A rainy few days could not dampen the optimism in the coaches’ office at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center here on the outskirts of San Diego, Calif. Surrounded by whiteboards filled with information about the style of play he was attempting to implement at his first January camp in charge of the U.S. men’s national team, Gregg Berhalter was pleased with what his team had shown through its first two weeks together.



A roster filled with MLS standouts and intriguing national team prospects had displayed an ability to learn the concepts Berhalter was throwing at them in the first training sessions, and that, in turn, gave him confidence that he will be able to render his system in the shorter bursts that international windows allow. But the positivity around the camp was mainly a product of the fact that, for the first time since a defeated U.S. slunk off the field in Trinidad, the program was finally starting a new era.



The U.S. men’s team...