2024 Summer of Soccer - Euro's, Copa America, Olympics, WCQing (1 Viewer)

[encaitar]

It feels like they are campaigning again for GGG

==================

Jimmy Mack
https://x.com/jcmack03
@jcmack03

Weston McKennie: “The players would run through a brick wall for Gregg [Berhalter].”

We don't need them to run through brick wall. We need them to play better against top opponents. If they can't do that for Gregg(and they've shown no indication that they can) then he's not the guy for the job.

I don't care if they all hate the next coach with the passion of 1000 suns if he gets them to play at or above their level.

 

[encaitar]

oh boy.................any one want to guess the over under of how long this will take?

=====================

USSF statement “Our tournament performance fell short of our expectations. We must do better. We will be conducting a comprehensive review of our performance in Copa America and how best to improve the team and results as we look towards the 2026 World Cup.”

The espn guys - Alle, Keller and Herc - nailed this one. I usually can’t take much from Herc but they were spot on. There will be meetings and power points and ELO and XG for weeks and months and nothing will change. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever heard Parlow Cone speak but it’s time we heard from her. If the common wisdom regarding coaching pay equity is correct she should be on the hot seat for hamstringing the men’s team in what should have obviously been apparent to be an unworkable deal.

Agree with all of this. If we were a soccer nation I can't even imagine the amount of messages on social media that would inundate the USSF. Hell, most big soccer nations would have a crowd outside of their federation headquarters with signs if this was the statement they put out after a terrible display like this.

 

[NewlyRetired]

https://x.com/SoccerInsider
Steven Goff

@SoccerInsider

Christian Pulisic, on ref Kevin Ortega: "I saw things I've never seen before right in front of my eyes that I truly can’t believe. It's not why we lost. We're not out of this tournament because of officiating. … He gives no explanation. He's doing things I just can't accept."

 

[NewlyRetired]

https://x.com/MicheleG3
Michele Giannone

@MicheleG3

Tim Ream with hard self criticism:“This is a fantastic group as everyone knows but sometimes the intensity falls throughout the cracks (…) if we start to think that we are a finish product then guys are going to stagnate and just stay at the level they are at”

 

[need2know]

One thing that I thought was interesting is Berhalter flashed "1-1" to the players to signal to them that Boliva had scored, and of course we gave up a goal right after that. I'm not sure I've seen that kind of thing before. Usually a coach goes out of their way to NOT to let the players know what's going on in the other game with that much time left.

Loser mentality

 

[TennesseeJed]

https://x.com/SoccerInsider
Steven Goff
@SoccerInsider

Christian Pulisic, on ref Kevin Ortega: "I saw things I've never seen before right in front of my eyes that I truly can’t believe. It's not why we lost. We're not out of this tournament because of officiating. … He gives no explanation. He's doing things I just can't accept."

"I'm not saying it was the officiating."


"But, it was the officiating"

 

[QuizGuy66]

ok US Soccer, you are on the clock. Do not take forever to make a coaching change

Yeah they gotta take only 4 months with an interim guy before they rehire Berhalter this time around.

-QG

 

[TennesseeJed]

https://x.com/MicheleG3
Michele Giannone
@MicheleG3

Tim Ream with hard self criticism:“This is a fantastic group as everyone knows but sometimes the intensity falls throughout the cracks (…) if we start to think that we are a finish product then guys are going to stagnate and just stay at the level they are at”

Interesting observation - because one of my over-night thoughts was that it does feel like the squad are stagnating a bit.

And, while I am hopeful that US Soccer goes in a new direction - I am equally concerned that the issues at manager extend further up the organization - and that the leadership, lacks leadership.

 

[TLEF316]

Disappointed but not even remotely surprised that the players are already making excuses for Greg.

If you aren't "willing to run through a wall" after pulling on a national team jersey and taking the field for your country in a major tournament, that's a problem no coach can fix.

Seems pretty obvious to me why some of these guys apparently like Greg so much. For a lot of them, national team duty is a reprieve from the challenging club landscape.

Turner is constantly fighting for even a backup job in England. But he comes to US duty and Greg hands him the #1 jersey, no questions asked.

Weston's Italian club wants him gone. The fans are probably constantly dogging him for his fitness. But here...he's a star.

CP goes without saying. Here Hes captain America..for the last 3 years at Chelsea, hes been fighting for scraps.(I know that Milan obviously helped that)

They don't love greg. How could they? Hes a wet mop who has no idea what he's doing. They just love the cushy situation and guaranteed role . They don't want some arrogant new coach coming in and making then earn their place all over again

 

[TLEF316]

And yes, the need to pay the men's and women's coach the same will badly hamstring us going forward if we ever want to raise the quality of the program.

It's not discrimination to pay market value. People who do a white collar job in Kansas don't make the same amount of money as someone who does that same job in New York. This is no different

 

[Ramsay Hunt Experience]

But I will make just one observation. I dont think anyone here, including us vets, have any real great idea of how to make the USMNT take the next step. Of who should be the coach instead of Gregg. Of who is actually a realistic target at all. Or of how the team should be setup differently. And I don’t think that just getting angry is very productive.

This is understandable but shouldn’t whomever is in charge of the usmnt have a clue?

I’m a causal but I remember everybody being annoyed when they brought Gregg back. And now they wasted this primo chance of seeing what they could do before the WC with a new coach. Now we’re flying into 2026 blind.

Exactly so.

Fwiw, the players all wanted GGG back and have his back.

Speaks to the fact they respect him but results are results. I hope they make a change because this isn’t working but damn if I know who would.

The issue is the pay. There are quite a few coaches out there that are incredible head coaches who are available... problem is they would cost $6-7M minimum(and some would be more).

The big issue with that is the equal pay agreement between the USMNT and USWNT. If we pay our head men's coach $7M, then the public pressure would be put on to pay Emma Hayes $7M as well and we can't afford to pay both.(probably can't even afford to pay one coach that much)

Why can’t they find the T. Boone Pickens of soccer? No billionaires like the national team?

They can easily. Canada is funding their head coach via MLS owners.

US Soccer could find a sponsor in a second to land Klopp (if he wanted to coach) but they would have to get it balanced with the womens coach as well.

I don’t think they would need to worry about that. Emma Hayes is a class of one. She wasn’t being paid the same as the men’s coach at Chelsea. It’s just a very different set of facts than the women’s pool versus the men’s pool.

 

[Ramsay Hunt Experience]

And of course the players will say "it's not coaching, we didn't do our job".

Who wants to ride the pine for calling out your coach? You don't do that on any level.

If/when they hire a new coach, it'll be "we can't wait to hit the pitch for xxx. We are so excited"

In American football it is completely OK for folks to say "the old coach was a players coach. They needed a disciplinarian" or yada yada. We should just defer to the likes of Gio saying "oh it's not the coach"?

We don't need to defer to him, but we probably shouldn't expect otherwise. The players are trying to take the responsibility as we'd expect them to. Even if Reyna thought it was all on Gregg, I would be a terrible look for Gio, with all the baggage over the post World Cup stuff, to say it.

But I also think all the "the players are too comfortable" arguments are bogus. If these same players struggle to get on the pitch as much for their overseas club teams, then maybe the issue isn't that Gregg is too accommodating of them. It's that we're not as talented as we think we are. I mean, of course Turner is handed the number 1 shirt for the USMNT. Have you seen the rest of the GK pool? Same with Pulisic. No coach in the world isn't putting a healthy Pulisic into the starting XI of the USMNT. Because Pulisic is, by miles, the best winger we have. That's true of much of the roster. Dest is clearly our best RB. You'd have to have brain damage to start another LB over Robinson. Adams is our best DM by far when healthy. Ream is an autostart. Richards, sadly, probably is too. Not that Richards is great, but because the guys behind him are not even good.

There are only a few spots in the starting XI where there's even an argument for some level of competition. The 8s (where I think it's fair to say that Weston probably should not be an autostart). The second winger (which is kind of tied into the 8s because Gio probably needs to be somewhere). And finally, the striker where we need Balogun or Pepe to make the position theirs.

 

[TennesseeJed]

Top 3 candidates to replace USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter

Gregg Berhalter and the United States men's national team (USMNT) crashed out of the 2024 Copa America opening the door for new candidates.

worldsoccertalk.com

4 choices (despite the headline) to replace Berhalter:

1. Marsch - I can see this one, not sure its really an upgrade, but it is a fresh look
2. Henry - meh
3. Bielsa - It would be interesting
4. Matarazzo - I don't know enough (anything) about him to have a guess as to how he would do

 

[TennesseeJed]

But I also think all the "the players are too comfortable" arguments are bogus. If these same players struggle to get on the pitch as much for their overseas club teams, then maybe the issue isn't that Gregg is too accommodating of them. It's that we're not as talented as we think we are.

I am not sure those are mutually exclusive. Players can be less talented than we think, and they can be too comfortable with the current set-up.

I think we hear too much about how the players like Berhalter. There is a reason very few national team coaches remain for more than 1 WC cycle. Part of it is the need to have fresh thoughts or ideas on the squad, and the best tactics to fit that squad.


I do think this squad was talented enough to overcome the officiating and Red Card to have advanced in this group. I think the lack of leadership and tactical nous played a bigger role than the officials.

But, as I noted above, as much as I think Berhlater should be replaced - I think the real problems at US Soccer are higher up.

 

[CletiusMaximus]

I can not imagine Jesse Marsch breaking his contract to come coach the US after we rejected him for Berhalter. It’s like a twist on the old Groucho Marks quote - I wouldn’t want any coach who would join us under those circumstances.

 

[TennesseeJed]

I can not imagine Jesse Marsch breaking his contract to come coach the US after we rejected him for Berhalter. It’s like a twist on the old Groucho Marks quote - I wouldn’t want any coach who would join us under those circumstances.

Yeah - I think it only works if Canada acknowledges they can't afford him - which they can't.

But, you are probably right about Marsch not being in a hurry to reach out to US Soccer.

 

[El Floppo]

Richards comments. Moving forward temporally isn't quite the expectation I'm looking for from the USMNT.

“Every game is step forward regardless of the result. You can learn a lot from every game,” he said. “I think people like to give us a lot of criticism because of who we are and we take that and we keep moving.

“We try not to listen too much to outside noise. They can say what they want, but every game, every training is a step forward regardless of the result.”

 

[NewlyRetired]

The US has 3 friendlies lined up in the fall. If they want to replace the coach and don't do it before that time, it would be a complete failure on their part.

The last time they did one of these "deep dives" they took forever.

This is not that difficult. Make a decision one way or another after even just a few days and get going on finding a new coach before the club season starts.

 

[NewlyRetired]

Honestly, I think we could easily afford Matarazzo.

He has zero experience internationally but he has done a wonderful job working his way up from the lowest levels of assistant coaching to being a head coach at a Bundesliga club.

His club contract is up next year and being a club manager is usually just a few bad games away from the unemployment line so he might be swayed with a healthy 2 year contract.

 

[TennesseeJed]

The US has 3 friendlies lined up in the fall. If they want to replace the coach and don't do it before that time, it would be a complete failure on their part.

The last time they did one of these "deep dives" they took forever.

This is not that difficult. Make a decision one way or another after even just a few days and get going on finding a new coach before the club season starts.

Yeah, I don't have the sense that US Soccer can move with that level of decisiveness.

But, really this should be settled by next week. Either announce you are sticking with Berhalter, or we are making changes. Dragging it out further just reeks of indecision - and that is a poor reflection on US Soccer.

This should have been a discussion in the background leading up to this summer - setting expectations, and consequences - and it should not take much discussion now to decide if Berhalter and the squad met those expectations.


(and, I can see an argument where the ultimate results are excused by the RC and officiating - even if I disagree - and thus a strong statement of support should be forthcoming, if that is where US Soccer come down after Copa).

 

[Dr_Zaius]

I do think this squad was talented enough to overcome the officiating and Red Card to have advanced in this group. I think the lack of leadership and tactical nous played a bigger role than the officials.

I agree, and I feel like the Uruguay game was kind of the same old story that we've seen before. The US looked great for the first 20-25 minutes, and I'm not an educated enough watcher to understand whether it was a tactical shift or what, but after some stoppages and some hard uncalled fouls, the team lost all cohesion and never really looked threatening again. We've seen similar over and over in concacaf against lackluster competition - the team comes out blazing and looks like they're going to roll to victory, but then as soon as the game gets chippy and disjointed the execution falls off of a cliff.

 

[The Z Machine]

But I will make just one observation. I dont think anyone here, including us vets, have any real great idea of how to make the USMNT take the next step. Of who should be the coach instead of Gregg. Of who is actually a realistic target at all. Or of how the team should be setup differently. And I don’t think that just getting angry is very productive.

This is understandable but shouldn’t whomever is in charge of the usmnt have a clue?

I’m a causal but I remember everybody being annoyed when they brought Gregg back. And now they wasted this primo chance of seeing what they could do before the WC with a new coach. Now we’re flying into 2026 blind.

Exactly so.

Fwiw, the players all wanted GGG back and have his back.

Speaks to the fact they respect him but results are results. I hope they make a change because this isn’t working but damn if I know who would.

The issue is the pay. There are quite a few coaches out there that are incredible head coaches who are available... problem is they would cost $6-7M minimum(and some would be more).

The big issue with that is the equal pay agreement between the USMNT and USWNT. If we pay our head men's coach $7M, then the public pressure would be put on to pay Emma Hayes $7M as well and we can't afford to pay both.(probably can't even afford to pay one coach that much)

While I don’t believe this statement is true, there is a non-zero chance Gregg is the best they can get given the salary constraints.

No, he's not. Pay someone else the same salary. Someone not named Gregg Berhalter.

 

[The Z Machine]

The ref refused to shake Pulisic's hand at the end of the game. I have to assume Pulisic had some choice words for him during the game he did not forget.

x.com

x.com

Well the ref sucked, so he can EAFD.

 

[The Z Machine]

It feels like they are campaigning again for GGG

==================

Jimmy Mack
https://x.com/jcmack03
@jcmack03

Weston McKennie: “The players would run through a brick wall for Gregg [Berhalter].”

To bad, don't care. You didn't do enough Wes. You don't get to pick the next coach. Gregg showed us what he, an underachiever. Time to move on.

 

[GregR]

 

[Desert_Power]

It feels like they are campaigning again for GGG

==================

Jimmy Mack
https://x.com/jcmack03
@jcmack03

Weston McKennie: “The players would run through a brick wall for Gregg [Berhalter].”

You're supposed to pass around that wall Weston. It's soccer, not football.

 

[mr. furley]

oh boy.................any one want to guess the over under of how long this will take?

=====================

USSF statement “Our tournament performance fell short of our expectations. We must do better. We will be conducting a comprehensive review of our performance in Copa America and how best to improve the team and results as we look towards the 2026 World Cup.”

The espn guys - Alle, Keller and Herc - nailed this one. I usually can’t take much from Herc but they were spot on. There will be meetings and power points and ELO and XG for weeks and months and nothing will change. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever heard Parlow Cone speak but it’s time we heard from her. If the common wisdom regarding coaching pay equity is correct she should be on the hot seat for hamstringing the men’s team in what should have obviously been apparent to be an unworkable deal.

i listened to them for a solid 30-40 minutes last night. they were just eviscerating the US men's organization as a whole. it was amazing.

to paraphrase what i heard: the players aren't good enough. the organization from top down isn't bold enough. they don't have talent to compete at the highest level. they need radical change throughout.

 

[BeTheMatch]

This is why the whole lot of them are a joke.

How's that for a hot take?

They get what they deserve.

 

[CletiusMaximus]

The US has 3 friendlies lined up in the fall. If they want to replace the coach and don't do it before that time, it would be a complete failure on their part.

The last time they did one of these "deep dives" they took forever.

This is not that difficult. Make a decision one way or another after even just a few days and get going on finding a new coach before the club season starts.

It almost makes me pine for Sunil in retrospect. At least he acted quickly after a big loss. I would never have thought his replacements would be more complacent and less ambitious.

Twellman said it this morning: https://x.com/TaylorTwellman/status/1808102086191538277

It took them 14 months to do a “World Cup review” which in and of itself is egregious because the United States can’t afford any time to be unspent doing something productive with the staff and players. They paid a consulting firm nearly $1 million to rehire the same coach. So how long does this review take?!

 

[TennesseeJed]

This is why the whole lot of them are a joke.

How's that for a hot take?

They get what they deserve.

I don't know if you are referring to US Soccer, USMNT, Berhalter and coaches, or ESPN guys...


But, I agree!

 

[NewlyRetired]

So lets break this down like any other nation would do:

1) If Crocker is doing his job as TD, he would be under a state of constant evaluation. Every thing that should have been known up until the start of this camp should be known. Extra evaluation should not be required for anything before the Colombia game.

2) If Crocker is doing his job as TD, he would already have a short list of coaches he wants and that are available and affordable. This list should be periodically updated and should be relatively fresh right now coming into the summer, which is a common coaching hiring time frame. This list would not only have been generated in case GGG failed. It should have also been in place for emergencies if GGG got sick, or hurt or had to leave the team due to family issues etc. This is only professional.

3) So the only evaluation needed should be from the Colombia game onward. And that should take 1-2 days TOPS!! It is not that hard even if you want to consider extenuating circumstances.

This is how other nations can fire coaches so quickly. They have everything planned and arranged ahead of time and do not believe in allowing the current coach to continue even if they have not yet signed a new coach.

The proper thing to do is to quickly announce that they have moved on from GGG and will be hiring a new coach ASAP.

 

[Gally]

I'll go on the record. I like capella and gm a lot.

I don't like hyperbole or hot takes.

I love you, but you don't have a monopoly on what counts for good or bad soccer takes. Calling somebody dumb for having an opinion is beneath you.

Hmmmm. Interesting

 

[NewlyRetired]

Oh be still my heart..........

The Athletic's beat reporter for Liverpool just posted that Klopp would only consider coaching two national teams. Germany, and the US

 

[The Gator]

Oh be still my heart..........

The Athletic's beat reporter for Liverpool just posted that Klopp would only consider coaching two national teams. Germany, and the US

 

[QuizGuy66]

Roary the Tiger would be an improvement in the manager role.
-QG

 

[TennesseeJed]

Oh be still my heart..........

The Athletic's beat reporter for Liverpool just posted that Klopp would only consider coaching two national teams. Germany, and the US

We should sell the USWNT to finance this.

 

[Desert_Power]

Oh be still my heart..........

The Athletic's beat reporter for Liverpool just posted that Klopp would only consider coaching two national teams. Germany, and the US

This would really be really fun

 

[FreeBaGeL]

I know someone in here already made the joke, but someone put it in meme form finally.

 

[TennesseeJed]

Seriously though - if Klopp is interested - and we should be asking the question - then you look at how Canada landed Marsch, by effectively getting sponsors to pay his wages.

If USMNT coach has to be on parity with the women's team, then you supplement that with sponsors giving him a NIL deal on the side.

 

[FreeBaGeL]

The US has 3 friendlies lined up in the fall. If they want to replace the coach and don't do it before that time, it would be a complete failure on their part.

The last time they did one of these "deep dives" they took forever.

This is not that difficult. Make a decision one way or another after even just a few days and get going on finding a new coach before the club season starts.

It almost makes me pine for Sunil in retrospect. At least he acted quickly after a big loss. I would never have thought his replacements would be more complacent and less ambitious.

Twellman said it this morning: https://x.com/TaylorTwellman/status/1808102086191538277

It took them 14 months to do a “World Cup review” which in and of itself is egregious because the United States can’t afford any time to be unspent doing something productive with the staff and players. They paid a consulting firm nearly $1 million to rehire the same coach. So how long does this review take?!

Will gladly accept the $1M this time to tell them to fire Berhalter. Actually you know what, due to my extreme patriotism I will do it at a discounted rate of $800k.

 

[gianmarco]

The US has 3 friendlies lined up in the fall. If they want to replace the coach and don't do it before that time, it would be a complete failure on their part.

The last time they did one of these "deep dives" they took forever.

This is not that difficult. Make a decision one way or another after even just a few days and get going on finding a new coach before the club season starts.

It almost makes me pine for Sunil in retrospect. At least he acted quickly after a big loss. I would never have thought his replacements would be more complacent and less ambitious.

Twellman said it this morning: https://x.com/TaylorTwellman/status/1808102086191538277

It took them 14 months to do a “World Cup review” which in and of itself is egregious because the United States can’t afford any time to be unspent doing something productive with the staff and players. They paid a consulting firm nearly $1 million to rehire the same coach. So how long does this review take?!

Will gladly accept the $1M this time to tell them to fire Berhalter. Actually you know what, due to my extreme patriotism I will do it at a discounted rate of $800k.

TripItUp will do it for -$1.

 

[FreeBaGeL]

Seriously though - if Klopp is interested - and we should be asking the question - then you look at how Canada landed Marsch, by effectively getting sponsors to pay his wages.

If USMNT coach has to be on parity with the women's team, then you supplement that with sponsors giving him a NIL deal on the side.

Elon Musk just got a $56bn payday and claims to be super patriotic. We can't find someone like that to just pay both coaches what it takes to get Klopp in there? Of course I know Elon himself isn't that guy, as his idea of patriotism is rooting for the women's team to fail, but there's gotta be some other rich dude out there that is a soccer fan and this is couch change to. Like when Jeff Bezos bought The Expanse (canceled show) for Prime Video just because he was a fan of the show and wanted to see more seasons.

 

[FreeBaGeL]

The US has 3 friendlies lined up in the fall. If they want to replace the coach and don't do it before that time, it would be a complete failure on their part.

The last time they did one of these "deep dives" they took forever.

This is not that difficult. Make a decision one way or another after even just a few days and get going on finding a new coach before the club season starts.

It almost makes me pine for Sunil in retrospect. At least he acted quickly after a big loss. I would never have thought his replacements would be more complacent and less ambitious.

Twellman said it this morning: https://x.com/TaylorTwellman/status/1808102086191538277

It took them 14 months to do a “World Cup review” which in and of itself is egregious because the United States can’t afford any time to be unspent doing something productive with the staff and players. They paid a consulting firm nearly $1 million to rehire the same coach. So how long does this review take?!

Will gladly accept the $1M this time to tell them to fire Berhalter. Actually you know what, due to my extreme patriotism I will do it at a discounted rate of $800k.

TripItUp will do it for -$1.

You bring up a good point. Are there any sportsbooks out there taking odds on Berhalter being fired? Then at least I can bet on him staying for an emotional hedge so at least if he stays I make some money.

 

[Desert_Power]

Seriously though - if Klopp is interested - and we should be asking the question - then you look at how Canada landed Marsch, by effectively getting sponsors to pay his wages.

If USMNT coach has to be on parity with the women's team, then you supplement that with sponsors giving him a NIL deal on the side.

Elon Musk just got a $56bn payday and claims to be super patriotic. We can't find someone like that to just pay both coaches what it takes to get Klopp in there? Of course I know Elon himself isn't that guy, as his idea of patriotism is rooting for the women's team to fail, but there's gotta be some other rich dude out there that is a soccer fan and this is couch change to. Like when Jeff Bezos bought The Expanse (canceled show) for Prime Video just because he was a fan of the show and wanted to see more seasons.

Didn't know that one.

 

[TripItUp]

This country has money time to put it to work.

 

[TennesseeJed]

x.com

x.com

Interesting look back (and forward) from Philly Inquirer - suggesting Crocker could make a bold move, and that Berhalter was not necessarily his choice last time around, but that given his newness to the job deferred a bit to the players to bring Berhalter back.

 

[BeTheMatch]

The US has 3 friendlies lined up in the fall. If they want to replace the coach and don't do it before that time, it would be a complete failure on their part.

The last time they did one of these "deep dives" they took forever.

This is not that difficult. Make a decision one way or another after even just a few days and get going on finding a new coach before the club season starts.

It almost makes me pine for Sunil in retrospect. At least he acted quickly after a big loss. I would never have thought his replacements would be more complacent and less ambitious.

Twellman said it this morning: https://x.com/TaylorTwellman/status/1808102086191538277

It took them 14 months to do a “World Cup review” which in and of itself is egregious because the United States can’t afford any time to be unspent doing something productive with the staff and players. They paid a consulting firm nearly $1 million to rehire the same coach. So how long does this review take?!

Will gladly accept the $1M this time to tell them to fire Berhalter. Actually you know what, due to my extreme patriotism I will do it at a discounted rate of $800k.

TripItUp will do it for -$1.

He was right all along. I'm just sayin'...

 

[mr. furley]

If USMNT coach has to be on parity with the women's team, then you supplement that with sponsors giving him a NIL deal on the side.

keep seeing this referenced here. what does this mean?

the men's and women's national teams have to be paid the exact same amount?

 

[FreeBaGeL]

If USMNT coach has to be on parity with the women's team, then you supplement that with sponsors giving him a NIL deal on the side.

keep seeing this referenced here. what does this mean?

the men's and women's national teams have to be paid the exact same amount?

I'm not sure if it's true or just something that got speculated on here by one person and then repeated so much that we've kind of started talking about it as fact.

I can't find anything official that verifies it though.

We can also look up the coach salaries from a couple of years ago and they were not even close to equal (Berhalter $1.6M, Andovski $400k), but I don't know if that has changed since then.

 

[Mjolnirs]

On the Euros, I was looking around the wiki page and saw the section on Controversies and Incidents.
These people do not like each other:

Balkan incidents​

During the group stage, several controversies came up due to the behaviour of various Balkan fans and players. Albania and Serbia were both fined €10,000 after their fans displayed irredentist symbols; Serbian fans displayed maps of Kosovo as being a part of Serbia while Albanian fans displayed maps of Greater Albania. Serbia threatened to quit the tournament if UEFA did not take action against Croatia and Albania after some of their fans chanted anti-Serbian slogans during the match, such as Ubij ubij ubij Srbina ("Kill kill kill the Serb"); an investigation was later launched into Croatia.[198] After the group stage game between Albania and Croatia, Mirlind Daku led the Albanian supporters in chanting anti-Macedonian and anti-Serbian slogans, and Albania was fined €47,250 and Daku was banned for two games. Kosovar journalist Arlind Sadiku was banned after making the crossed hands gesture towards Serbian fans during the Serbia and England game.