Let me first re-iterate that I don't know jack **** about soccer and will never claim too... but until our BEST athletes are playing the game from the time they're 5 and 6 years old, US soccer will never be a World Power.
When you look at high schools right now, the best athletes are NOT on the soccer team. The 6'4 200 lb guy is a small forward/center for the basketball team..... or a QB for the football team... or a pitcher for the baseball team... He's NOT playing soccer. And the reason he's not playing soccer is because he watched football/baseball/basketball as a kid and has aspirations to be "like Mike".... and a lot of the reasons he had the chance to watch those sports, is because of the money generated by the NFL, NBA, and MLB. The MLS just doesn't have the following, right now, that it needs to really grow US soccer. I do think that it's in the process and 35 to 30 years from now, USA soccer will be fantastic, hopefully.
When the Dwayne Wades, Lebron James, Reggie Bushes, Grady Sizemores, Deion Sanders, etc.... start playing soccer and get addicted as kids, USA soccer will be much better than they are now.
My previous post was more for humor than anything... I legitimately watched my first soccer match during the Confed Cup last year, when my first impression of USA soccer was our "best player" crying because he lost. I found that almost humiliating honestly... but that's a whole nuther conversation.