Pre-match: USA vs Bolivia May 28th, 2018

Sargent in - so interesting. I''m assuming Johannsson and Brooks are better off with summer vacation

Bolivia may be the game where we see the most subs.Just thinking aloud here......23 man roster

--------------------Novakovich/Weah----Jozy/Sargent-----Pulisic/Dwyer

--------Saief/Ream--------McKennie-------------------Delgado/Parks--------Adams

--------------------------------------------Trapp/Roldan

-------V/fana------------Miazga/Parker-----------------CCV/Glad---------Yedlin

--------------------------------------GK: Guzan/Steffen/Hamid

What strikes me is how much more flexible our players are than in times past,

Front line: I guess Jozy and Dom are questionable. Sarachan hasn't called in either and it's hard to say why he should pick them over somebody else

For Ream haters: He is in form, could be in Prem, can play cb/lb/lmid and passes well out of the back, knows the 3cb formation, does well on set plays, played for Sarachan-Arena during the reign of error last year.

Dwyer seems to be in form. He played well with the Gold Cup prelim roster but Arena sent him home for no apparent (good) reason.

Like others I would like to see Sarachan get ruthless with Adams and move him to the outside so he can start attacking and get us some goals like this one.

 

Also saw on ESPN that Pulisic is in for the Bolivia game. Obviously, that's not super surprising, especially since it's near his hometown, but I guess it's slightly newsworthy given that he wasn't at the other Sarachan-era games.

I think it's also a little interesting that word is leaking out about call-ups so early when we're used to not hearing anything until 7-10 days before the game. I wonder if the Euro guys are being clued in early so that they don't head off on vacation at the end of the season.

 

I'm kind of excited to see Pulisic with some of his age group and younger guys since he's played up for a while and the others are now matriculating up there with him. Weah-Sargent-Pulisic seems pretty good with McKennie, Adams, Delgado (maybe Parks) behind him and the young defenders. Not enough experience yet but lots of skill and grit.

 

The cynic in me believes it is being leaked to jump start ticket sales. Monday night against Bolivia with the program in tatters is a hard ticket to sell...

 

The fact the Bolivia game is in Philly and the other games are in Europe was always strange. Bolivia is not a FIFA date, so MLS clubs don't have to release their players. Lots of MLS games 5/26 through 5/30. So, do you bring the European players all the way to Philly then back to Europe? I guess LigaMX will be in playoffs, so maybe most teams will be eliminated and you can pull players from there.

 

I expect this thread to heat up any day now. The game's later this month, after all.

 

Given the presumed shortage of professional players, do you think this would be an opportune time for me to declare my availability for a call-up?

 

Can you play LB?

 

Maybe the thinking was that the Bolivia non-FIFA date game would be the game to more fully test marginal players in Europe like Robinson, Novakovich, Weah, Sargent, Parks, EPB, so we aren't guessing when we put them in against France.

For my part, I'd like to see us maintain the CCV-Miazga pairing with the Trapp-Delgado pairing, and see if we could add EPB in the second half and push some wb's up, like Adams and Saief.

The attacking squad seems wide open and t.b.d. since we didn't see much out of Wood, Nagbe, Saief last outing, also Weah and Novakovich had little time on the ball. Getting McKennie into the mix with Pulisic looks like a no brainer.

 

I've heard it from the best authorities that anyone can play left back. I, myself, am usually left out.

 

Bolivian media reports that they will bring their U-23 team for the match against the U.S. So despite it being a 3 1/2 hour drive for me, I'm not gonna spend 100 bucks ($50 ticket plus gas/toll, food/drinks) to see you guys hand us a huge blowout defeat.

If it were our Senior team, despite knowing that we would lose, I would've gone to see how close the result would've been. We're at the start of a 3 year rebuilding plan as 80% of our current Senior team wouldn't be called up to the next qualifiers so I understand the decision to play the young fellows but I would have expected a veteran or two to join them just make sure it doesn't get out of hand and thus not hurt their confidence as much. I will be watching on TV though!

!Vamos Bolivia!

 

Tim's best as the joker

 

Do you really want to get tied to this program...

 

Well, your u23's will be 27 for Qatar so you'd see live how well they measure up against some guys in Europe like Miazga (Eredvisie) CCV (Ch/ship), Weah (PSG U18), Pulisic (BL), McKennie (BL).

You'd get to size up the future which is the real team anyway (eventually).

 

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Something to ponder.

 

US Soccer would be wise to incorporate him in some capacity. He's shown a very good head in the way he brought along his son and in his comments. If nothing else hire him as an advisor or scout in Europe to help new arrivals feel at home at their new clubs.

 

Playing Pulisic for 270' would be dumb. Even if he is being spared playing 3-5 games in Russia, there is no reason for it. I would give him 60' in each game, or maybe just a half. I do think the game against France should be taken as seriously as possible with the other two games warm ups for it.

 

Mr. Pulisic, that's so cute. Everyone knows that SUM is going to do what is good for SUM. The development of the U.S. player pool, generally, and individual players, specifically, is way down on SUM's list of priorities.

U.S. players may as well be playing for the mafia. There is no shared interest, SUM holds all the cards, and once you're in, there's no getting out.

 

Some of you are so down on the program and negative about everything I wonder why you bother to even post anymore!