starting with disagreement on the midfields being equal. They are not. Pulisic is a really good player, but branding and the desire to have an alpha dog for the world cup elevated him to a level that he doenst have. Yes he is one of the better players for the US, but just doesn't belong in the same group at the top of the class. Belgium's #10 (forget his last name) has that wiggle and finesse to be in that group and even him is not there. So going back to the point of midfield being equal is only a mirage.

The point you guys continue to make on the development system is a critical one. When you get to this point in the WC, that extra 0.1 seconds to make a play is not there and it matters. Passes are slightly off, or you have to play it back, because ball control wasn't as fluid as it was during the initial games. Those little things players worked on for years, become muscle memory through their development years. I am not sure how the elite teams in the US manage tactics, individual technique, player position details (press, support, where to move). I know what I saw/experienced when living in the US, didn't address the things above. It is fine before 13 to almost run around the field and figure it out, but once you get to 13 and up, it is vital to address those things. Some of the individual technique does need to be done earlier. The little boy playing with a ball even by himself in the street is the seed that needs to be nurtured, for the player, not for the academy. That seems to be in a different order in the US.

I know it is tough now. The true Olympus in world football is reached by only a few. I think the US has enough passionate fans to will itself into going at least one more echelon into the WC, but it will be because the fundamentals are there, not because the economics of it will it into reality. Talk of winning the WC is too distracting to be allowed into a locker room. You do not hear it from France, Argentina, Spain, and they have the goods for it.

See you in the gold cup.

I got some email after my son's fall soccer stint about how they are rejiggering the age bracket cutoffs.

How much say does the governing body have in any of this? Seems to me that national sides in general get wagged by the club sides, and that it is even worse for the USA.

For the U.S. to become a consistent force in international football, our youth development system would need a fundamental overhaul—and U.S. Soccer has shown little willingness to pursue that kind of change.

In many ways, it's similar to healthcare. We've built a system that works exceptionally well for some, leaves many others behind, and is protected by entrenched interests that make meaningful reform incredibly difficult.

My son will be playing both N1 and EA this year, and I'm coaching in a tournament this weekend with teams from WPL, RCL, MLS Next, and EA. Here in Washington, many of the state's top players are in ECNL or MLS Next programs, where clubs have effectively created a tiered structure under recognizable brands like Seattle United and Crossfire. Parents are often drawn to the badge more than the actual level of play, creating a revenue stream that allows clubs to expand while helping subsidize costs for their top teams. The result is a system where financial barriers remain for most families, while the best-developed players receive the greatest investment.

Outside the traditional club pathway, elite travel teams are now taking players overseas to compete against professional academies, adding yet another layer to an already fragmented landscape.

There really isn't another youth soccer system like ours. It's fragmented, incentive-driven, and built around competing organizations rather than a unified player development model. Without structural change, it's hard to see how the outcomes change.

Given that reality who would want to take on the job of leading a national team built on top of this system?

You're right about our depth issues and our problems at goalkeeper and at the back--we are indeed miles away from the elite sides. I just don't think we are, on balance, three goals worse than Belgium.

I appreciate that that's a tough case to make, given that Belgium keep beating us by three goals, but I honestly don't think we were exposed last night; I think we just flopped. Maybe the moment was too big, or the distractions too many, but to see every player have their worst game and make so many basic, inexplicable errors, all at once, was almost freakish. I don't know, maybe I'm crazy, but it just feels more like our version of the Mineiraço than a metacommentaty on the state of our program.