Is The USMNT's "Golden Generation" Actually Good?

The USMNT flopped in Copa America, and Gregg Berhalter's job is up for debate. But did the actually underachieve, or is this group of players actually overrated? Clinton Yates joins the show to debate!
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[@boootybounce420]

The players are all comically overrated. It’s marketing

[@EveryHappening]

8:11 every single national team system plays this way. Every single one. The issue is that our players are not good enough to play a single system because the talent pool is so disparate and discontiguous that you can’t play a single system. Kids have to pay $10-15k to play for a decent club disproportionately favors kids with money rather than the players with the best talent. Kids in Europe don’t have to pay for academy teams. They don’t have to pay for travel or hotels. You can just develop talent rather than make sure you are getting your checks from the parents!

[@slimpickens1509]

That Friday joke/reference was excellent

[@craighoffman]

You get the show!

[@ToxicGamerDaddy]

at our best the Uruguay loss should have been a draw. But this team underperforms when you compare on paper to other national teams.

[@ramirocastano7444]

The assumption that GB isn't maximizing the talent on this roster isn't based on "blind faith". It's based on how the vast majority of these players play and look significantly better for their club teams and then play/look worse once they arrive to play for the national team.

[@EveryHappening]

No! Not even Pulisic has any quality outside of being surrounded by players who are clearly better than him. He is a standout against CONCOCAF teams but he was pedestrian and poor against Panama and Uruguay. The US is just bad.

[@derred723]

I've honestly never heard them referred to as a "golden generation" until this tournament. Granted I also don't pay attention to the idiocy that is US soccer, much of the soccer press, us soccer twitter, or big soccer so maybe i missed this golden generation narrative.

[@tomydurazno6243]

Short answer: hell no

[@mosijahi3096]

Love you snows Craig, I know you’ll do the Olympics justice.

[@CaptainMarvel007]

I thought the golden generation was Freddy Adu. 🤔

[@jaeshin1983]

This is what I keep getting back to with this Gregg situation. Yes he should be fired but you are are blind if you think that Americans had the players that are at the top level.

[@israelarteaga4385]

Fools gold generation........

[@solohans4740]

No they are not. Results. Looks at results. Sorry that’s the truth

[@FishHuntFreedom]

The USA for some reason cannot figure out how to assemble and coach a world class team. You would think by now, the US would have figured it out

[@EveryHappening]

It’s difficult to field a world class team with far less than world class players. We don’t have a single player who is world class. Anyone claiming Pulisic is world class is a fan. Anyone watching Pulisic who isn’t a fan realizes he is productive and hard working but never once considered world class. World class players aren’t sold for what he was sold for at Chelsea. Did he have a good season at Milan. Absolutely. But a world class player changes the level of your team. If Pulisic gets injured, Milan plays the same. Chuckweze could play in the position and Milan doesn’t miss a beat. I am even curious if Pulisic keeps a starting position with the new coach. He lost his position at Chelsea when a new coach came in. In short, he just isn’t world class or a difference maker against the best players!!

[@kd5973]

The reason why the US will win nothing is because of how you overhype and overrate your players. There isn’t a single player apart from MAYBE pulisic who is anything for their club. I guess Tim Ream can get a shout but he plays for Fulham so…. Not exactly top quality. All these players are bang average but Americans refuse to see it. You all talk like Reyna is some incredible player. He can’t even get a game for FOREST. Who were fighting relegation. Once you realise how so far below par your players are, you’ll accept that this isn’t a golden generation and won’t ever get further than maybe a round of 16 in a tournament and be severely outplayed by vastly superior nations.

[@jimg6178]

Not Americans, but “THE USMT SYSTEM FROM THE TOP DOWN…try to sell us a load of shit that the MLS is good play and that from the youth system on up to the USMT that our PLUS ATHLETES like basketball guards, WR/CORNERS do not play soccer and never will.

[@brentg2792]

Outside of Pulisic this team is very average. There’s a difference between logging minutes in a top league versus being a difference maker on a team in those leagues who can make impact on national team. Keep hearing how great Adams and Mckennie are but their play has never materialized. Turner is suspect as top GK and the fact Pepe was all we really had off bench as goal threat is sad. I love the aggression of guys like Robinson but his touch and composure aren’t anywhere near the level required to compete on international stage. The middle of the field is barren with nobody that can control a game with composed passing. But Berhalter is trash and needs to go for sure.

[@AlexRocks80s80s]

Where was Dest this tourney?

[@alvarotorres9057]

He’s injured

[@johnappleseed8146]

​@@AlexRocks80s80sI mean dest has also flopped in la liga and didn't play in serie a

[@R_U_Good]

Balogun and Adams (who was coming of injury) were both great

[@PerryCoxPF93]

The laissez-faire attitude of US soccer dooms them. A patchwork of private hands passing players around. No central planning or control to actually develop talent. We're seeing the American NBA players undergo the same thing. AAU ball is eroding talent pools and Foreign born players are dominating the league. Within 10 years, US basketball will also not be top 3 in the world at this pace.

[@EveryHappening]

6:36 Calvin Phillips will be playing for Man City by 2030!? The majority of academy players never play for their team!!! So not 1% of academy players play pro. To say he should be playing for Man City is absolutely blind faith.

[@corpi8784]

The USMNT "golden generation"is pretty mediocre at best- And major Footie nations like Spain ,Germany ,France, England etc. produce this level of talent continuisly and the vast majority of those players are, average or drop off the radar after a couple of years... The next great US soccer star is mainly just US media hype Even the last great hope Pulisisc is almost irrelevamt in terms of European footballing

[@pablo9202]

No they are not, a bunch of overhyped walking marketing campaigns that have yet to beat a top 20 country

[@jimg6178]

As always!!! our plus athletes in the United States do not play soccer, soccer is for kids who can’t play baseball basketball or football very well due to size and or athleticism sorry it’s the truth

[@cydc08]

US system is backwards we don’t have a soccer culture we will never compete seriously 1/4 at WC is our peak when we lost to Germany in 2002 just like Nigeria will never compete in Olympic ice hooky we don’t shave the infrastructure that can produce a lebron James in soccer pay to play isn’t realistic when mls is a shit league don’t delude yourself US soccer is a mid enterprise

[@EveryHappening]

No! Not even Pulisic has any quality outside of being surrounded by players who are clearly better than him. He is a standout against CONCOCAF teams but he was pedestrian and poor against Panama and Uruguay. The US is just bad.