Carli Lloyd accused Gregg Berhalter of being too soft on his players after the U.S. national team was eliminated from the Copa America at the first hurdle.
The United States failed to advance to the knockout stages of the tournament on home soil after losing 1-0 to Uruguay in Kansas City on Monday.
The result has increased the pressure on Berhalter, with his future as national team coach now in doubt.
Berhalter later admitted that the decision about his job is out of his hands, but he is convinced he remains the right man to lead the U.S. national team to a home World Cup in 2026.
Lloyd tasted World Cup glory twice during her 316-game career with the U.S. women’s national team (in 2015 and 2019) and has accused Berhalter of allowing her players to get too comfortable.
Carli Lloyd has questioned whether Gregg Berhalter is being too soft on his USMNT players
“My concern is how comfortable these players feel with him,” the world champion said.
“My concern is how comfortable these players are with Berhalter. We win championships and we hate our coaches,” she said. FOX Sports.
“I’m not saying you have to hate your coach, but I wonder how comfortable the locker room is. Are they putting pressure on them? Are they holding them accountable? It doesn’t seem that way from the outside.”
Berhalter was re-signed just a year ago after previously leading the United States to the knockout stages of the 2022 World Cup.
With less than two years to go until the big football event in the United States, the coach admitted that he was “totally disappointed” with the results of this dress rehearsal.
“We know we are capable of more. And this time we didn’t show it. It’s that simple,” he said.
“If you look at the scenario that was created with the fans at this tournament, with such a high level of competition at this tournament, we should have done better.”
Christian Pulisic failed to inspire the United States to the victory it needed to reach the knockout stage