USMNT: Clean slate the ideal test for young team

The USMNT looks like a very clean slate at present, as Maurice Edu recently highlighted. While the lack of leadership could be problematic, testing the young players might just be ideal.

The U.S. Men’s National Team is in a place that it has never before been: it has some of the talented young players in world football. The likes of Tyler Adams, Giovanni Reyna, Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie, while inevitably overhyped on American shores by virtue of the lacking history, are some of the most gifted emerging footballers in the world.

Pulisic signed for huge money a year ago, Adams and McKennie are semi-regulars in the Bundesliga at 21 years of age. Reyna made his Champions League debut at just 17 years of age and seems set to follow in Pulisic’s footsteps at Borussia Dortmund.

However, as these young players break into their respective club sides, and there is a whole lot more than just those mentioned, internationally the same experience and veteran leadership that they might receive domestically is not so present.

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Speaking on BSI: The Podcast, former USMNT player, Maurice Edu, explained how he and other young players coming into the senior set-up were led by the veteran players already in the national team, the likes of Tim Howard, Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley among others:

"“They basically trained us and groomed us to be national team players. It didn’t just happen overnight. It took a few camps before they really got you in line. Straight from game one you felt, wow this is the national team, this is an honor, this is something that shouldn’t be taken lightly or taken for granted.”"

He then compared that to the current make-up of the squad:

"“Now, you graduated how many young players straight to the first team and the expectation is for them to come in and be impactful straight from the get-go and assume leadership roles straight from the beginning which is a daunting challenge because these are kids. They’re all young players.”"

His point is a simple one: how will these young players react to positions of authority, leadership and presumed experience with veteran guidance ahead of them. The Donovans and Dempseys and are long gone. Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore and Brad Guzan offer vast experience, but they are no longer key members of the team.

Gregg Berhalter’s XI is driven forward by youth exuberance. The midfield is anchored by McKennie and Adams. Josh Sargent seems set to unseat Gyasi Zardes and Altidore as the lone centre-forward. Reggie Cannon is emerging at right-back. Fellow full-back Sergino Dest has now joined the fold. And then there is, of course, Pulisic as the shining light. All of these players have played and will continue key roles under Berhalter, but their international experience is limited.

Rather bemoan the lack of quality veteran players in the talent pool, however, the USMNT has the chance to embrace the new and unknown. Why not throw these players into the deep end and see if they sink or swim? This is the most talented crop of players that the U.S. has ever produced. Testing them at the senior level without a middling veteran to hold their hand might be precisely what is required.

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The make-up of the USMNT has changed dramatically over the past decade. And it will continue to evolve as an increasing number of young players come through. Soccer is a youth’s sport in America and the national team will reflect that. Perhaps, then, the clean slate these youngsters are now handed is the ideal test to see what they are really made of.

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