Even Jayson Shaw stated while commentating a match not long ago, there is very little difference between the top Americans and the rest of the world. He even went on to say that he knows of several junior players (one that plays out of his poolroom) that are on track to play at world class speed sooner rather than later.
Certainly the Euros are stronger "on paper", but to say the US doesn't have a chance or needs a miracle, is simply hyperbole for the sake of hyperbole. Luckily for the US side, the match must be won on the cloth and not by a comparison of fargo rates
Jayson is either being diplomatic, delusional, or just plain mistaken here. My guess is diplomatic. The difference on the table has been every bit as great as Fargo Rates (which places just 4 American players in the world top 75) suggest it should be. Europe has won 9 of the last 11 Mosconi Cups, and American players have fallen off the map in the biggest events.
Here's a sampling of the medalists in the biggest events played in the past couple of years.
2019 Derby City 9-ball: Woodward (gold), Aranas (silver), Gorst (bronze)
2019 US Open: Filler (gold), Wu (silver), DeLuna (tied for bronze) and YL Chang (tied for bronze)
2019 World Pool Masters: Alcaide (gold), Kazakis (silver), Kaci (tied for bronze), Woodward (tied for bronze)
2019 World Cup of Pool: Austria (gold), Philippines (silver), Netherlands (tied for bronze), Spain (tied for bronze)
2019 Internaitonal 9-ball: Shaw (gold), Lechner (silver), Filler (bronze)
2019 World 9-ball: Gorst (gold), JL Chang (silver), Liu Haitao (bronze)
2019 World 10-ball: Ko Ping Chung (gold), Filler (silver), Ko Pin-Yi (bronze)
2020 Derby City 9-ball: Cortezza (gold), Filler (silver), Orcullo (tied for bronze), Aranas (tied for bronze)
2021 Predator PCL: Ouschan (gold), Alcaide (silver), Melling (tied for bronze), Kaci (tied for bronze)
2021 World Cup of Pool: Germany (gold), England (silver), Estonia (tied for bronze), Slovakia (tied for bronze)
2021 World Pool Masters: Kazakis, Van Boening (silver), Grabe (tied for bronze), Filler (tied for bronze)
2021 World Pool Championship: Ouschan (gold), Al-Shaheen (silver), Szolnocki (tied for bronze), Alciade (tied for bronze)
American players are way behind Europe, combining for just one gold, one silver and one bronze in what I believe to have been the twelve most significant events played in either Europe or the US since the beginning of 2019. By comparison, Europe has nine golds, six silvers, and thirteen bronzes.
No, the difference between Europe and America right now is huge, and Europeans perform almost as well on US soil as on European soil. The worst thing that could ever happen to the American contingent would be for them to be deluded about their current standing in the world of major international pool events. They need to own the gap between them and Europe and do something about it.