I do think we are making progress and I'm not trying to demean Rubio Rubin, but I just want to actually see the progress before heap praise on these kids. I doubt RC thinks we can't produce a world class player, it's just a fact that we haven't yet. I've only been following soccer for a couple of years now so I'm not going to pretend like I am a great talent evaluator. But it just seems like people are always ready to declare that US youth players will be great and then are disappointed when they only average pros (Adu, Jerome, Renken, etc.)
The MLS academies may be struggling with their progress but the young players in this country apparently are not.
I've only been watching soccer for 8 years now but eventually you start noticing stuff in terms of players skills and their development.
Messi made his first team debut when he was 16, the same age Rubio Rubin is right now. It's way too early to tell if Rubin is going to be successful at the next level, but if he keeps developing and keeps performing that way he is right now for the U-17s but on the U-20s and so on (if he makes it) then it will be a good sign.