Martin on the way out

[CroJack]

Berhalter has both played and coached in Europe, which included a six year stint in Holland, so he has more than a decent understanding of what makes football here tick. That said, he was sacked from a coaching job from a club in Sweden because although he brought discipline and defensive structure to their football, the offensive aspect was very poor. Given how we play, I enjoyed the reading the first part but recoiled in horror at the last bit. This story might just be more clickbait but I remain open minded about him.

 

[ivoralljack]

Interesting. I like that he's a thinker but, of course, getting his players to execute what he wants is vital. Even more vital is having the players who have the ability to do it. Plain and simple, Martin didn't have the players with the necessary skills to implement his game plan, which is why they made so many mistakes and conceded so many goals. Strangely, Martin's strategy might be successful at Soton because they have players with superior skills to ours and they'll be more able to deliver what he asks of them.

 

[CroJack]

"There is perhaps not too much more to say at this point, he knows, because he has had the players’ undivided attention since 2018. He already has drilled into them his soccer ethos and various motivational mantras, including a near constant urging to “change the way the world sees U.S. Soccer.”

Berhalter took over the program as an evangelist for possession-based soccer, a style of play he employed with considerable success as coach of the Columbus Crew in Major League Soccer. Over time, in acknowledgment of a player group that is young, athletic and still developing its skills, he has shifted stylistically to more of a pressing and relentlessly forward-moving approach."

How Gregg Berhalter Made the U.S. Team His Own

After an embarrassing failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, the U.S. has returned to the event with a new identity instilled by its coach.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Victoria Swan]

Most impressive comment was that he didn't adopt a Geigen press approach because of the heat conditions in MLS summer play. This indicates to me an awareness that, unlike Martin, leads to adaptability - to weather conditions, t the skills of the players he has, to the way the opponent is set up, and so on. He's impressive, especially for an American!

 

[CroJack]

Plain and simple, Martin didn't have the players with the necessary skills to implement his game plan, which is why they made so many mistakes and conceded so many goals.

The football Martin played before the middle of March 2023 was suicidal, and even more skilful players than ours would have had a hard time playing it.

 

[CroJack]

"DeAndre Yedlin, 29, who is the only player on the team with any experience in the tournament after playing in the 2014 World Cup, summarized the effectiveness of Berhalter’s coaching style in two points. The first was an almost exhaustive approach to maximizing performance — employing data, sports science, psychology and various other modern tools — and entrusting the players to accept and digest those reams of information.
“He’s so detailed, and you know how he wants every little thing done,” Yedlin said in an interview months before the World Cup.

The second was his approachability. He is a so-called players’ coach, procuring buy-in from players for his overall project by establishing a level of comfort and trust. “We can make suggestions — maybe there’s too many meetings, maybe we need some time off in the afternoons, maybe we’d like to wear a certain thing — and he’ll have a conversation with us,” Yedlin said. “It’s not, ‘Oh, players, you decide.’ It’s not, ‘Hey, coaches or staff, you decide.’ It’s, ‘Let’s meet in the middle and decide on something that works for all of us.’”

How Gregg Berhalter Made the U.S. Team His Own

After an embarrassing failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, the U.S. has returned to the event with a new identity instilled by its coach.

www.nytimes.com

 

[jackodiamonds]

I still want John Herdman

 

[CroJack]

Most impressive comment was that he didn't adopt a Geigen press approach because of the heat conditions in MLS summer play. This indicates to me an awareness that, unlike Martin, leads to adaptability - to weather conditions, t the skills of the players he has, to the way the opponent is set up, and so on. He's impressive, especially for an American!

Here is an excellent analysis of his ability to adapt:

"Berhalter represented a step towards the kind of possession-focused positional play that Barcelona team made so popular with tiki-taka. But the thing is, tiki-taka died a very violent death in 2013, when Bayern Munich decimated Barcelona 7-0 over both legs of the UEFA Champions League semifinals. The consequences of that game trickled down to the rest of the world, with everyone realizing that you could kill a possession game with dogged defending and heavy pressing. What happened to the USMNT in 2019? They lost to a Canada side dedicated to dogged defending, and they lost to a Mexico side comfortable with heavy pressing.

Which brings us to the next stage, and to the present. In November 2020, Berhalter trotted out a 4-3-3 against Wales, with a midfield of McKennie, Adams, and Yunus Musah. The team wasn’t able to get a goal, but they completely throttled the Welsh attack through a high press. And this showed signs of where the US was going. The team was still a possession- heavy side. But now, they were also a counter-pressing side. When the US lost the ball, they would try and win it back immediately. No more of this mid-block nonsense. No, the team, specifically the midfield, would attempt to win the ball back as soon as possible. Winning those turn overs in turn would create openings to attack. This would catch the opposing team off guard — after all, they were just about to attack — and leave their defense disorganized. The team wasn’t able to quite pull this off against Wales. But we did see goals from this kind of play in the subsequent matches against Panama, El Salvador, and Trinidad and Tobago."

Two Years of Berhalter: Tactical Evolution

We return to our series on Gregg Berhalter with an overview on how the tactics have changed over the last two years. Spoiler: there have been growing pains.

www.starsandstripesfc.com

 

[CroJack]

I still want John Herdman

The question is can we get him?

 

[Victoria Swan]

No way Herdman is leaving Canada. First, he has a touching loyalty to us having coached both the men's and women's teams. Second, he has talked about 'unfinished business' from our performance at the 2022 World Cup and expressed a strong desire to coach Canada in the 2026 World Cup when we are one of the host nations (along with Mexico and U.S.). Finally, who would forego the chance to spend another 4+ years coaching Alphonso Davies!

 

[Yankee_Jack]

Odds have lengthened on Chris Davies - now 2/1 from 2/5 (Next Swansea City Manager Odds | Russell Martin | BettingOdds.com)

CT now at 16/1 from nowhere.
Berthalter now at 6/1

It's getting interesting. CT now in the real betting shows that people in the know are having a punt.

 

[ivoralljack]

Maybe someone has started kicking some sense into those 'decision-makers' at the Liberty. I don't think for one second that CT would be a footballing panacea for us but he is deserving of his chance for the many reasons that we all know about on here. He loves the club; he loves the city; he knows how to play the football we fans crave and he's proved, beyond any doubt, that he knows how to get the best out of our youngsters, which is essential given that our cheapskate, asset-stripping owners will NEVER invest the money to buy in quality.

CT may or may not get us back to the Promised Land of the Premier League but, if the likes of Luton and Coventry, who are duking it out on the telly in the background, can get within one game, then SO CAN WE! We have far superior recent history and an infinitely better infrastructure than either of those two clubs, which makes us a much better prospect to sustain a future at the top level. And I know one thing for sure - if CT fails to get us there it won't be for lack of trying, or lack of love and care for the club. It's all we can ask.

 

[KVetch]

I don’t consider Soton a bigger club than us. They haven’t won anything of note since the ‘70s. And have not won anything more than us … they have the FA Cup, we have the League Cup. We have been to the last 32 of the Europa League. They haven’t.

they once had a top academy, I think ours is as good if not better.

like all relegated clubs, Soton will now be in a phase of financial engineering desperately trying to right size their cost structure to match the 50% collapse in revenue. This will be coupled with players and agents driving an exodus of better players for better things. Martin is not going to walk into a coherent squad of quality, more like a patch work quilt of good enough / cheap enough … but perhaps not quite good enough.

I don't think they're a much bigger club either, it's what all the pundits are saying. The irony is they are a relegated club and Martin is still managing in the Championship. Agree that he is walking onto a club that has to sort their finances out as a result. That's a big role for him, I predict he doesn't last through the January window. If they get off to a slow start he's going to get the axe.

 

[KVetch]

No way Herdman is leaving Canada. First, he has a touching loyalty to us having coached both the men's and women's teams. Second, he has talked about 'unfinished business' from our performance at the 2022 World Cup and expressed a strong desire to coach Canada in the 2026 World Cup when we are one of the host nations (along with Mexico and U.S.). Finally, who would forego the chance to spend another 4+ years coaching Alphonso Davies!

I remember talking about him during the WC as a potential Swans manager.

 

[Yankee_Jack]

And coming from nowhere, shortening his odds as he goes ... it's Rogers at 12/1. (Next Swansea City Manager Odds | Russell Martin | BettingOdds.com)

Would love to see him back in charge. Thoroughbred with something to prove. He's going to be lean, mean and hungry to get back into the Prem.

 

[CroJack]

Martinez, Rodgers and Laudrup won't be managing Swansea again. Forget it.
Monk, on the other hand...

 

[CroJack]

The biggest advantage of appointing Cameron Toshack as manager and Kris O'Leary as his assistant is stability and loyalty. That's what we need right now. Both would love to be in charge of Swansea together.

 

[Yankee_Jack]

What if the deal with Soton falls through?

 

[ivoralljack]

What if the deal with Soton falls through?

Swans will give him a longer contract because they know he's in demand and will get more compo when he leaves.

 

[ivoralljack]

The biggest advantage of appointing Cameron Toshack as manager and Kris O'Leary as his assistant is stability and loyalty. That's what we need right now. Both would love to be in charge of Swansea together.

We all know this on here. The fans know it too. The only people too stupid to see it are the suits at the Liberty.