Copa América

Alexi Lalas on potentially coaching USA soccer: 'I would do it in a second'

Updated Jul. 3, 2024 5:12 p.m. ET

The future of the United States men's national team, specifically coach Gregg Berhalter, is the center of attention after the team failed to escape the group stage of Copa América — with FOX Sports Soccer Analyst Alexi Lalas expressing on multiple occasions how he feels that change is needed.

What if USA soccer wanted to hand Lalas the coaching position?

Lalas gave an honest answer as to what his reaction would be if that hypothetical emerged on Wednesday's edition of "The Herd."

"If the United States soccer federation came to me and asked me to coach this team, I would do it in a second out of a sense of responsibility and, yeah, out of a sense of confidence, maybe even bordering on arrogance in terms of what I feel that we could do with this group … hell yeah, they should be so lucky to have someone like me leading this team," Lalas said.

As a player, Lalas — host of the "State of the Union" podcast — spent two seasons in Serie A with Padova (1994-95, 1995-96) before spending seven seasons in MLS , split between the New England Revolution (1996-97), MetroStars (1998), Kansas City Wizards (1999) and LA Galaxy (2001-03).

Lalas, a primary defender, was also part of two American World Cup rosters (1994 and 1998). He went on to serve as the president/general manager of the San Jose Earthquakes in MLS from 2004-05 and then general manager of the MetroStars/New York Red Bulls from 2005-06 and president of the LA Galaxy from 2006-08. He doesn't have any coaching experience.

Berhalter has been the USMNT coach since 2018, with the team a combined 43-13-15.

The USMNT began its Group C play in Copa América with a 2-0 win over Bolivia. Then, it lost to Panama, 2-1, assisted by Tim Weah picking up a red card in the 18th minute, resulting in America being down a player on the pitch the rest of the game. To cap off the disappointment, it lost to Uruguay in its final game of group play, 1-0, while Panama beat Bolivia, 3-1, ending America's run.

Can the USMNT recover from crashing out of Copa América?

America is the host country for Copa América — which continues with the quarterfinal round on Thursday night as Argentina faces Ecuador (9 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app) — and for the upcoming 2026 FIFA Men's World Cup. The USMNT was eliminated in the Round of 16 in the 2022 World Cup.

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