Cobi Jones on the WILD Experience of the 1994 World Cup| Unfiltered Soccer
MLS youth development
The worst kept secret in MLS is that teams are not producing young talent. You're not selling young talent. When you take a 16, 17-year-old and you nurture them, they're on the next plane in three years when they don't pan out. I think it's a little bullshit.
World Cup 2026
The pressure is going to start coming in because then they're going to start realizing, OK, this means a lot to a lot of people. This is for your country. This is for your nation. You're the host country, so there's even more pressure.
MLS vs USL
There's a snobbery in MLS when it comes to roster building. If you looked at the top 10 best players in the USL, they can absolutely 100% compete within an MLS roster.
1994 World Cup legacy
If any U.S. team gets through their group and valiantly bows out to the eventual World Cup winner 1-0 in a brilliant game, we would say, hats off to you. I don't think we say that about this '94 team, but these were a bunch of college kids.
For that era, we were still looking for teams. There was no MLS. Those were the moments where we were able to show ourselves internationally and teams were able to come in and they picked us up. Myself going to England, Alexi going to Italy.
USMNT
I want to see this team come together as a group. The biggest job for them is going to be finding that mix of the skill level that they obviously have, but also the grit. You've got to find a way that it gels together.
LA Galaxy
I think this is going to be the most challenging coaching job for Greg Vanney. You're not going to have a Riqui Puig that is that X factor, that cheat code. It's a challenge for the whole organization.
1994 World Cup
After the 94 World Cup, I was planning to go back to UCLA and finish up school. It was a different world.
Premier League longevity
I played every game humanly possible. I knew I was stuck on 399 Premier League appearances. James Milner has 654. It's remarkable to keep yourself that fit, that motivated.