Pre-match: USA vs Bosnia-Herzegovina; January 28th, 2018

Ready to go under the 💡s in LA. Meet your starting XI for #USAvBIH.

Lineup notes » https://t.co/SIG7OMpCH6 pic.twitter.com/CcG7bGgUva

— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) January 29, 2018

So 4-3-3? Zardes of course.

 

That team would have beaten T&T.

 

With the exceptions of Trapp and Zimmerman, that's about the polar opposite of what I'd have put out there.

Terrible.

 

Check that, I'm told the #usmnt formation is 4-1-4-1 with Wil Trapp as the midfielder sitting in front of the back line.

— Jeff Carlisle (@JeffreyCarlisle) January 29, 2018

 

And so it begins.

 

Ramirez not on the bench. I find this rather disappointing.

 

At sprints maybe.

 

No Lennon and no Ramirez.

 

Can’t wait to watch Zardes. Finally a chance to see a technical winger in the US midfield. Unbelievable he hasn’t seen more meaningful minutes before. Some footage from camp:

 

3 RSL players called up and none are gonna play.

 

Was hoping to see Glad and Acosta but they also didn’t even make the bench.

 

Smfh

 

Yeah, I was hoping to get a look at him and Glad. I've got no issues with the others who didn't make the bench.

 

Why? He's Mexican. Haven't you heard? They're no good !

 

It's insane.

I peg Glad as the 2nd best prospect in this camp and he doesn't even make the 18?

And there's no argument that our program is better off wasting a single min on Zardes while Brooks Lennon doesn't make the 18 either.

Hell, why is Zardes in there over Arriola? At least Arriola has some decent tools about him and some potential upside.

Average age of 25 is far too old for this lineup.

 

It's more about increasing the amount of touches a player gets. As well as practicing controlling the ball. It has value.

 

I mean you start to wonder the anti-Latino bias is out there man.

 

That doesn't make sense. Two of the players most of us wanted to watch play.

I don't need to watch Morrow and Opara, they aren't NT players. Glad and Acosta might be NT players.

 

—————29————
18——22——23——26
—————26————
30——28——24——24
—————27————

Agudelo, Ramirez, and Rowe are only 25+ players not starting.

 

and Adams, and Roldan (first two should be obvious), and Hamid, and Morris, and Sapong. Those are all good plays. But it's worse than I hoped. If the plan is to switch out many players at halftime it doesn't matter much though.

 

I’d rather see Ramirez over Sapong

 

Anyone else having issues with FS1? My TV keeps telling me program is unavailable.

 

He's actually of Colombian descent.

 

You could hardly argue with Sapong after how he played last game. He earned more opportunities, and he fits a press tactic unlike I believe Ramirez does. Ramirez should have come in during the 60's or so.

Zardes is redundant, and it makes me worry about creativity/deftness if they sit deep. Needed Rowe out there.

 

They seem to be still selling this as a young lineup with average starting age less than 2 months from being 26.

Substitutes: 22, 24 25, 26, 21, 22, 22, 22, 23

Line up notes...

Substitutes: 12-Zack Steffen, 5-Tim Parker, 7-Juan Agudelo, 11-Kelyn Rowe, 14-Rubio Rubin, 16-Russell Canouse,
18-Marky Delgado, 20-Paul Arriola, 24-Nick Lima

• U.S. MNT Starting XI Cap Numbers (including this match): Gyasi Zardes (38), Jordan Morris (25), Bill Hamid (5), Justin Morrow (4), CJ Sapong (4), Wil Trapp (3), Tyler Adams (2), Cristian Roldan (2), Walker Zimmerman (2), Matt Polster (1), Ike Opara (1)
  
  
• Five of the starting XI are products of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy: Adams (New York Red Bulls), Hamid (D.C. United), Morris (Seattle Sounders FC), Trapp, Columbus Crew SC), Zardes (LA Galaxy)

• The Starting XI’s average cap number (including this match): 7.9 caps
• The Starting XI’s average age: 25 years, 310 days
• Six starters are 25 and younger: Trapp (25); Polster, Zimmerman (24); Morris (23); Roldan (22); Adams (18)

• Defenders Ike Opara and Matt Polster make their MNT debuts tonight vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Along with earning his first start at the senior international level, Wil Trapp captains the MNT for the first time tonight.
• Three players appeared in the MNT’s last match, a 1-1 draw at European champions Portugal on Nov. 14, 2017: Adams, Hamid and Sapong
• Six players earned their MNT debuts in previous January Camp friendlies: Hamid and Sapong (Jan. 21, 2012 vs. Venezuela), Morrow (Jan. 29, 2013 vs. Canada), Trapp and Zardes (Jan. 28, 2015 at Chile), Zimmerman (Feb. 5, 2017 vs. Jamaica).
• Nine different clubs and eight from MLS are represented in the starting XI: Trapp and Zardes (Columbus Crew SC); Morris and Roldan (Seattle Sounders FC); Adams (New York Red Bulls); Hamid (Midtjylland/Denmark); Opara (Sporting Kansas City), Morrow (Toronto FC), Polster (Chicago Fire); Sapong (Philadelphia Union), Zimmerman (LAFC)
• Five more players starting on the bench have the chance to make their MNT debuts tonight: goalkeeper Zach Steffen; defenders Nick Lima and Tim Parker; midfielders Russell Canouse and Marky Delgado
• Teams are allowed six substitutions in tonight’s match.
• With both teams dressing 20 players, the healthy scratches from the game-day roster are goalkeepers Alex Bono and Cody Cropper; defenders Danny Acosta, Justen Glad and Brandon Vincent; midfielders Marlon Hairston, Ian Harkes and Brooks Lennon; forward Christian Ramirez.
• The USA has met Bosnia and Herzegovina once before, utilizing a Jozy Altidore hat trick to earn a wild, 4-3 victory on Aug. 14, 2013 in Sarajevo.