re: World Cup 2030 USMNT Potential Targets

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It's all relative, because of course we have more talent now compared to when we made the quarters in 2002. The problem that a lot of people seem to be missing is that it's not like we're progressing while the rest of the world is stagnant. Innovation never stops, even for the best teams. When you look at our progression through that lens, we haven't gotten much better at soccer over the last 25 years.

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Do you think we have plateaued? This is as good as we can be?

I see the progress while there obviously haven’t been these huge spikes where we jump past those other tier 2/3 nations into the top tier, but I also think we’re just now starting to see the benefits of the changes JK made to the youth system 15 years ago. Our bench is made up of players from the top Euro Leagues now, and the majority is home grown.

I think we’re in a good spot and will break into that next tier in the next 2 cycles. Honestly I’m glad we’re not in Italy’s position where they can win Euros between failing to qualify for its 3rd consecutive cycle, losing an entire generation.

Benji says he wants to play for the US!

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How many of these guys will make the senior team in the next few years?

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Agree wholeheartedly with this. Our soccer infrastructure and culture are just limited. There is no indication we can exceed the Round of 16 ceiling we’ve established.

Our golden generation has some club accomplishments that have surpassed previous generations, but they are not better players than Landycakes or Dempsey or O’Brien or C. Reyna or Bocanegra, etc. Not to mention the current goalkeeping travesty that limits our upside.

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Unless there is a drastic change in how MLS operates, yes, I think our ceiling is round of 16 appearances with a random quarterfinal run every 20 years or so.

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I’m trying to follow the logic here. MLS is truly responsible for how much we’ve elevated our floor. The trick is elevating the ceiling. Cavan (Philly), Mehmeti (NYRB), and Albert (LA) are potentially ceiling raising players and all are MLS products. I think a revamp of the youth development system across the board is what’s necessary for us to make that jump to the elite tier. JT Batson has acknowledged as much and it seems to be one of his primary goals right now.

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I’m trying to follow the logic here. MLS is truly responsible for how much we’ve elevated our floor. The trick is elevating the ceiling. Cavan (Philly), Mehmeti (NYRB), and Albert (LA) are potentially ceiling raising players and all are MLS products. I think a revamp of the youth development system across the board is what’s necessary for us to make that jump to the elite tier. JT Batson has acknowledged as much and it seems to be one of his primary goals right now.

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You're right in that MLS raised the floor, but that's just because having a domestic league will do that. MLS and USSF have never really been on the same page over the last 30 years.

I need to go back and find the tweet of a former player last week, but he made a good point in that MLS is still operating under the impression that it can be on the same level as the top leagues in Europe. It's understandable from a business standpoint, but practically, it's just never going to happen.

However, because they are trying to bring in talent, you are seeing a lot of the money and playing time go to big-name aging Euros and young south American prospects, while having its a lot of its young American prospects toil away in MLS Next Pro playing glorified scrimmages before they sell off their final development years to Euro clubs.

Instead, MLS should be shooting to be like the South American leagues where part of the development is giving a lot of its teenage prospects legit minutes and sustained roles at the top level and then sell a more finished product to the Euro clubs where they will be able to play right away instead of getting lost in the shuffle playing for the U-20's sides or making a new loan move every year before leaving on a free or a transfer price that's less than what they came in for.

In those series of tweets there was also a whole tangent about how MLS isn't focusing much development on defenders and keepers, but I can't remember exactly what was said there.

You're correct on our youth development needing to do a lot more. While it's better than what it was years ago, still has a long way to go. We are rightfully very excited about Cavan Sullivan, but European countries with much smaller populations than us are producing 10+ Cavan Sullivan-potential type players a year. For those countries, they are fine if less than 60% of those types actually turn into legitimate top-end pro players. Meanwhile, we are so dependent on him becoming a top 100 player in the world.

We're still a long ways away.

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If you find those tweets I would definitely be interested in reading them.

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I feel like I'm losing my mind because I definitely saw it, but can't find it. Still looking.

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MLS and USSF have never really been on the same page over the last 30 years.

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If you were to do a RCA (Root Cause Analysis) on why we got our arse whipped by Belgium it would be this.

You can point to a lot of things that contribute individually… but the disorganization in the federation itself in combination with the disorganization from the federation to everything that falls under the USSF umbrella is THE THING that’s hindering the growth at all levels from U-5 to the National Teams.

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MLS should be shooting to be like the South American League’s

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I appreciate and respect everything you’ve said in the last 4-6 weeks that I’ve read since I’ve been active on this board, but I don’t think this is the way. The ODP program should be the framework and the goal for every kid that wants to represent this country. It should be the pinnacle and standard that EVERY kid wants to achieve, not medals or patches if they even do that anymore.

It should cost nothing EXTRA and it should funnel into the MLS academies, which should also cost nothing extra, at least in the current system, and that is how we grow.