Is the 2003 group the most talented class of American players ever?

Obviously way too early to say anything about the 2003 kids and I fully agree that the US 18-23 year olds are amazing. It wasn’t a slow trickle of talent as much as a surge, and that is awesome.

However, one thing to keep in mind is that sometimes golden generations are the exception and not a new normal.

I don’t think that will be the case for the US going forward although the generation following Donovan/Beasley and our 2002 success was a complete dud outside of Jozy and Bradley (the current 29 to 35-year olds)

But it has been the case in several countries.
Germany and Spain have fallen off considerably from their amazing teams from the last decade and Argentina has fallen off even worse (and just imagine where they’ll be after Messi retires in 2022 or whenever).

I expect the top six names will have solid roles to play for the national team in the near future. Clark will be going to Leipzig in January, Che is about to sign with Bayern (and looks like Richards, but about two years ahead in terms of development at his age), at 17 Nyeman is a stand out defensive mid for DC and has trained with teams in Europe, Gomez is leaving for Europe as soon as he turns 18 (and is a LB!), and Paxten Aaronson may be better than his brother.

quote:

---

Brian Sciaretta
@BrianSciaretta

14 players on the #USMNT provisional Gold Cup roster were eligible for cancelled 2021 U-20 World Cup. 7 of those 14 are members of the promising 2003-born class eligible for the 2023 U-20 WC. Those are strong numbers.

---

quote:

---

A bunch of names no one has ever heard of?

---

Just of the 7 names on the Gold Cup roster:

Clark - Likely moving to Leipzig at the end of this MLS season. 22nd most valuable 2003.
Che - Wanted by Bayern Munich. 30th most valuable 2003.
Nyeman - Named one of the top 60 players of the 2003 class by the Guardian. 11th most valuable 2003.
Gomez - Wanted by several good clubs in Europe and was invited to train with Mexico during their latest camp.
Cowell - 2G/3A in 8 games this season. 68th most valuable 2003.
Pepi - 43rd most valuable 2003.
Paredes - 61st most valuable 2003.

If you haven't heard of several of these guys, then that's on you.

quote:

---

I bet you thought Danny Mwanga was the next goat too.

---

The next great? No. One of the few "young" guys doing literally anything on the professional level at a position of need for the US? Yes. Mwanga didn't even start playing for Philly until he was ~2 years older than all of these guys and MLS is a lot better now than it was in 2010.

I'll reserve judgment until these guys start really making some noise. We all thought Ben Lederman was going to be the GOAT a few years back and he's struggling to get minutes in Poland.

Congrats on the brains

Fat boner those names mean as much as the ones in the OP until they actually do something. We've been hearing the same thing for years.

You mean like how we just didn't qualify for the Olympics?

quote:

---

I'll reserve judgment until these guys start really making some noise. We all thought Ben Lederman was going to be the GOAT a few years back and he's struggling to get minutes in Poland.

---

Yes, this.

It would be a success if 3-4 of those guys have long stints in the top 4 leagues. We've been hyping up younger generations every year it seems, and with good reason, because young guys would show a spark only to not sustain it for the long haul.

With that said, I think we will start seeing a lot more guys "hit" going forward than in previous years.

quote:

---

You mean like how we just didn't qualify for the Olympics?

---

Even for you this is a poor troll attempt. And none of those guys were even involved in Olympic qualifying.

The guys in my list are impact players in MLS at age 17. You have to be a real turd to not acknowledge that that’s already a higher bar than we’ve attained previously.