The US has a squad full of players from Europe’s top leagues. But Gregg Berhalter’s side have continually struggled against top competition
he theory always was that what the USMNT needed was for more of their players to be playing with the best in Europe. Good, tough, regular competition, proper professional training, exposure to best practice at the highest level the game has ever known. That was what would transform the raw material the US produces into a genuinely top-level side that might be able to compete regularly with the world’s elite. Practice is never that straightforward.
The top Concacaf sides benefit too, exposing them to competition with a higher level of opposition than is possible in the Gold Cup. It’s one thing to have players spread across Europe – 15 of the 26 in Berhalter’s squad are at top-division sides in Europe’s Big Five leagues; the next stage is to have them playing together against leading nations.
Uruguay are a different matter altogether. Marcelo Bielsa has worked his familiar magic, forming a new side around the spine of Ronald Araújo, Federico Valverde and Darwin Núñez, whose energy and determination in the press seem to matter more than his lack of precision in front of goal. They have beaten both Brazil and Argentina already in surging to
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