany
5. Spain
6. Holland
7. Italy
8. Portugal
9. Croatia
10. Belgium
To beat the 2nd tier of any of the above teams, on any given day, we'll need luck on our side. There is no manager on the planet that will come in with a magic wand and transform a group of mediocre talent into legitimate contenders for the final 4 spots in 2026. I don't care how good y'all think Gio Reyna is, he is not in same class as a Luka Modric. He is not the second coming of Pele, Maradona, Messi or even Mbappe.
So puh-leeze kill all that noise.
Berhalter made me and the players on the 2022 team believe we could actually beat Holland. When the final whistle blew, although I was hopeful, I was not surprised with the outcome.
The cream typically rises to the top , and It did once again.
I've been saying this for a long time; Berhalter is the Bill O'Brien of soccer.
Danielle Reyna isn't the heroine we wanted. But she did the job.
I can't comment on the pros and cons of Gio's ability to contribute to the success of the USMNT,. But I've witnessed coaches tell players that they are not in the plans for a first team slot. This experience is from the NY Cosmos and the five different US National teams.
SEIZE The Day. Poor Mosse, sits there like a faithful dog waiting to be taken out for a walk. You need some back and
Forth with Yr guiding light Alexei rather than let the man sit there waiting for his chance to speak Size the chance Mosse. Sorry, SEIZE.
Alexi, Hear, Hear! If the USSF had any integrity, they would keep Gregg in his job at least long enough for him to have a real chance to find another position. But we all know that won't happen, which is a travesty.
The Reyna situation is not the reason to give him the boot, save his speech at a leadership luncheon, that was classless. He is inadequate in his methods and tactics. He is a mediocre club coach that cannot stand up to decent teams at any level. He was a mistake and made no genuine improvements to our program. The latest embarrassing tripe is just distracting from his poor coaching and low level professionalism.
It is ridiculous. Belhelter should shut up and the whole incident will not happen. Why is Belhelter
Not guilty?
Firing B won't make the player's world class. I think coach and team are growing together we went as far as we could've gone with our talent on the team. I was a youth coach for 6 years parents would complain about why I'm putting lower level player's in. I would simply reply because we're growing the team together. My son is now 16 unlike other coaches I played my son all over the field he's one of the best I've cdm's playing in ecnl. In high school his var coach plays him on the left wing my son spoke to him about his preferred position cdm. The coach still plays him as a Lw. No problem he's sharpening his side line understanding plays about 20-30mins if he plays. I think the team suffers but we don't complain we support the team Milliken Rams 100%
Mr Lalas you call berholter good man 😂he kicks ladies come on man
The toxic fanatics are the same as Gio s mommy 👈🙄. They all think they are in charge 😂🤣😂
Alexi is the Danielle Reyna that Berhalter wished he had now
Players are supposed to be emotional, angry, and hungry to play
No one can save a player but the player
no one can save a team but the team
It’s Gio and only Gio
It’s only football
Nobody respects Berhalter opinion because Berhalter controls nobody career
Gio earned his place!
Berhalter got his job from Jay and he is useless to a quarterfinal team… NEXT
Gio has to prove on the field
Berhalter already lost the locker room the moment he abused his position as if it was married to him.
It’s not
USMNT is brave enough to divorce him and date better guys! So get on with it!
Let these retired bums get paid to argue about all time best 11 and we wait until Gio comes back TO FIGHT FOR HIS PLACE
Unless this whole production from the USSF is about disqualifying Claudio from taking Gregg's place, I don't even see why this is important. Gregg had already started making the case for his dismissal well before the WC training camp even began, and has continued that project ever since. The Real Housewives story is just a story. Unless they're fans of the Reynas or Berhalters on a personal level, nobody cares.
Alexi going OFF almost as strongly as GGG did to his wife!
The root problem is USSF nepotism hiring GGG and then not setting proper boundaries with the inner circle. GGG not playing Gio was stupid…not because he’s a Reyna but he’s arguably one of the better players. USMNT desperately needed a playmaker.
Yes things have changed. Sebastian Berhalter not picked up at FC Austin and Dad and Mom not happy. You Alexi are a hypocrite. Let Claudio pass on Sebastian. He’s worth $50K. Gio is worth $5MM.
I got stupider watching this
Berhalter should never have run his mouth about what happened behind closed doors. Period.
Alexi was always looking for a reason to bring Gregg back. Yeah let's shoot ourselves in the foot, just to own all the soccer moms out there. Great idea.
I am angry that this situation might result in GGG staying as coach. When otherwise there was a chance that we would have gotten someone competent
LOL! Alexi is soooo wrong on this. Most likely because he also has benefited from the corruption and Nepotistic system in place at USSF and every soccer league at every age in this country.
That's why we have a league full of foreign players. The spoiled kids whose parents buy their way into competitive youth clubs and college programs are all playing in lowers leagues. USL is full of average, white, middle/upper class soccer players. Our best players and athletes either have to go overseas to get a fair shake or play another sport.
“There’s nothing we can do about this except for parents to learn respect”
Or maybe don’t hire a coach with embedded relationships with players’ parents