Bruce Arena must juggle generational change on U.S. men's soccer team | John Smallwood

Clint Dempsey and Christian Pulisic were the headline performers in the recent resuscitation of the United States in trying to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

Dempsey, 34, scored four goals as the USA netted a vital four points in a 6-0 smashing of Honduras and a 1-1 draw in Panama.

Pulisic, the 18-year-old wunderkind from Hershey, assisted on three of Dempsey's goals and tallied one of his own.

The 16-year difference in age between Dempsey and Pulisic represents a significant issue USA coach Bruce Arena inherited when he replaced fired coach Jürgen Klinsmann in November.

The United States men's national team is in a state of generational transition during qualifying for Russia out of CONCACAF.

One of the criticisms of Klinsmann during the 2014 World Cup was that he selected players looking toward Russia as much as competing in Brazil.

When the United States advanced out of the "Group of Death" in Brazil, those comments were squelched. But the team's inconsistent results, as Klinsmann tinkered with incorporating in more youngsters, ultimately led to his dismal after gaining no points in the first two games of the CONCACAF Hexagonal.

Still, Klinsmann's motivation was not wrong.

Should the USA qualify for Russia, Dempsey, who is now one goal away from matching Landon Donovan as America's all-time top goal scorer (57), will be 35 when the World Cup kicks off on June 14, 2018.

Goalkeeper Tim Howard, who has reclaimed the No.1 spot, will be 39.

If Arena brought the same 23-man roster he fielded against Panama on Tuesday to Russia, 14 players including seven starters would be 30 or older.

That's not a team of Methuselahs but it's not filled with spring chickens either.

The race against undefeated Father Time says the United States can't rely on players of that age to have the legs to be successful in a month-long tournament against the best talent in the world.

Fortunately for the USMNT, Arena has experience in handling the balance of young and old.

Arena's first stint as United States coach included the 2002 and 2006 World Cups. During those two cycles, he gave young players such as Donovan, Dempsey, Howard, DaMarcus Beasley, Pablo Mastroeni, John O'Brien, Josh Wolff, Eddie Johnson, Bobby Convey and Oguchi Onyewu their first World Cup opportunities.

Those players would later contribute to the most successful era of United States soccer.

But the closet semblance of a USA "Golden Generation" is winding down.

Klinsmann may have pushed it quicker than necessary, but for the 2014 World Cup, he took next-wave prospects such as John Brooks (then 21), DeAndre Yedlin (20), Aron Johannsson (23), Mix Diskerud (23) and Julian Green (19).

For the recent qualifiers, besides Pulisic, Arena had Kellyn Acosta (21), Paul Arriola (22) and Sebastian Lletget (24).

The next round of qualifiers is in June, when the United States plays Trinidad & Tobago and Mexico, giving Arena time to properly scout players.

Arena has six matches to get the points required to move out of CONCACAF and into Russia.

It will be interesting to see how he handles young players such as Yedlin (now 23), Green (21), Matt Miazga (21), Lynden Gooch (21), Juan Agudelo (24), Jordan Morris (22), Gedion Zelalem (20) and Keegan Rosenberry (23) of the Philadelphia Union.

Those players are all candidates to be the next generation of United States stars, perhaps as early as the 2018 World Cup.

Still, before children can lead the USA in Russia, the USA must qualify and figuring out the correct balance of old and new to accomplish that is what Arena must do.