Yeah, I mean, I know we've discussed this before, but I think there's two problems with what you think. First, I think we do have some great athletes in our talent pool. I think you're just wishing we could see a bunch of NFL safeties play for us. Okay, we don't have the players that are 6'3" and run 4.4 40s on the team, but we have several very good athletes (in terms of speed - Yedlin, Bedoya; endurance - Jones, Bradley, Dempsey; strength - Gonzo, Altidore; etc.). And we always have. Hasn't gotten us past the quarterfinals. Look, the one position that the US has produced world class players is goalie. That's the position where athleticism is the most important, and where you can learn the technique quickly and at a later age. Our superior athletes do matter there.
But the real problem with developing athletes to play soccer is that it's just not that simple. To be even a CONCACAF quality player, you have to have played soccer all of your life. It's not just as simple as give some Div II CBs soccer cleats after high school. You literally need to play soccer from probably 4-5 years old just to be a player on an average CONCACAF team. Now think about when you figure out who the best athletes are. 12 years old at the earliest, maybe? Well, if you hand that guy soccer cleats, he's already 8 years behind the rest of the world. There's no amount of practice, games, whatever that will overcome that.
So anyways, I do like where we're headed now. I'm not just sure about this current iteration of the US.