The U.S. men’s national team seeks a bounce back win in its final match of the September window on Tuesday.
Following Saturday’s 2-1 home loss to CONCACAF rivals Canada, the USMNT will try and avoid their first four-match losing streak since 2007. New Zealand will oppose the Americans at TQL Stadium, with both teams seeking a better overall performance than their recent matches over the weekend.
Mikey Varas went with many of his top players in Kansas City on Saturday including Christian Pulisic, Chris Richards, and Joe Scally. However, it was players like Luca De La Torre, Aidan Morris, and Ricardo Pepi who had a larger impact on the match.
With the USMNT needing more fight to earn their first post-Copa America win, here is the starting lineup we could see the USMNT deploy against New Zealand on Tuesday, as well as the lineup we would deploy if we were making the final lineup decisions:
GOALKEEPER
Who should start: Matt Turner
Matt Turner was not used in Saturday’s loss vs. Canada but should get his opportunity against New Zealand.
Turner has not featured yet this season at club level, opening the door for an opportunity on the international stage. Patrick Schulte made several key saves against Canada, but expect Turner to remain the No. 1 moving forward unless something changes.
DEFENDERS
Who should start: Marlon Fossey, Mark McKenzie, Auston Trusty, Caleb Wiley
The purpose of the September window is to provide ample opportunities for players and it would be nice to see Mikey Varas rotate in the back.
The USMNT backline struggled at times against Canada, which ultimately led to a pair of goals from Jacob Shaffelburg and Jonathan David. Providing opportunities to others in the camp could be crucial in the growing process of the program heading into the fall.
Marlon Fossey has remained a consistent performer at Standard Liege and he deserves a chance to show what he’s got with the USMNT. His two-way abilities could provide a major boost against New Zealand.
Mark McKenzie and Auston Trusty embarked on new chapters of their club careers and a start alongside one another could bring back a key partnership. McKenzie and Trusty paired up during their time with the Philadelphia Union and are strong passers out of the back, something that Varas has continued in his defensive tactics.
Caleb Wiley will also be seeking his opportunity in the backline. Wiley made the loan move to Strasbourg this season and has quickly earned playing time in France.
He remains a top prospect with the USMNT and like Fossey, deserves a chance.
MIDFIELDERS
Who should start: Yunus Musah, Brenden Aaronson, Aidan Morris
Keeping Yunus Musah in the starting lineup is a necessary job for Varas on Tuesday night.
Musah remains a key part of the squad and works tirelessly on both sides of the field. Whether it is right in front of the backline, or higher upfield, expect to see Musah leading the midfield in Cincinnati.
Johnny Cardoso and Malik Tillman were ineffective against Canada, opening the door for Brenden Aaronson and Aidan Morris to come into the starting lineup. Morris set up Luca De La Torre for the USMNT’s lone goal of the match while Aaronson could drop into midfield.
De La Torre did score against Canada, but could be saved for a bench role in order to preserve his long-term fitness. He missed Celta Vigo’s start to the season through injury.
Christian Pulisic could also drop into midfield if needed, but expect him to start as a winger.
FORWARDS
Who should start: Haji Wright, Josh Sargent, Christian Pulisic
Christian Pulisic deserves an opportunity to bounce back himself after a quiet performance against Canada. He remains the USMNT’s most skillful attacker and should see another opportunity at left wing.
Both Josh Sargent and Haji Wright did not start against Canada, but could see time alongside Pulisic in the 4-3-3 formation. Sargent did not feature against the Canadians while Wright came off the bench.
Wright’s versatility will likely see him at right wing while Sargent is expected to mainly feature as just a No. 9. While Folarin Balogun and Ricardo Pepi will also fight for chances, I expect to see Sargent/Wright together.
Cade Cowell was lively off the bench against Canada and could also see minutes. It is undetermined if Cowell will be used as a starter, but he seems to be better used off the bench.
More fluidity is needed in the final third though, regardless of who starts for the USMNT.
What do you think of our projected lineups? Which would you start? Who are you most excited to see play? Are there any doubts you have?
Share your thoughts below.
Been waiting and excited to see the CB pairing of McKenzie and Richards.
should be kochen in at keeper, serves a purpose, builds toward cap tie. if he doesn’t want to play along he should have been left off the list. turner is top 3 but should have been dropped to leave the space open for trials. horvath on either club form or NT performance this summer shouldn’t even be here, even if we were calling a veteran best 3.
i fully expect it’s turner because we’re heavy into symbolism and not substance. just like i expect poch to be announced but watching tonight. we’ll waste the substance of the window so TNT can take the style camera shot of the new coach happily watching from the stands. just like gold cup 23 they were airing the berhalter news as callaghan got outcoached by panama. which, they’ll say, but we’re taking this seriously and he coached this week. you mean you took the window so serious you went with some age group coach or career assistant as the caretaker. getting the new coach involved is somehow less serious than that. to me it’s more we wouldn’t like the PR image if they stumbled from the gate. so we want the full set of practices, even if we’re burning games to get to the next set of practices.
wright at striker, sargent wide. i have no idea why we are taking the best big game striker (goal on holland, 2 winning goals on jamaica in the NL final, goal on morocco in the friendly) and dropping him to the bench or trying to move him wide, so we can, what, give sargent his 3rd? 4th? go at this? like the guy who played most of that same world cup and did jack. in terms of striker NT ball sargent is worse than vazquez.
so if anyone should be shifting wide to take their chances, it’s sargent. this is backwards. and i know they badly want sargent to work central and keep trying to force it — but that’s my point.
to the extent it’s us mimicking coventry’s usage of him, when did we become monkey see monkey do? i keep saying this on our european age group prospects. when did we lose our own evaluations and ideas?
also, there is a lot of talk re mentality and toughness. then people suggest sargent play based on stats. those same people don’t seem to get the disconnect between what the perceived issues are and who they are then suggesting to improve things. or how picking players for stat lines without regard to toolboxes, intensity levels, and their particular game might be part of the reason we’re a tad lazy and soft.
i mean, setting aside the whole norwich numbers thing, isn’t the book on sargent technical, but only if left alone, gawky and disappears in physical games just when you need a holdup man or target striker? and that’s your fix for a team that needs to scrap more?
the usual response is to say he does run around — but he doesn’t actually win the ball much. i am not looking for a hard running chicken, i am looking for winning the ball.
It’s New Zealand playing in America. CP has to start. We still have to find out if he’s capable. We don’t know if he’s any good so when he has a bad game, he automatically starts the very next one. Out of the 2 friendly’s, this is the one match he can pad his stats. He scores we win; and the entitlement program continues. Collective amnesia happens to the cult with the exception of myself. The least athletic get applauded & complimented for being athletic. The futbol geniuses continue to use their one Albert Einstein quote. Does anyone know any other quotes of Einstein or are we going to keep proving that people who use this quote are actually insane. Are we not smart enough to understand how ironic quoting someone who just simply quotes the definition of insanity? You are proving that you’re insane by repeating this quote & expecting different results. Most of you were on the sac of the players in the starting lineup against Canada. Balogun, CP, Ream, Tillman, Scally, Ream, Cardoso were all put on a pedestal at some point the last 4 years. CP has started at LW in 99% of the US devastating losses and the soccer geniuses don’t apply definition of insanity to his situation and say nothing. Quoting intelligent people doesn’t make you smart just like balling out for your club doesn’t make you a baller internationally for your country. If you don’t want to go back in forth, Striker91, stop jumping on my thread. The highest 2 feet vertical jumper is a Puerto Rican. I bet you a boricua, don’t even know his name. Just like the commenter from San Diego can’t name a single athlete from his own city who’s done anything worthwhile. If you’re going to quote a scholar of science, then why are you not talking about ball inertia? Body torque? Foot speed & Foot placement? Why not speak more on passing angles? Exact passes angles, not vague stuff like diagonal or long balls. You know science. I send new fans here all the time to read articles and the comments. Y’all seriously make me look bad. I really try to sit back and read. In my life experience normal people like reading things that makes sense.
bro shut up your an idiot put some respect on me and my cousin Chris Armas name cabron, you jealous idiot. I will jump on your thread if I want to. Stop saying dumb border line bigot/xenophobic comments. I welcome a open discussion, but your to dumb and stuck up to have one.
Also Puerto Ricans, are American Doofy!
Mush I understand. But what’s the point in running Christian out?
“…opening the door for Aaronson to start…” huh? He started the last game and was ineffective, dare I say as usual. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.
I’m so tired of watching our smaller guys constantly getting knocked off the ball. Let Cowell start. Giving him minutes last game against arguably the best wing back in the biz wasn’t really fair.
Turner? No. He’s not match sharp. Time to let Schulte build his case as the number 1.
Josh your right, deploying Aaronson in a non effective position he previously once was in, would be very foolish of Varas.
Start 11 guys that didn’t start last time. Most on Saturdays 11 looked like they didn’t want to be there anyway.
Wright—Sarge—-Cowell
—————-Luca———————
——-Morris—-Musah———
Wiley-Trusty-McK—Fossey
—————-Kochen—————
Had to start Musah, couldn’t stand the thought of Aaronson being little brothered by New Zealand. Could be talked into CP as the 10 and Luca next to Aidan, Musah on bench.
I like the CP as 10 idea. I also think Pepi up top, Sargent out wide. Use Cowell and Musah as subs. Tillman sub for CP. Definitely give that back four a chance so we know what they have or don’t.