The so-called “Lost Generation” (pinpointed a couple of years ago by Brian Sciaretta) continues to hang over the USMNT. Empty years of talent loomed over the player pool heading into the 2018 World Cup cycle, foretelling disaster, and now shadows Gregg Berhalter’s first months as manager.

The U.S. drag their feet into this year’s Gold Cup with an unbalanced player pool; veteran contributors and super-young phenoms dominate lineups, with little in between.

If the U-20 World Cup is any indication, recent generations will eventually fill the void. But the present, with competitive games looming and World Cup qualifying not far in the distance, is precarious. Contributors are either 20, like Christian Pulisic, or 31, like Michael Bradley. Where are the 26-year-olds? Wil Trapp hasn’t inspired any confidence, at least as a defensive midfielder. DeAndre Yedlin and John Brooks, rare prime-age exceptions, are injured, a common theme for those two. 

The goalkeepers, long a solidified group for the U.S., seem especially affected by the apparent gap in talent. Primary starter Zack Steffen doesn’t have much behind him. The depth chart roughly consists of average-ish MLS starters, older USMNT veterans (i.e. Brad Guzan), and a moshpit of others, with early-30s MLS veterans who were locked out of the national team by Tim Howard — Stefan Frei, Luis Robles, Tim Melia — lying behind Steffen. 

On the Gold Cup depth chart, 30-year-old Sean Johnson and 26-year-old Tyler Miller back up Steffen. Johnson, born in 1989, just outside Sciaretta’s 1990-1994 Lost Generation age range, starts for NYCFC in MLS, and the 26-year-old Miller starts for LAFC. Neither Johnson nor Miller has been a top-tier MLS keeper this season, and Johnson has produced a catastrophic error.

Miller has had a good start to the season but rarely is mentioned among contenders in a wide-open Goalkeeper of the Year race. 

He and Johnson beat out Guzan, Ethan Horvath, and Bill Hamid for Gold Cup spots. Guzan has undoubtedly declined since his Premier League years and seems just about done with his international career. Horvath is an interesting one, because he reportedly had a good season for Club Brugge in Belgium, but he doesn’t seem high on Gregg Berhalter’s depth chart. 

Hamid is an outright snub. Concerns about his distribution are overblown, and he has been solid for D.C. United this year. He is good enough to be on this Gold Cup roster over both Johnson and Miller.

A comb through the rest of the depth chart reveals little of note. Jesse Gonzalez, a 24-year-old at FC Dallas, seems the closest to national team contention. Beyond Gonzalez, MLS veterans like Evan Bush, David Bingham, and Joe Willis populate the keeper pool. Options are sparse. 

Searching out reasons for such a dearth in keeper talent is an imperfect science. Luck always plays a part — the U.S. have been good at producing keepers in the past, so this downturn is in part a simple regression to the mean. A lack of MLS academy opportunities and USL reserve team minutes hurt this group (thankfully, those issues have largely been solved). The U.S. Soccer development problems we all know and obsess over surely played a part.

Projecting keepers younger than the 24-year-old Steffen is difficult. It’s too early to accurately say whether the latest crop will provide more feasible competition. 

Given the trends with the current generation, the U.S. will need players like Miller and Horvath to develop into sturdy options in the short term. A thinning player pool necessitates late-coming contributors. 

The U.S. enter the Gold Cup in a tight position, with a roster that teeters between young and old and has yet to settle into Berhalter’s preferred style. The current goalkeeper group, lacking talent and depth, symbolizes a troubling gap in talent. When Steffen committed his massive howler in the Venezuela friendly, there were no obvious options to challenge him. MLS increasingly relies on foreign keepers and lacks a clear goalkeeping top tier outside of Frei. The goalkeeping dry spell is in full effect.

Harrison Hamm is a sportswriter who covers American soccer and MLS for FloFC. He also covers sports for FanSided and The Comeback, and has freelanced for the Washington Post.