A tale of two failures: Gregg Berhalter and Gareth Southgate

It was the best of times but it was mostly the worst of times. England and the United States both experienced disappointing endings to their soccer summers.

The USMNT crashed out of Copa America in the group stage and England fell short of ending its major trophy drought in a second consecutive Euro Tournament final.

But despite England's result being better than America's, both country's managers entered the summer on the coaching hot seat, needing major success to stave off talk of dismissal. The following is a tale of two failures.

After leading The Three Lions to back-to-back Euro Tournament finals, being the first England manager to do so, Gareth Southgate still could not bring home his country's first major trophy since the 1966 World Cup.

The English Football Association will now have to ask itself if it's willing to back Southgate's leadership through another critical World Cup cycle with a seemingly ever improving pool of player talent.

USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter, on the other hand, had his fate decided July 10 when he was relieved of his duties by U.S. Soccer.

Falling to an inferior Panama squad and leaving the USMNT's Copa America fate to a matchup with Uruguay was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back after six mediocre years.

Berhalter's task was quite tall, however. Before him, the team came close to reaching the quarterfinals in two straight World Cups (2010 & 2014) but then failed to qualify for the 2018 tournament.

U.S. Soccer then handed Berhalter the reins with the expectation of reaching the second round for the first time since 2002 - albeit with a much stronger squad.

But having failed to achieve that goal, all of Berhalter's other accomplishments were diminished and his legacy ultimately sunk.

Both Southgate and Berhalter led nations with perennial high expectations, due in part to both cultures' attitudes of national exceptionalism.

So, were they set up to fail or do both federations still need the arrival of a white knight who will lead them to the promised land?

That is the mystery of the beautiful game and 2026 will be the next testing ground with potentially fresh faces leading both into battle yet again.