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USMNT vs. Bosnia & Herzegovina: Live Commentary

Following the annual January Camp, U.S. Men’s National Team kicks off 2018 with a friendly on Sunday evening.

The U.S. faces off with Bosnia & Herzegovina on Sunday at StubHub Center to conclude the gathering comprised mainly of MLS regulars. WIth many regulars plying their trade in Europe, the U.S. squad is comprised mainly of younger stars and MLS veterans.

Headlining the USMNT lineup are up-and-comers like Tyler Adams, Cristian Roldan, Matt Polster and Walker Zimmerman while MLS veterans Ike Opara, Justin Morrow and C.J. Sapong will also start the match. The most internationally experienced members of the group are Gyasi Zardes and Jordan Morris while Wil Trapp will serve as captain.

The SBI staff will be offering updates and analysis in the comments section below, so feel free to follow along, and as always, please feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions below.

Enjoy the action.

Comments

  1. Lots of energy from both sides, but neither side looked to have the creativity to produce much. The US probably had the advantage in speed, but they were unable to capitalize on that.

    Both defenses prevented any goals, but against better attacks, I am not sure either defensive side would have been so successful.

    I thought Trapp, Adams and Opara were the best of the field players and Rowe made a couple nice long passes that were more or less wasted by the front line. Zimmerman was hard done by the Referee, he did commit the foul, but only after being forced into a bad play when the B-H player got free by fouling a US player

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  2. That’ll do it. A tepid, uninventive, uninspiring overall performance from the Americans. Opara, for me, was the best U.S. player on the night.

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  3. WOW what is Ives Galarcep doing on SBISoccer????

    Miss you old friend. But Franco and the boys are doing well. Totally miss the Q&A sessions.

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  4. Agudelo with a great diagonal ball to Rowe, who one-times a pass to Morris before a shot is blocked. That’s much better soccer.

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  5. Going off the run of play, Bosnia has been the better team thus far tonight. The U.S. performance has improved with the introduction of the substitutes but still very mediocre.

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    • Different kind of players. McCarty began his career as more of midfielder who operated further up the field, but morphed into more of a defensive midfielder during his time with the Red Bulls. Trapp is a distributing 6, who has the qualities to thrive playing alongside better players because he can keep the ball and circulate it to the danger men. He’s 25, so not as young as some other central midfield prospects, but he brings unique qualities to the role that others in the pool do not.

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  6. All right, here we go. A creative player who can make things happen is about to come on field in Agudelo. Let’s see how he fares.

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    • Agudelo is creative, but he nowhere near a creator. He can finish in creative ways and he is relatively crafty with the ball, but if we are counting on his to pull the strings….

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      • Sometimes people confuse flash with creativity. Agudelo has 11 assists in 5 MLS seasons. He can put himself in spots for goal opportunities, but creating for others isn’t his specialty by any means.

      • Jim, I didn’t mean creative in the sense of being a playmaker. Meant it as he can make things happen for himself with ball at his feet. Maybe inventive would have been the better word.

  7. Roldan should have hit that on the one-time. His first touch failed him, ball got away, ruined his angle at the look he had on goal.

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  8. Roldan not having a very good night. Normally I’d say he’s hurting his cause but we no manager not sure this performance matters for anyone.

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  9. Zimmerman unlucky on the penalty call there, but the U.S. is bailed out as the shot drills the post. At least we have some action to start the second 45.

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      • That’s sad that he’s behind Sapong when Sapong shouldn’t even be part of the next qualifying cycle due to his age, Agudelo has proved nothing so far in his career as well

  10. Zack Steffen about to check into the game at the start of the second half. Looking forward to seeing him earn his first cap.

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  11. Pretty unimpressive. One thing that bugs me is when Sapong gets the ball at the top of the 18 yard box with no defenders really close, with a clear look at goal and he tries to make a perfect pass which is intercepted and the attack breaks down. You’re a striker, you are supposed to shoot and score goals. if you have a shot, then take it. It’s a goddamn friendly, shoot when you can, people. At least two other times we lost opportunities because players waited too long to pass or shoot. You’d think they would know by now that you have to play quickly if you want to score, unless you’re Messi, of course.

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  12. If you fell asleep during that half, I don’t blame you. FS1 broadcast is going to talk about Jonathan Gonzalez in a few minutes, however, so that might be worth getting and staying up for.

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  13. And it’s halftime. One real chance there at the end for Bosnia & Herzegovina from what was a fairly lifeless half. Lack of a playmaker for the U.S. led to a sloppy, sloppy half. All pretty expected, but interested to see some of the younger options thrown into the mix.

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  14. Finally a little bit of action as Hamid makes a big save. Zimmerman gets caught a bit flat-footed and the ball falls right near the penalty spot. Fortunately for the U.S., Hamid makes the save on the first real chance of the match.

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  15. As we get close to half, Ives and Franco who do you think is the favorite to replace Gulati not necessarily who you’d vote for but who you think will win?

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  16. The U.S. pool for the most part just lacks creativity. No one in this game can do anything special with the ball at their feet. It’s all predictable, which is part of why the attack has been toothless thus far.

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    • Some posters here said that losing Gonzalez was no big deal because we have a lot of good young midfielders coming up. Not much on display here and Adams has not impressed at all. Let’s hope that Lletget becomes that guy because we sure need a distributor.

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      • Adams has been pretty good, but he is not the creative/distributor type that you are looking for. In lieu of the older guys like Sacha and Benny, who might be completely passed over, the guy you are looking for is probably still a couple years away in someone like Carleton or Pomykal.

      • I’m not totally ignorant. I know Gonzalez is a defensive mid as is Adams, but I was speaking generally of midfielders and at least, according to reports, Gonzalez has creative ability that is sorely lacking with most US players. McKennie is also a defensive mid, as is Acosta and Pulisic is more of an attacking mid or striker, so we are strong at defensive mids, but not playmakers. Our best hope among youngsters (I don’t consider Lletget a youngster) would seem to be Carleton, but he’s so young it remains to be seen how well he develops. I thought I could talk generally about our team’s midfield prospects without having to go into details, but here they are.

      • Probably too early to tell on anyone, both McKennie and Adams played more of a distributor role in their youth days but were shifted to lesson the pressure on them at this stage in their career. Adams should have more opportunities to work on that part of his game this season. Reyna would be a future option but honestly that’s just having seen highlights. I think Carleton is more in the Pulisic mold as a supporting striker but we’ll see what Tata makes him into. Lletget wasn’t a playmaker at this age either so perhaps another European trained midfielder can morph into that role as well.

  17. I understand this is January camp but these are suppose to be the best Americans in MLS except for a few of the older holdovers and it is bad. No creativity, no possession and no clue of how to attack. These are Pro’s with 3 weeks of training and they look lost

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    • It’s the best younger MLS players (minus the FC Dallas guys). If it were the BEST in MLS it would have Bradley and Altidore. The reality is there are no young American attacking midfielders in MLS, so that’s asking here. Also think Sarachan should have started Arriola for Zardes. January games are almost always disjointed, and the flaws today are no surprise.

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    • Not even close to all of the best Americans playing in MLS. In addition to Bradley and Altidore, no Klestjan, Acosta, Nagbe, Besler, Dempsey…

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  18. Wow I think there are as many SBI contributors on here tonight as there are US fans at the Stub Hub Center. Thanks Ryan, Franco, and Ives. Ives or Franco were either of you able to attend any training? If so any surprises?

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  19. Some good work from Wil Trapp and CJ Sapong early on, but a lack of rhythm so far. No surprise in a January camp game.Still surprised we didn’t see Paul Arriola start. Not impressed with Zardes early on, but it’s early still, 23rd minute.

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  20. It’s been a pretty dull opening 15 minutes. Not much attacking creativity or fluidity. Not uncommon for a January camp friendly, but have to hope it gets better as game goes on.

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  21. Fairly energetic start from both teams, but not much in terms of chances. Sapong gets in space on the right after swapping with Morris, but he completely flubs the cross.

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    • Just the way January camp works. There will be plenty of shuffling, I’m sure. My big complaint? No natural play-maker, although this camp isn’t exactly littered with them so I get it.

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  22. Good evening all. It’s time for the first USMNT match of the year and, while it may be lacking a bit of luster for obvious reasons, there are still some interesting storylines to watch.

    Many of the more intriguing youngsters start on the bench but, in terms of the starting lineup, the midfield is the spot to watch. Tyler Adams looks to be a key part of the future, while Cristian Roldan and Wil Trapp could certainly jump into big roles for the coming cycle.

    What will you be watching for? Which USMNT stars are you most excited to see? Predictions for tonight? Fire your questions/analysis our way before, during and after Sunday’s match.

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