You know much more about soccer than I ever will but I take exception to thoughts such as "We never will".
But you are a realist and I am an eternal optimist.
This is my last comment.
“Some men see things as they are, and ask why. I dream of things that never were, and ask why not.”
There is always a chance, but the odds are incredibly long. Youth soccer as an over organized recreational activity and pay to play advancement structure will be an impediment.
In the US every kid plays FB, baseball, or BB and every youth parent coach knows enough about them to teach basics to 5-8 yr olds regardless of where you live in the country. For soccer, you pretty much need to live in the right spot. A place with an embedded soccer culture, usually a combination of an immigrant community with established well performing youth leagues, or you need to be wealthy enough to pay for private instruction.
Clint Dempsey is the perfect example. He grew up on the Texas border, so he learned the game early then was committed enough to drive 3-4 hours each way when he became good enough to need better instruction/competition. He remains to date the most successful US born player to play in the EPL and he was a fringe starter for a mid-table team and had one or two what we'd consider all-star level seasons in his career.
He wasn't particularly good at anything except that nose (determination) for scoring. That alone carried him.
Whatever "that" is, spacial awareness, anticipation, vision, touch, physicality, guile, that made him a borderline world class goal scorer at his peak, we definitely need more of that on the MNT.
Ps. Just to upset Zoo, "Landycakes" Donovan was a better overall player than Dempsey but he never had the drive to prove himself in Europe beyond two successful midseason loan cameos with Everton. I guess he didn't want to deal with what Pulisic is dealing with. Donovan was a pure country club product.
Clint being a goal scorer, was a rarer type of player, less easily jerked around by managers to cover their own backside. Wing players are much more available and disposable.
