Unpopular opinion
What do Desire Doue, Hugo Ekitike, Rayan Cherki, Michael Olise, and Warren Zaire-Emery have in common? They are all fantastic players in their earlier twenties who were NOT involved in France's 2022 World Cup final.
Now let's look at the 2022 US team and the 2026 US team - pretty much the same guys. Why is that France - a country with 60 million people - is year after year developing incredible players to not only replenish their roster but also strengthen it? Desire Doue is 20 years old. Cherki is 22. Olise is 24. Does the USMNT have anyone that age, that good?
I don't think so.
And I don't think anything is going to change anytime soon.
I see the US team probably - or maybe - advancing to the Round of 32. It's within the realm of possibility that they face a weaker side in the Round of 32 and advance. But I think the Round of 16 is, yet again, the end of the line. And 2030 might be worse. I am just not seeing world-class players coming along like they do in France, Spain, Argentina, England, etc. etc.
However -- I do see all kinds of young guys coming along in the NFL, the NBA, MLB, and the NHL. Newsflash: that's where the money is, folks.
Forget about the cost of playing soccer for young kids. That's got nothing to do with nothing.
What's going on is a fight for talent, pure and simple. The most talented kids in the US are NOT playing soccer. I don't care what numbers are thrown out there, or how many youth leagues there are, I am telling you: the MOST talented kids in the US are NOT playing soccer now, and they won't be in the future.
Christian Pulisic is supposed to be the greatest US soccer player everrrrr - and he makes what, a lousy five million a year with AC Milan? A 33-year-old left-handed reliever in the MLB can make a lousy five million. Probably more.
And let's be honest - Pulisic would have had ZERO chance of making it to the NFL, NBA, MLB, or NHL. Make that less than zero.
So let's take a kid who happens to be a fantastic, world-class athlete. Let's say he's just starting the sixth grade. You think people don't know about him already, like the local AAU coaches? Plus, the kid has a family, friends, neighbors, a community. Everyone he knows plays football, let's say. American football that is. And the kid projects to be a speedy wide receiver. At this point a whole structure is in place to funnel the kid to some private high school, a DI scholarship, and the NFL - if he's good enough. Ja'Marr Chase, fyi, is on a 161 million 4-year deal, or 60 million a year. Compare that with Pulisic's paltry five million.
But perhaps the kid likes to play soccer, so he tells his folks and youth football coach, nah, I'm not interested in the NFL, or a DI scholarship. What I want to do is get into one of those European soccer academies, in the Netherlands or maybe Belgium, and live there all by myself, where I don't speak the language and don't know anybody. But this is the pathway for world class players. And if I don't make it or get injured, well, I can always come back home, and, I don't know, work in a gas station or something.
Does anyone seriously think this would fly with the kid's parents? The youth football coach? His friends? The youth football coach would come over and say to the parents, look, your boy can get into a private high school - and I can help, because I have all kinds of contacts. There are camps he needs to attend - other kids his age are going, kids from Texas, Florida, California - and if he does well the word gets out. Then we'll be talking about a DI scholarship and NIL money. Why jeopardize any of this? For...soccer????? In the Netherlands? Where the heck is that?
Now, I don't know much about Desire Doue or Michael Olise, but I'm pretty sure they didn't have to buck the entire system that's set up in France in order to play soccer. I'm also pretty sure their family, friends, and community are absolutely thrilled that they're so good and are going to play for the French National Team in this year's World Cup.
Maybe I got this all wrong. Maybe we have dozens of world class soccer players waiting in the wings ready to replace Pulisic, McKennie, Tyler Adams and all the rest of the 2022 guys. I never heard of Cooper Flagg four years ago, or that kid Conner Griffen of the Pittsburgh Pirates who just signed a $140 million deal, but certainly people in basketball and baseball circles knew all about these two. So if there are major developments going on in US Soccer and big-time players about to enter the picture, by all means please let me know.
Last thought: let's say I have a magic wand, and presto, Doue, Cherki, Olise, and Zaire-Emery (Ekitike, unfortunately, just tore his Achilles) are now eligible for the USMNT. Think Pochettino could find a place for them?