Qualifying is fine the way it is. No doubt CONCACAF is not equal to Europe or South America. It is on par with Africa, Asia and Oceania. But R\regional play is fine and even with modern air travel, a large group play round is impractical and stacked against those that have to travel the farthest (that means us).
No, the USMNT just has to improve incrementally like we have been. We were just near the level of the best in 2002. We humiliated Portugal, Mexico and with good honest refereeing, would have beat Germany in the Quarterfinals. We lost that edge for a number of reasons, but being in CONCACAF is probably not one of the important ones.
Just my opinion.
We’ll be a contender to actually win the WC when we have what all
WC winners have - a team mainly/entirely full of players who all play for big clubs in truly “major” leagues (England, Germany, Italy, Spain), with one or two of these players being actual “All Stars” (to use an American sports term) in those leagues.
I agree the first step is to get back to a 2002 level, where we are the clear power of our region.
I just don’t see us rising to the level of Europe/South America without harder qualifying requirements. Beating Germany would be something, but beating Portugal didn’t mean very much. By Ronaldo’s own public admission, they are not a top-tier team.
“On par” with Africa, Oceania, or Asia won’t win a World Cup.
And that was with Arena as coach.
Arena might wind up being the beneficiary of replacing Klinsmann as Joachim Low has been with Germany. Klinsi did some good things to change the team culture, as he did with Germany during his tenure there. But I just think players don't respond well to him, and that is his downfall.