Former U.S. men’s national team coach Gregg Berhalter said Thursday he had to go through a period of “mourning” after U.S. Soccer fired him and before he was able to move forward to take on his next job.
“It’s a really difficult moment when you get fired as a coach, and I don’t want to liken this to life and death at all, because it’s not, you’re still alive, but it is like mourning a death,” Berhalter said during his introductory press conference with the Chicago Fire. “You wake up the next day and you feel really bad. Your confidence takes a hit, and it’s a really difficult moment. For me, it was really about being with my family in those moments and giving myself the time and the freedom and the space to feel sad.”
Berhalter was introduced as director of football and head coach of the Fire on Thursday afternoon, three months after he was dismissed by U.S. Soccer on July 10 following the USMNT’s failure to advance out of the group stage of Copa America.
“We didn’t perform well in the Copa America, and when you don’t perform well at a high level, there are consequences,” Berhalter said. “I take full responsibility for that, but it still hurts. When you get past that mourning period, you have support around you, now it’s about reflecting.”
Berhalter compiled a 44-17-13 record in 74 matches as USMNT head coach and a 29-9-7 record in official competitions during his tenure, leading the USMNT back to the 2022 World Cup, where they advanced out of the group stage before falling to the Netherlands in the knockout phase.
He became the first former USMNT player to coach the team at the World Cup.
In this summer’s Copa America, the Americans opened with a win over Bolivia but lost to Panama in the second group stage game, playing down a man for much of the game following Tim Weah’s 18th-minute red card. The U.S. then lost to Uruguay in the group finale and was eliminated.
It was the first time the U.S. failed to advance from the group stage of a continental or global tournament on home soil.
Berhalter said after his firing he “got some information out to the players” and “we were able to get a lot of feedback that came back to me and I analyzed that and said, ‘OK, how can I improve? How can I get better for this next opportunity?’”
“My vision is simple: Build one of the top clubs in North America” – Gregg Berhalter #cf97 pic.twitter.com/HuqRJr8DhY
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Berhalter said the feedback motivated him to pursue his next opportunity.
“You get hungry again. And during that period, when I got hungry, there were a number of opportunities that I was looking at,” he said. “I kept coming back to Chicago and the potential and the alignment. It’s not every day that you get to work for a man like Joe Mansueto, who understands what a top level is and how to build something that’s really good and sustainable.”
Berhalter also praised the hiring of his U.S. successor, Mauricio Pochettino, saying the two already had a relationship prior to the Argentine joining U.S. Soccer.
“He’s a great guy,” Berhalter said. “I think he’s a great hire for U.S. Soccer, top coach, coached at the top level, knows what pressure is like, knows how to perform in pressure situations. I think it’s a really good hire.”
Berhalter was asked if he would have a relationship with Pochettino if the Fire had prospects who were in the mix for the national team, like academy products Brian Gutierrez and Chris Brady.
“I can assure you that there will be a relationship,” Berhalter said. “And we will be able to count on each other, both us supplying him players and hopefully getting feedback from him.”
Berhalter will have complete control of the sporting side of the organization and will attempt to turn around a Chicago club that has struggled mightily in the last 15 years, making the playoffs just twice since the end of the 2009 season, but in a market with huge potential.
Berhalter already lives in Chicago, where U.S. Soccer is currently headquartered. That also factored into his decision to take the U.S. job.
“This was a moment in time where I chose for my family, and you don’t always do that,” Berhalter said. “As a player, you’re selfish, you always go to the best opportunity, and you’re moving and you’re moving and you’re moving. Then you get a coaching job, and you’re moving, and you’re moving your family.
“This was a moment where I said, this opportunity is so good, there’s so much potential in this club and my family gets to be stable. They get to be in one place. My daughter gets to graduate from high school, she’s a junior now. And that was a real part of the decision. Europe has always been an ambition of mine, and it’s not binary. Just because I came here, it doesn’t mean there’s never going to be an opportunity in Europe. But, right now, this is the best opportunity for me and my family.”
(Photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
