Rob Davies
Former USA coach Gregg Berhalter is being considered for the soon to be vacant position at Swansea City, Wales Online has learned.
Berhalter, 49, has recently left the role as the national Head coach after leading them into the 2022 World Cup in Qatar where they drew 1-1 with Wales, held England and beat Iran to set up a round of 16 clash against the Netherlands.
That ended with a 3-1 loss but Berhalter and his team earned plaudits for the way they played in getting out of the group stage. Indeed it was against the players’ wishes that the 49 year old would depart.
A row erupted following a complaint from the Gio Reyna family. Something which is probably a bit too convoluted to go into great detail. Read further about it here.
Now many may see this as Bob Bradley mk2 but it would be unwise to dismiss the speculation as either unwanted or not credible. It’s reasonable to think a coach of Berhalter’s standing would interest the owners even disregarding the obvious nationality link.
His record in football shows a 43% win record which is a significant uplift on Russell Martin’s 36% rate over his time at MK Dons and Swansea.
Known for his possession football, Berhalter aligns well with the club’s vision going forward and may allow an opportunity for movements from the American Market. Of which there’s little doubt there’s talent to be tapped into – see Barnsley’s acquisition of Daryl Dike as one example.
See here as Berhalter discusses how he sees Gareth Southgate of England as his ‘mentor.’
Whether this will come to fruition is up for debate but it’s another name to consider when Martin does move to the South Coast. It’s just a case of when, not if even if it seems to progressing at snail’s pace.
Another Yank !!!!! Who could ask for more.
It’s hard to recognise the club .A host of American owners who rsrely appear in person and seem to have no interest in the club other than financial .An American chairman who knows nothing about Swansea or the championship and has never worked in football .And now we might have an American manager.
Berhalter is not Brad Boobly and did well in the World Cup with the USA team so I agree with the Rob Davies article that he should not be dismissed out of hand just because he is a Yank. Who knows, he might even be better at getting our owners to invest as they won’t make any money – which is their overriding objective- unless we get back in the Prem.