Premier League icon to miss out as Gregg Berhalter to return as USMNT head coach

16 June 2023 , 07:09

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Former Arsenal and Manchester City player Patrick Vieira could be a candidate for the permanent USMNT manager job after he was sacked by Crystal Palace. (Image: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira was one of the names in the mix for the vacant United States National Team head coach role, but is set to miss out.

Vieira had been out of work since being sacked by Crystal Palace in March after a torrid run of just one win from 12 outings. The 1998 world champion was said to be looking to bounce back from this disappointing end to his spell with the South London club by taking over the reigns from interim US coach B.J. Callaghan.

With the World Cup taking place stateside in 2026 in a landmark tournament which will stretch across three different countries, the opportunity to lead the nation into the showpiece competition was attractive to the former midfielder, according to ESPN. However, it has now been reported elsewhere that Gregg Berhalter will instead return to the job.

Details are reportedly still being finalised, but an agreement is set to be reached imminently for Berhalter to return just months after he initially left.

Berhalter left his job as coach of the national team following the end of the World Cup in Qatar in 2022 and has been in limbo since then due to an independent investigation into allegations of domestic violence against him involving his now-wife from 1992.

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He did confirm to investigators that the incident had taken place, and the USSF has since stated that he remains a candidate to re-assume the post at the USMNT, as per a previous report by ESPN.

The former Columbus Crew coach had also been linked with the opening at Sparta Rotterdam after Maurice Steijn left to become coach of Ajax. Berhalter previously turned out for the club between 1996 and 1998, while also playing for PEC Zwolle and SC Cambuur in the Netherlands.

Patrick Vieira had a glittering playing career with Arsenal, leading them to a famous unbeaten season in 2003/04 as club captain. (Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

While caretaker coach Callaghan will take charge of the team over the course of the summer for matches in the CONCACAF Nations League between June 15-18 and the subsequent Gold Cup. However, with Matt Crocker having been installed as sporting director of USSF in April, it is expected that a permanent manager will be in place in August.

The delay in appointing a new coach on a full-time basis has drawn criticism from some leading figures in the sport stateside, though. Former US international turned CBS broadcaster Clint Dempsey has expressed his frustrations at the time it is taking for a permanent coach to be appointed.

He said: "I think that they need to hurry up and make that decision because we're running out of time. I think we took too long in terms of appointing our sporting director and we're taking a little bit too long in terms of appointing our manager, because time is of the essence."

Tom Beattie