Several factors played a role in the U.S. men’s national team’s failure at the Copa America, from baffling in-game decisions to the country’s problematic pay-per-play development system.
Few, however, proved as important as head coach Gregg Berhalter, who failed to guide his team to success in the group stage.
Berhalter finds himself in a difficult position, at least in the public eye. With yet another disgraceful performance in international competition, there are pergent opinions on who should be tasked with leading the Stars and Stripes into the 2026 World Cup.
Enter Alexi Lalas. As expected, Fox Sports’ favorite soccer analyst was furious to see the U.S. national team eliminated in the group stages of the Copa America. To ease his anger, Lalas proposed the perfect solution, at least in his opinion: he could take over as the U.S. national team coach.
Appearing on Colin Cowherd’s hit radio show “The pack”, Lalas offered himself as a candidate for the position, ignoring the fact that Berhalter still holds the post.
“I would do it in a second,” he said. “Of course I would. They should be very lucky to have someone like me leading this team.”
Outside of his playing career with the USMNT, Lalas doesn’t have many qualifications to bring to the position.
He has never been a top-level coach. For much of the past two decades, he served as Fox’s lead football analyst, though his commentary tends to be sweeping critiques of players’ passion and character.
Have we ever heard Lalas analyse Gian Piero Gasperini’s use of full-backs to create numerical advantages in the final third of the pitch? And what about the importance of half-space in encouraging attacking plays? We think you already know the answer to that question.
Compared to tactical wizards like Uruguayan coach Marcelo Bielsa or Austrian visionary Ralf Rangnick, Lalas would probably feel outclassed.
That’s not to mention Lalas’ recent venom toward the top brass of the U.S. Soccer Federation, particularly head coach Matt Crocker.
After watching the U.S. national team stagnate with its Gold Cup and CONCACAF Nations League triumphs, Lalas was angered following the Copa America elimination. The 54-year-old was critical of Crocker and his associates after the American head coach claimed the USSF would launch a review of the team’s performance.
“Does Matt Crocker need a refresher?” Lalas said. “What else does he need, a spreadsheet, an Excel sheet or a TED talk or a retreat to figure it out? No, it’s right there. You’ve failed again.”
“Matt Crocker, on his first order of business [after] “Matt Crocker is tied to Gregg Berhalter. He’s not going to find anything in the review process that tells him anything he doesn’t already know. Which we all don’t know. Which we can all see.”
“Matt Crocker is linked to Gregg Berhalter.” @AlexiLalas on the “review process” that the USSF will carry out after a disappointing Copa America ?? image.twitter.com/u6YjXMrfmj
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 3, 2024
This is a way to introduce yourself to your potential employer.
With rumours that the US national team could be looking for a big name to lead their team for the next two years (perhaps former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp), it doesn’t seem likely that we’ll see Lalas in the national team dugout anytime soon. Either way, love him or hate him, he’d make for some highly-watched TV.
