Gregg Berhalter Says Confidence Took a Hit After USMNT Firing

Gregg Berhalter looks to rebound in his second stint in MLS.

Gregg Berhalter was dismissed as USMNT boss back in July / Melissa Tamez-Imagn Images

New Chicago Fire head coach and director of football Gregg Berhalter revealed he went through a "really difficult moment" after being fired as USMNT boss back in July.

Berhalter was fired as USMNT head coach following the Stars and Stripes' poor performance at the 2024 Copa América tournament on home soil. The USMNT were unable to get past the group stage that featured opponents like Uruguay, Panama and Bolivia as Berhalter was dismissed in his second stint in charge.

"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 in his introductory press conference. "And you wake up the next day and you feel really bad. Your confidence takes a hit and it's a really difficult moment."

The former Columbus Crew head coach explained that he was able to rely on his family after his firing that gave him the confidence and opportunity to bounce back in familiar surroundings in MLS.

"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 and feel bad. We didn't perform well in Copa América and when you don't perform well at a high level there's consequences, and I take full responsibility for that. But it still hurts," he said.

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The Fire are coming off a dismal 2024 MLS season in which the team missed the postseason for the seventh consecutive season. However, the team has a few solid players it can build around with Hugo Cuypers, Brian Gutiérrez and Kellyn Acosta—who played under Berhalter primarily during his first stint with the USMNT.

"...And then from there you become motivated, alright? Now I want the next opportunity," Berhalter said. "You get hungry again. And during that period when I got hungry, there's a number of opportunities that I was looking at and I kept coming back to Chicago and the potential and the alignment."

Given that MLS uses a salary cap system for its roster building rules to help promote parity in the league, don't be surprised if the Fire rebound in 2025 to clinch a Wild Card spot in Berhalter's first season in charge.

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