OT: USA soccer (Reyna vs. Berhalter)
For those who care to know or just want to read the post, apparently some "Days of Our Lives" material is filtering out about USA soccer.
Cliff notes:
Gregg Berhalter is the national team coach. He played rising star Gio Reyna minimally during the recent World Cup due to concerns he held (from my understanding maturity). To add more layers, Berhalter and Claudio Reyna, and their families have a long history. Apparently the Reyna family has brought to light past spousal abuse regarding Berhalter to defend their son now. To provide light on the friendship Claudio (dad) and Berhalter grew up playing soccer together and the alleged incident includes both their wives who were roommates in college.
Curious to hear other fans weigh in.
(p.s.) Also I tried using the chain link to attach the article. So apologies if I didn't do it correctly.
January 5th, 2023 at 12:28 AM ^
We finally have our very own soccer scandal. We've hit the big time. Plus, ruining decades of friendship in a kamikaze attack because of petty grievances about your son's playing time is VERY "American Soccer Parent," so the story is distinctly American as well.
January 5th, 2023 at 12:32 AM ^
Glad you said that Chuck. I didn't want to post my narrative in the post. Feel the same way however! Go Blue!
January 5th, 2023 at 12:33 AM ^
Also, the violent incident itself is riiight on the border of "is it ever okay to find an aspect of domestic violence funny," because Berhalter, as an 18 year old soccer player, deciding to hit his girlfriend and then having to kick her in the legs because he has no idea how to use his arms is... kinda funny.
January 5th, 2023 at 12:37 AM ^
I think everyone comes out of this looking absolutely terrible. The Reynas look terrible but so does Berhalter. Besides the domestic violence issue from decades ago that just came to light, there was just no reason for Berhalter to publicly criticize the 19-year-old in the media. Berhalter didn't mention Reyna's name, but it was obvious who he was talking about, and everyone understood.
The matter should have been handled internally. Reyna acted badly. He didn't get to play much. Hopefully he grows up. It should have ended with people wondering why Reyna didn't get much action, and instead, it's ended in this huge scandal because Reyna's parents got mad at Berhalter taking to the press to admonish their son. Just an absolute disaster for everyone involved.
January 5th, 2023 at 2:00 AM ^
Criticizing the maturity of a young player you coach is one thing…trying to get the coach who you were the best man at his wedding fired from his job by bringing these old charges up is some super garbage behavior. Not a free pass for Berhalter’s conduct…but only bring ing these up now because of your son’s playing time, not because you are trying to help the victim of domestic violence…low class.
January 5th, 2023 at 5:02 AM ^
This isn’t the story I’m reading. Which is…
This all occurred after the WC because Berhalter stupidly publically discussed Reyna’s bad 18 year old behavior thus embarrassing him. His mom was pissed and complained to her friends at US Soccer and mentioned Berhalter had far worse behavior at 18 that he would not want exposed so why would he do that to her son. She claims she didn’t expect an investigation from referencing it. But, it’s probably like a designated reporter where the official from US soccer had no choice. She claims she absolutely did not want an investigation or for Berhalter to be exposed publicly.
Now I hear Berhalter or someone, the press?, is saying blackmail was involved so that would be a complete contradiction to Reyna’s story. The investigation will sort it out.
Blackmail for playing time seems quite far fetched and getting your best friend fired as payback also makes little sense. The Reyna version at least sounds more reasonable.
January 5th, 2023 at 9:03 AM ^
I call BS on your take. Danielle Reyna clearly set out to sabotage Berhalter. There was no reason to bring that to light to his employers at this time without wanting to inflict fatal damage to Berhalter. Otherwise, if it was such a big deal in her mind she should have come forward long ago.
Now that Gio and the Reyna family is being dragged, Gio's mom is claiming she only spoke about the past as an example of how young players have immaturity issues. Give me a break.
Gio is probably getting hammered by teammates and fans over his soccer mom's behavior. Bad luck for everyone involved.
January 5th, 2023 at 12:20 PM ^
Like I said, I don’t really know which is true and an investigation will sort it out. I only attempted to summarize the version not being told here. I also suggested the far less scandalous one is more likely.
You want to fully commit your beliefs to the crazy scandalous version that involves blackmail and crazy toxic personalities. That’s fine.
Of course we all know from internet studies, that the crazy scandalous lies are 6x more likely to be believed and shared than the truth.
January 5th, 2023 at 1:32 PM ^
Now that Gio and the Reyna family is being dragged, Gio's mom is claiming she only spoke about the past as an example of how young players have immaturity issues. Give me a break.
Nailed it.
.
.
.
Now we also know why Gio has emotional maturity issues... the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
January 5th, 2023 at 9:18 AM ^
You're getting the timeline of events wrong. The Reynas threatened to release the info they had DURING the World Cup if Gio didn't play. Their goal was to get him on the field during the World Cup, not after. Now it's double petty because they released the info anyway.
Very stupid thing to do in the first place; especially considering it happened 20 years ago, Berhalter married the woman in question, and they have 4 children and by all accounts are very happy together. Water under the bridge.
January 5th, 2023 at 12:52 PM ^
That could be but the only statements about timelines from anyone involved were from the Reynas. Any other timeline so far appears to be press speculation.
It’s also pretty ridiculous to believe the blackmail for playing time story. That would be at the level of stupidity of Tanya Harding having Kerrigan assaulted. The difference is Tanya is crazy, she couldn’t beat Kerrigan, and was at the end of her career. Gio is only 20, may end up better than Pulisic, doesn’t need any help, and has a bright future. No way the Reynas try to manipulate that. The only exception might be if Berhalter was unfairly targeting Gio for some other reason.
January 5th, 2023 at 10:27 AM ^
Reyna's mom's statement reads like a lawyer wrote it, I can't even for a nanosecond believe that she thought she was just venting to pals and it would never come to light. Come on... it's just a coincidence that the people she was venting to also happened to be overseeing the dude she was mad at? Even if her play actually was "how can he drag my son when he did worse things at that age", that's still horrible to weaponize her friend's 31 year old trauma because she's pissed her son's bad behavior and poor effort was made public.
January 5th, 2023 at 12:44 PM ^
Agree with your last statement, even if it was a mistake, there are no winners here.
January 5th, 2023 at 8:01 AM ^
It might not have even begun there. Check out sebastian berhalter at austin fc. He got let go and the person that has a part of the final say at austin fc is claudio reyna. Was gregg's treatment of gio a response to how his son was treated? I wouldn't discount anything in this story right now.
January 5th, 2023 at 10:01 AM ^
Oh snap! That's some good stuff right there. Unbelievable, but also totally believable.
January 5th, 2023 at 12:46 PM ^
That’s a funny thing to say, since we know that unbelievable scandalous lies are 6x more “believed” than the boring truth.
January 5th, 2023 at 12:24 PM ^
Are you suggesting this goes back further and that Berhalter not playing Gio was payback by Berhalter? Everyone in the world was wondering why Berhalter benched Gio, one of the top 5 players on the team.
Except, the real truth as always is this is another nothing burger. Sebastian was on loan to Austin a year ago for PT and then was traded by the Columbus Crew back in Feb 2022.
January 5th, 2023 at 4:10 PM ^
Not to mention you've now revictimised Mrs Berhalter by removing her agency in this situation.
Hell of a thing for her best friend to do.
The Reynas are straight trash.
They've replaced Craig James and Lavar Ball as America's shittiest helicopter sports parents.
January 5th, 2023 at 8:54 AM ^
Love the "distinctly American take", to be fair, parents in all sports play politics for their kids playing time. I think there is a medication one can take for "quarterback dad syndrome."
But, yeah, the whole "suburban travel league soccer mom industrial complex" is basically an expensive anti-competition grift to promote your own child's playing time against lesser athletes via pay to play exclusivity. It would definitely fall under "something a Karen might do" territory.
The sport still needs more diversity in the states and it is really cheap to play.
January 5th, 2023 at 11:04 AM ^
Agree except that the “Karen” meme needs to die. All of the women I know named Karen are normal people.
January 5th, 2023 at 12:50 PM ^
I politely disagree.
We have to have some term to label this specific type of woman. It really is a problem, Karens.
January 5th, 2023 at 12:40 PM ^
Gio is one of the top 5-6 US players. He doesn’t need any help unless he’s being unfairly targeted.
January 5th, 2023 at 4:13 PM ^
Dude was a cancer with his attitude in the lead up to the World Cup according to multiple sources. I don't care how talented he is. Buy in or fuck off.
January 5th, 2023 at 5:26 PM ^
“Cancer”. That is a gross exaggeration.
There are many players across most sports who have “issues” that follow them their entire career. Similarly, a “Cancer” is something that grows over time and even when treated can come back.
Gio, never had a bad reputation before the World Cup. What he did have was a series of recent injuries and a lack of effort in training during pre-cup camp. Further, whether he agreed with his coach’s treatment of him or not, he displayed full attrition. He has never had issues before.
https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/gio-reyna-what-is-the-controversy-around-usmnt-world-cup-star
On the other hand, what this does sound like is an over aggressive coach, under pressure and paranoid about his potential reputation when his team is about to perform on the biggest stage, taking it out on a player who was simply “lacking effort”. As a former amateur athlete and coach I’ve seen a lot of stupid control issue coaching by bad coaches before where they turn to “run a lap” junior level tactics because they really don’t have anything better in their bag. I’ve seen this BS by shitty leaders in other situations as well when they are under pressure. Berhalter, according to all accounts, disciplined Reyna for lacking effort, made him apologize to the team, and benched him for the entire tournament. This isn’t professional leadership. It’s a control issue. Fire him.
January 5th, 2023 at 12:42 AM ^
To bring up something that old after his wife already forgave him and they have been married 25 years since… that is some petty bull. Can’t gain anything for her son, so tearing down his coach. F’ed up, in my opinion.
January 5th, 2023 at 1:56 AM ^
OP forgot to mention Reyna was Berhalter’s best man at the wedding. 😳
January 5th, 2023 at 10:07 AM ^
And the wives in the story were college roommates!
EDIT: Oops, he DID mention that.
January 5th, 2023 at 12:47 AM ^
Well, my respect for Claudio just went into the crapper. There was a time when the Nats’ gameplan against good opponents went something like this:
1) park the bus
2) win the ball
3) find Reyna
4) ????
5) score!
January 5th, 2023 at 1:07 AM ^
The whole thing is so sad.
January 5th, 2023 at 1:26 AM ^
Now we just need a shady tabloid following the USMNT WAGs and we’re tier 1!
January 5th, 2023 at 6:19 AM ^
Feels like a soap opera plotline but does any of it actually matter. Would USMNT really fire him (or do anything really) because of an incident 25 years ago, especially if the two involved are now married?
This is hilarious, but not expecting it to have any real impact. Think the team needed a new coach for the next cycle, and hopefully that happens soon.
January 5th, 2023 at 7:22 AM ^
The really weird thing about this is Berhalter doesn't even have a contract with the USMNT, so it's odd that USMNT is even speaking out on this for someone who doesn't work for them.
This was the Reyna's trying to get ahead of Berhalter getting another contract and wanting to put their son in the best position.
My personal opinion (having nothing to do with what is going on now) is that the USMNT needs to move away from Berhalter anyways and get a coach that has done this before to put their stamp on the team moving into the World Cup coming here in 4 years. Berhalter did great in getting guys that had multiple options on where to play to come here and play, but I just don't think he has the abilities to maximize their talents like another coach could that has more experience.
January 5th, 2023 at 8:12 AM ^
And I posit that the USMNT needs to move away for the Reynas too. Son that does not give his best effort and sulks. Family that is vengeful. Would you want that in your program?
January 5th, 2023 at 8:15 AM ^
I don't know if the US team can move away from Reyna though... and this seems like a pretty isolated incident too. I understand what Berhalter was trying to do to create a team, but for international squads you have to play your best players. There just isn't enough time to build a real team like there are at the club levels.
January 5th, 2023 at 11:14 AM ^
Yeah it'd be ridiculous to throw Gio under the bus for this. I don't follow soccer that much, but I haven't seen anything to indicate this was his doing. He's 18 and was very understandably pissed about not playing much in the freaking World Cup. It seems he wasn't practicing well and all that, not like he was fighting people or sabotaging the team. Regardless of how he may benefit US soccer, there's no reason to punish Gio for this.
January 5th, 2023 at 11:55 AM ^
It's true that Gio shouldn't be punished for his family's actions, and he has already been punished for his own actions (although I'm guessing that being held accountable is new to him).
Someone should put a muzzle on his family though if he plans to stay on as a representative of the national team. What the Reynas are doing is super low, but they did it anyway which means this is just who they are. You can't win games with only one player, and the Reynas willingness to interfere at this level is likely to cause major problems within the team even if they think they are just fighting for their kid.
January 5th, 2023 at 1:36 PM ^
Berhalter was trying to do to create a team, but for international squads you have to play your best players.
Portugal, among others, would like a word with you.
January 5th, 2023 at 10:34 AM ^
The issue is Reyna might have the highest potential of anyone on the squad… I don’t think it’s possible to move on from him. We don’t have the squad depth to do that the way France can get away with dropping Benzema from their squad for multiple tournaments. I also wouldn’t want to punish the kid for his parents’ insanity.
January 5th, 2023 at 7:37 AM ^
Some weak ass soap opera writing. Usually dead people returning from the grave to reveal they faked their death to prove their brother was actually their father who killed their brother and took his place in order to inherit the family fortune again.
not to make light of the events here, but just saying it would make for a boring episode of “ma stories”
January 5th, 2023 at 7:41 AM ^
Not a great situation, but the one positive is that I don't think Berhalter is brought back now (not because of the domestic violence but because the situation between him and the Reynas will definitely affect the locker room).
Triple G should not have brought up the Gio situation at the summit. Claudio looks like a POS for bringing up a private situation that has not been repeated (while also taking part in a coverup of David Villa's sexual harassment while at NYCFC).
January 5th, 2023 at 8:44 AM ^
Yup, it was time to move on from Berhalter seperate from this or anything else with the Reynas. I guess if anything this makes it easier to do it.
January 5th, 2023 at 10:06 AM ^
Whether you like Gregg or not, this is NOT okay. There's no "silver-lining" here.
January 5th, 2023 at 8:54 AM ^
This is pretty bananas.
I think this is bad for Gio’s USMNT prospects going forward, because if a prominent US soccer figure can knife one USMNT coach for not what they perceive to be unfairness, they can knife anyone. Who is going to want to deal with that, unless Gio becomes so brilliant that he’s undroppable?
I don’t know if Berhalter should stay, but this honestly makes it more likely that he does. If there’s any perception that something like this could topple him, it makes the next coaching candidate much less likely to want the job.
Reports that Danielle shared the info in retribution for Gregg’s comments on Gio’s Cup experience also explain that Claudio was messaging multiple people complaining about Gio’s experience while the Cup was still happening, before the comments. There are allegations, which Claudio denied, that Claudio threatened to bring up dirt on Gregg, before the comments.
The Reynas look really awful here. Gregg’s comments are a bad look and his initial abuse is not good, but the Reynas come off much worse to me.
And yes, this is an extremely American soccer sort of controversy. There’s a part of me that’s saddened by all this, and a part of me that thinks this is very funny.
January 5th, 2023 at 10:05 AM ^
Very interesting point -- while I don't agree this makes it more likely Gregg stays (there were rumors he didn't even want to re-sign a new contract anyway, and I can't imagine this will help), I'd not thought about the point you made about 'who the hell would want this job, now?'.
I still don't think he stays; I guess all the next mgr would have to do is keep Reyna away for a while and when it's time to bring him back, ban his parents from any and all games/practices/activities, etc.
I'm still absolutely floored that they couldn't just teach their son "this happens sometimes in pro sports; you're 19, you have to earn your spot", as the "adult" Reynas are literally both former high-level footballers, themselves. But nope, just like every other sport in this country, the parents are the worst part about coaching (I speak from experience!).
January 5th, 2023 at 9:03 AM ^
So Berhalter is currently without a contract. Is he done? If they keep him, does this mean Gio gets blackballed from the USMNT? I can't imagine Gregg would ever want to deal with his shenanigans again.
US Soccer is always such a shit show off the field and uninspiring on the pitch.
January 5th, 2023 at 9:27 AM ^
This is fascinating. I'll definitely start watching soccer now. Can someone recommend a home club? My favorite color is blue.
January 5th, 2023 at 9:59 AM ^
Just don't choose Everton!
January 5th, 2023 at 9:28 AM ^
I think you gotta keep Gio Reyna out of the national team for a while. Imagine how toxic he and his environment will get if they succeed changing out the coach because Gio doesn't get PT. The entitlement will increase even further.
Let's face it, Gio Reyna is a good player, but he isn't that good a player. Having any sort of functional team spirit would beat having Gio Reyna there if everyone feels they need to treat him with kid gloves or else his parents will be on the phone with the federation leadership. (Echoes of the Adam James/Mike Leach situation here).
Much better players in the past have been banished from their national teams because of off-the-field conflicts/issues.
January 5th, 2023 at 12:39 PM ^
Ironic that the family's attempt to increase Gio's playing time is likely to have the opposite result.