Gregg Berhalter Contract: Why Isn’t His Salary Public?

Gregg Berhalter has been in charge of the United States men’s national team in soccer since Dec. 2018. He came to an agreement with the U.S. Soccer Federation for a contract that lasts until the 2022 World Cup.

His charge has been to reform the foundation that saw the program make seven straight World Cups from 1990 through 2014. A 2-1 loss to lowly Trinidad and Tobago ousted the team from contention for the 2018 tournament, which saw former coach Bruce Arena resign shortly after.

Berhalter and company are aiming for revenge tonight in Cleveland in the second match of the Group Stage of the Gold Cup (8 p.m. EST, FS1). With a 4-2-1 record so far in his tenure, it begs the question: Is U.S. Soccer getting a bang for its buck?

The problem is his salary is not public at this time. Let’s look at why that’s the case, as well as a mini-preview for tonight’s Gold Cup tilt.

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Why Has Gregg Berhalter’s Salary Not Been Made Public?

The U.S. Soccer Federation is a privately-owned and operated organization, meaning that it is not required to release information such as salaries, contracts, compensation, etc. However, tax records are fair game, which U.S. Soccer releases at the end of the fiscal year.

According to The Equalizer, women’s national team head coach Jill Ellis, who won the World Cup in 2015, made far less than both Jurgen Klinsmann and Bruce Arena. Both no longer manage the men’s team after failing to even qualify for the 2018 World Cup.

Ellis was paid $291,029, per records, though the Washington Post’s Steven Goff reports that Ellis signed a new contract last year — one which the federation did not publicize — which gave Ellis a “substantial increase” to her salary. The exact number won’t be known until the next round of tax records come out next year.

Meanwhile, Klinsmann was paid $3.354 million for the last year of his contract, while Arena had a base salary of $899,348 and received another $300,000 after resigning in October 2017.

While Gregg Berhalter’s salary isn’t known at this point, his brother Jay’s is. The latter acted as the COO for the 2018 fiscal year, earning $581,758, plus over $27 thousand more from related organizations. Jay’s official title, according to CEO Dan Flynn, is as “chief commercial and strategy officer.”

While Berhalter hasn’t commented on the pay gap between the men’s and women’s teams, which came to a mediation Saturday, he has been public with his praise of Ellis and company during their 2019 World Cup run.

I think it’s a very dynamic attack,” he told Stars and Stripes. “I like how intent they are at getting forward, playing forward, a lot of forward momentum in their game.”

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USA vs. Trinidad & Tobago Chances & Predictions

It’s been 620 days since the embarassment against Trinidad and Tobago. A bad 2-game losing streak was washed away with a 4-0 rout over lowly Guyana in the Group Stage opener.

Now, the Americans are ranked No. 30 in the FIFA World Rankings, while T&T sneaks into the top-100 at No. 92.

While the offense finally broke through in the final 45 minutes versus Guyana in the opener, Stars and Stripes expressed doubt about the defense with the absence of Tyler Adams.

Sure, the USMNT kept a clean sheet. Sure, Steffen only had to make one save. But that US defense looked awfully soft. Guyana’s attackers weren’t exactly world beaters — we are talking a slew of USL and other lower division level players — but they certainly made the US defense uncomfortable. The team gave them a lot of space in midfield, to run into and some tricky dribbling made the backline very nervous, even though there was a lack of end-product.

That requires a better replacement effort from Matt Miazga and company. On the bright side, the Soca Warriors may be a perfect team to work through defensive issues. They haven’t scored a goal in six straight games (five losses and a draw).

However, their defense has been stiff during that stretch, ceding just seven goals in those contests and never losing by more than two. This might be the time for Gregg Berhalter to see how healthy Jozy Altidore is after months of recovery from an undisclosed injury.

First prediction: Altidore finds his form with a second-half shift and a goal, while Tyler Boyd notches another for his third of the tournament. The pick here is 2-0.

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