gregg is far from perfect, especially his in-game adjustments. but fans calling for his head still need a reality check. by basically any objective measure, he's the best usmnt manager of all time. yes, he's had the most talented team, but that's been true of every previous manager too, going back to like steve sampson. since 2019, they've won both the nations league and gold cup, qualified for the WC and advanced out of a difficult group, and beat mexico three straight times, and capped off qualifying with a draw at azteca. he also didnt start a single player from mls yesterday, which was the biggest criticism for a long time.
it wasnt a fluky performance in the WC either. they were the second best team and the only side to give england a challenege (arguably out playing them). not quite the same as 14 when yermaine stole a point against portugal and brooks scored on a corner to win against ghana before we got completely dominated by germany and belgium. or 10 when robert green handed them a point and the group was easy otherwise. of course 02 will always be the standout performance, but beating the dutch would top that imo and it's probably the second-best WC of all time even with a loss. still havent allowed a goal from open play yet
most importantly to me - vs just sneaking through an easy group and dropping out of the r16, the usmnt played a top side in england even and will get another chance saturday vs netherlands (who havent played well but may be the fourth most talented team behind france, brazil, and spain). the purpose of this WC is all about setting up the foundation for 26. realistically, 9 starters from now could start in four years. only the cbs are old and won't be in their prime then. while not quite the same scale, its extremely similar to germany in 2010 when they took a really young team, did well, and then that same core went and won it in 14.
the musah, adams, mckennie midfield has been insane. outplaying the england midfield was incredible. crazy that musah is only 20. also through the group stage without a suspension which is great. id really prefer sticking one of pulisic/weah/gio/aaronson central vs the drop in quality for the center forwards they've been playing but id be shocked if the first time they ran that out was the knockout stages of the wc. but there was also going to be some talented players who didnt play much and it sticks for gio but its a good problem to have for the team.
like i said, netherlands havent quite played up to their level yet, but from a quality perspective it'll be the best team the us have faced. but its winnable. us looks to be around 35% to advance according to the market. IF they could win, the quarterfinals match could be much easier if argentina dont win the group. could even be aussies/saudi arabia