Topics: Serie A, Juventus, La Liga, Barcelona, Weston McKennie, Sergiño Dest, USMNT, Mexico, Raúl Gutiérrez, Mexico U-17
It's quite something to be hired by one of the best teams in the world, but that is not necessarily a good omen for success, acording to this former El Tri boss.

Having some of your youngest talents playing for some of the top clubs in the world might not bring the success expected by USMNT fans in the near future, according to a former FIFA World Cup champion with Mexico.

Speaking in an interview with Mexican podcast El Calambre, two-time finalist with the U-17 Mexican team and champion in the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup Raúl Gutiérrez hinted that the recent signings involving USMNT players such as Sergiño Dest (Barcelona), Weston McKennie (Juventus) or Giovanni Reyna (Borussia Dortmund) do not necessarily guarantee success on the long run for the USMNT or its youth teams.

"What is happening with North American players is great from a marketing point of view. Nevertheless, you can't think that they will be successful with their club or with the national team just because they signed. It is yet to be seen how and when they will play, but right now, I don't see how that will help the USMNT become better than our national teams, both in the youth categories and in the senior teams," Gutiérrez said.

The former defender and member of the 1994 World Cup with El Tri led the Mexican U-17 team to two World Cup finals in 2011 and 2013, winning the first one and losing the second one.

 

Gutiérrez went on to urge the media to stop comparing MLS clubs and Liga MX sides, mainly because even their calendars are different.

"The MLS is a different kind of tournament and it cannot be compared to Liga MX or any other league. When everyone else is playing they are still on vacations, and that fact should be enough to stop comparing both North American leagues. If they truly want to be competitive, they should follow the regular calendar followed all over the world," the coach added.

Before the interview concluded, Gutiérrez praised the MLS' marketing efforts, and urged Mexican top-flight execs to try and copy those patterns.

"Their marketing campaigns are quite impressive, they surely know how to sell their product. If there is something that I'd love to see Mexican teams doing like their MLS counterparts, that would be it," Gutiérrez concluded.