Tom Bogert

So at the last World Cup, the United States were the youngest squad at that tournament.

They did not exceed expectations, but they did not fall below it.

The round of 16 and the performances therein was just about what we'd expect.

The fan base may have disagreed, and that led to a lot of discontent under head coach Greg Berhalter.

But the top line here since 2022 to now?

Not enough of the players have developed to quite the level we thought that they might.

The poster boy for that, of course, is Gio Reyna.

Gio Reyna coming into the 2022 World Cup was viewed as not just like an American wonder kid, like a wonder kid across the world.

Like he was one of the best in his age group in Europe as a teenager.

Injuries have slowed him down, and he stagnated completely to the point where he played 500 club minutes at Borussia Mönchengladbach this year after being a peripheral figure for Borussia Dortmund the last few years.

Christian Pulisic is still the best player in this team.

He had a fantastic first half of the season for AC Milan this year, and then he did not score for club or country in the calendar year of 2026 until the last friendly.

So, Mike, I don't know about you.

Maybe there's a little bit more optimism after the United States beat Senegal 3-2.

Let me try to tell the story without taking up nine minutes of just monologuing.

But so at the last World Cup in 2022, Gio Reyna, as I said, he was one of the most talented young players in the world, in Europe in particular.

He wasn't coming into camp with like perfect health and he had been in and out in World Cup qualifying because of that.

But when he played, he showed some special, special moments.

Before the World Cup, or in the lead-up to the World Cup, while they were in Qatar preparing, the head coach, Greg Berhalter, told Gio Reyna, like, you're probably not going to be a starter.

Like, I don't view you as that in this tournament.