Jochem Sauer, director of Bayern Munich’s youth academy:
"The [soccer] education that young players get in the States is completely different now. The quality of the coaches is better. Combine this technical and tactical improvement with athletic ability, and these are the reasons some players are performing on the highest level.
"The level of MLS clubs has grown extremely since, say 2010. When MLS players came to train in Germany 10 years ago, the speed of play — how fast the ball goes from player to player, how quickly you have to anticipate what to do next — was too much for them. Now we’ll get FC Dallas players here on trial, and they need only two or three training sessions to adapt."
Sauer: "I think it will continue. If MLS clubs keep bringing young players of 17-18 into the first teams like [Canadian star] Alphonso Davies in Vancouver or Tyler Adams in New York, the country will have an excellent national team in the future. If things keep going the way they are, the U.S. will have a very competitive team in 2026."