Chicago (August 27, 2017)- Bruce Arena Announced the USMNT Roster for the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers. The USMNT is slated to play Costa Rica on Friday, September 1st, and then travel to Honduras on September 5th.
USMNT Roster Announced for World Cup Qualifiers: Breakdown and Analysis
Bruce Arena’s roster didn’t have too many surprises, that is if you anticipated a few fringe faces due to the injuries. They’ll be without DeAndre Yedlin and John Brooks. Here is the roster:
Goalkeepers (3): Brad Guzan (Atlanta United FC), Tim Howard (Colorado Rapids), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
Defenders (9): DaMarcus Beasley (Houston Dynamo), Matt Besler (Sporting KC), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City FC), Omar Gonzalez (Pachuca CF), Matt Hedges (FC Dallas), Eric Lichaj (Nottingham Forest) Tim Ream (Fulham FC), Jorge Villafaña (Santos Laguna), Graham Zusi (Sporting KC)
Midfielders (9): Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas), Paul Arriola (D.C. United), Alejandro Bedoya (Philadelphia Union), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Fabian Johnson (Borussia Mochengladbach), Dax McCarty (Chicago Fire), Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers) Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders)
Forwards (5): Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC), Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes), Bobby Wood (Hamburg SV)
As mentioned above, not a whole lot of surprises. If there are any surprises its that Wondo got a call-up. While it might annoy or frustrate many people, the only “in-form” American striker that could’ve been seen as a sensical swap would have been Christian Ramirez, who has cooled off lately.
Other notable players that were left off the roster were: Timmy Chandler, Jermaine Jones, and Gyasi Zardes. All of them just simply haven’t been in good form. No Jermaine Jones, but the inclusion of players like Roldan and Dax show that Arena simply isn’t convinced that Jones has it anymore.
Potential XI: Bruce has a good roster at his disposal and I think he’d be willing to play something similar to what we saw in the match against Honduras in March. The big question is what to do with Christian Pulisic. We know Michael Bradley is better as a lone defensive midfielder, so that would give someone else some freedom above him, that player would likely be Pulisic. Another question Does Bobby Wood find himself on the bench? Here is what I would try for the match against Costa Rica:
If they needed to change it up, they could easily swap Wood for Dempsey and roll with the 4-3-2-1 look with Pulisic and Dempsey roaming underneath Altidore.
USA takes on Costa Rica on Friday, September 1st. Coverage from Red Bull Arena will take begin on FS1 at 5:30 eastern time.
