And thats where US Soccer comes in.
Continue to "develop" interest - just enough to drive profits and keep the $$$ flowing- everything else is secondary.
the product has gotten better, incrementally, from previous years, but its still quite a way from the Big 3. Couple that with teams having to play on turf vs natural grass, in 70,000 stadiums that arent designed for soccer matches and you have a receipe for what we see today.
Soccer isnt that hard- objective is to protect your goal and seek to score on opponents goal. Thats it. Just like basketball ( basket ) . Similar to football ( endzones )
Its how you go about defending and scoring, incorporating 11 players to achieve this goal, and everything else within the pitch, that makes the game exciting. Just like with most sports, a really good "attack" ( offense ) is part of being a good defense- if your opponent is constantly defending, then they cant score.
Our current USMNT values possession ( the idea of holding on to the ball longer than opponent thereby limiting his possession and limiting his opportunities to score ) For as long as i remember, US Soccers "identity" was wrapped up in furious defending and countering when it could in hopes of a goal. But a DRAW vs superior talent was the ultimate goal. That hasnt really changed under Berhalter. Just how we go about has, slightly ( just increase possession )
The problem there is when your opponents skill and ability is superior, it only takes one opportunity to convert into a goal and now your whole strategy is completely undone. ( See Uruguay )