Former United States coach Bob Bradley is confident that the game will continue to grow in America but believes that plenty of improvements can still be made at club and international level.
Bradley took charge of the U.S. men's national team after the 2006 World Cup and, at the next edition of the tournament four years later, they topped their group ahead of England, Slovenia and Algeria before suffering an extra-time loss against Ghana in the last-16.
Bradley was relieved of his duties in July 2011 and, having since managed the Egypt national team and Norwegian club Stabaek, has been in charge of French side Le Havre since November. The Ligue 2 side are currently third and chasing promotion.
An MLS Cup winner with Chicago Fire in 1998, the 58-year-old believes American soccer is moving in the right direction.
"Without a doubt the game is growing and [with] the coverage and the fact that there are more teams in the league, it gets discussed more and more," he told ESPN FC in a telephone interview. "The spotlight gets greater so there's a lot of really positive things.
"But every now and then it's important to step back and not let any of that get in the way of really assessing the job that gets done in terms of the quality of play, in terms of improvement, in terms of developing players. I think there are good examples. I think that there are other situations that don't do things as well."
Bradley was sacked by U.S. Soccer soon after they lost to Mexico in the 2011 Gold Cup final. Ex-Germany international Jurgen Klinsmann succeeded him and oversaw a run to the 2014 World Cup Round of 16, in which the United States lost 2-1 to Belgium after extra-time.
Results since then have declined, however, and Klinsmann has come under increasing pressure following a draw against Trinidad and Tobago and a 2-0 defeat against Guatemala in 2018 World Cup qualifiers.
Bradley believes that, no matter who holds the top roles in U.S. soccer, the same challenges will crop up again and again.
"I felt very strongly after the World Cup in 2010 that we had grown over those four years," he said. "We all felt there was more there for us in that World Cup but that we were in position to continue to move forward.
"I still felt over the next year that we were looking at players, trying to find ways to improve and that the work was going in a good direction and didn't agree with U.S. Soccer's decision.
"But at that point, I'm out and then I continue to watch and hope that things can continue to move forward. And I would say that in the time since, there are days when you feel like you like what you see. There are other days where you don't. It's the way the game works.
"Every camp, every opportunity you have to get a team together. Doing things right, bringing new players in, seeing how they fit into the group. Trying to establish a real identity so that every time the team steps on the field, there's a real sense of what it's all about.
"Those challenges never stop and so I continue to watch and of course I'll bet the U.S. can continue to move forward."