ORLANDO, Fla. – US national team coach Gregg Berhalter’s beard is a little more gray these days.
“That’s the stress of getting it all in in a short period of time,” Berhalter joked during his press conference on Wednesday.
For years, Berhalter cycled through weekly preparations for a full season of games with Columbus Crew SC. Now, as he attempts to instill a completely new tactical philosophy for the USMNT, he must do so without daily training sessions and instead rely on video calls, film study and the occasional training camp.
The US host Ecuador Thursday night at Orlando City Stadium (8 pm ET | ESPN2, UniMás, UDN) before taking on Chile at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston on Tuesday.
“It’s just expectations,” he said. “We know it’s not going to be perfect, but it’s important to start. We spent some time between camp talking to players, showing them video. But it’s [another] thing then to do it on the field.”
Somewhat complicating matters is the fact that only 13 of the 24 players currently in camp were at the month-long January camp in California, Berhalter’s first on the job.
That young US squad pulled out 3-0 and 2-0 victories over Panamaand Costa Rica, respectively, but Ecuador and Chile promise much tougher tests.
“The starting point is every guy coming in with the right mentality, with an open mind to listen, to take in all the information, to be ready to give everything of themselves to make the group better,” elder statesman Michael Bradley said. “In a short amount of time it’s easy to see we have all that. When those are your starting points, it allows you to get right to work.”
Berhalter has kept in contact with his players since they returned to their clubs at the beginning of last month. He watches their club games and talks with them about their performances and what their coaches expect of them.
In this early phase of his tenure, it’s all about evaluation.
“It’s observing. It’s watching them in real game-like situations that we produce in training, and then recapping and talking about it again,” he said. “Again, it’s a short period of time. What we tried to do on the first day was an active re-gen when we’re on the field going through some of our movements without opponents. And I can tell that the players didn’t have the context to the movements that we’re asking them because they’ve never done it against an opponent, so that was an interesting learning experience for us.”
And as Berhalter, now in his eighth year as a head coach, continues to learn, he is reminded of why he left the routine of club soccer for the international game and a gray beard.
“It’s a challenge that we’re looking forward to, because it’s a great reward when we have a team that everyone can be proud of. Then it’s all worth it.”
