Christian Pulisic at AC Milan, Timothy Weah at Juventus, or be it Folarin Balogun at AS Monaco—America must be proud of the majority of its players representing some of the biggest clubs in Europe. As impressive as this is, what about the players from the States’ very own league, MLS? In today’s day and age, there are hardly any big names from the Golden Generation who proudly represent domestic and international badges; a sad reality that Thierry Henry can relate to.

The French icon who spent significant time in the MLS between 2010 to 2014, knows the kind of level that the US Men’s National Team had in the early days, with most of their stars playing remarkably in the MLS. However, not only did the ante go down, but even the current roster isn’t up to its mark, according to Henry. The vocal assertion was made in last week’s CBS Sports Golazo show.

With the regular panel of Jamie Carragher and Micah Richards, with former USMNT star Mike Grella as guest, host Kate Abdo questioned Henry whether he sees the Star and Stripes breaking out of their worst stretch. In response, the Arsenal legend replied, “Well, that depends on Pochettino and what he’s going to do with the team.”

The French U23 coach claims that people often target the main guy on the team, like Christian Pulisic. However, Henry believes that isn’t how a team can achieve success. “When you’re the main man, people are going to wonder what you’re doing or not. I think it’s a collective thing for me when I watch them play.”

Henry expressed his dissatisfaction with the performance of the Mikey Varas-led team against Canada but acknowledged that he did not participate in the New Zealand game. “I watched the game against Canada. They were nowhere to be seen in that game, it was very difficult,” added the 47-year-old, rather heaping praise on Jesse Marsch for proving himself to the CanMNT.

Again shedding negative light on the USMNT, Henry added, “It’s been the story for a very long time. I played there and I know how it is.” However, just when you think his war of words is over, there’s more.

Thierry Henry believes Christian Pulisic and Co. would not make it to the old USMNT roster!

Just after ending his criticism of Christian Pulisic and Co., Thierry Henry picked up a heated argument with guest reporter Mike Grella, asking how many players from the current US roster will make it into the team of Landon Donovan and Co. Interestingly, Grella replied diplomatically, stating that individually, the majority of players are making an impression with their talent. “We have players playing in the Champions League which was not normal back in 2002,” he said.

Grella highlighted the other aspects of the game, like the ‘personality, character, maturity, and pride’ of wearing the shirt. While the former Columbus Crew star admitted that the present USMNT roster lacks collective understanding and maturity, he still slammed the boys vs men comparison. Additionally, when asked again how many current USA players would make it into Donovan’s era, Grella said, “two or three,” while denying to name which players would.

When Mike asked Henry to comment on his opinion, the former Barcelona man replied, “Oh I said it so many times. I thought the American-based players in the MLS were better than the American players now in the MLS.”

In short, Henry believes that not a single player from the current USMNT roster would make it the team of the older generation. While it’s his experience that says this, we would like to know your thoughts on the same.