USMNT Depth Chart Poll Series: Results and the Formation Poll

We’ve finally arrived! After weeks of polling, the votes have been tallied and the results are in. If we had a game to win tomorrow and we needed to put together a team to get a victory in a must-win game, this is what the Stars and Stripes FC Community voted as the depth chart at each position. Note: the number next to the player’s name are the percent of the overall points tallied in each poll. The players in italics were the next in line after the official spots:

Goalkeeper:

1) Zack Steffen (53.14%)

2) Bill Hamid (9.26%)

3) Ethan Horvath (8.76%)

4) Brad Guzan (8.25%)

5) Jonathan Klinsmann (5.66%)

Right Back:

1) DeAndre Yedlin (58.25%)

2) Shaq Moore (13.89%)

3) Timothy Chandler (11.04%)

4) Reggie Cannon (4.93%)

5) Eric Lichaj (3.92%)

Left Back:

1) Antonee Robinson (48.93%)

2) Fabian Johnson (16.75%)

3) Timothy Chandler (8.96%)

4) Jorge Villafaña (6.80%)

5) Eric Lichaj (3.24%)

Centerback:

1) John Brooks (30.11%)

2) Matt Miazga (25.85%)

3) Cameron Carter-Vickers (14.24%)

4) Tim Ream (5.66%)

5) Erik Palmer-Brown (4.56%)

6) Geoff Cameron (4.40%)

7) Tim Parker (3.78%)

8) Walker Zimmerman (3.52%)

Central Defensive Midfielder:

1) Weston McKennie (38.87%)

2) Tyler Adams (35.56%)

3) Danny Williams (5.33%)

4) Kellyn Acosta (4.88%)

5) Michael Bradley (3.30%)

Central Midfielder:

1) Weston McKennie (38.87%)

2) Tyler Adams (29.15%)

3) Kellyn Acosta (9.71%)

4) Darlington Nagbe (3.53%)

5) Danny Williams (3.37%)

6) Michael Bradley (3.33%)

Central Attacking Midfielder:

1) Christian Pulisic (55.00%)

2) Julian Green (10.33%)

3) Timothy Weah (7.59%)

4) Weston McKennie (5.40%)

5) Darlington Nagbe (4.36%)

Right Wing:

1) Christian Pulisic (44.03%)

2) Timothy Weah (33.06%)

3) Jonathan Amon (5.99%)

4) Paul Arriola (4.45%)

5) Lynden Gooch (2.39%)

Left Wing:

1) Timothy Weah (36.05%)

2) Christian Pulisic (23.45%)

3) Jonathan Amon (11.29%)

4) Kenny Saief (8.59%)

5) Fabian Johnson (6.02%)

Striker:

1) Josh Sargent (31.60%)

2) Bobby Wood (26.90%)

3) Jozy Altidore (15.49%)

4) Timothy Weah (11.41%)

5) Andrija Novakovich (5.86%)

6) Jordan Morris (2.04%)

A massive gap between the top one or two spots and the rest of the field was very common among the different positions, which reflects that there is uncertainty over who should occupy those positions should an injury to the top player or two occur. Also, another interesting outcome of the voting occurred. If you look at the names above, you may notice there are enough spots (in the positions we voted for-i.e. the names not in italics) for 35 different players. However, due to the overlapping in the voting only 26 different players are on our list. Overall, there could theoretically be up to 55 different players here, but there are only 40. This is an indication that the community doesn’t feel confident about the depth options at the different positions. We would rather players fill multiple roles to fill holes than have to bring other players. Here’s the problem, though. Human cloning isn’t yet legal, so Timothy Weah, Tyler Adams, Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie can only be in one position at a time when they’re on the field.

That’s where the point percentages and the formation vote come into play. In order to shape a formation, the votes were weighted to reflect how much a player was valued. First place votes count for more than second place votes, which count for more than third place votes, and so on. Those point percentages not only determined what order each player was at each position but also which position is considered his best. For example, Christian Pulisic received a higher percentage of the possible points at the Central Attacking Midfielder position than at Right Wing, so his “best position” for the USMNT is Central Attacking Midfielder. So, in any of the formations below that employ a Central Attacking Midfielder below, Pulisic is in that spot. Whether you feel that should actually be the case or not is up for debate, but it’s a reflection of how good or bad the community feels about the other options at that position. In the case of Weston McKennie (he ended up winning with identical percentages in the Central Midfielder and Central Defensive Midfielder polls), he would be played as a Box-to-Box midfielder due to Adams having a much higher percentage of the vote at the defensive midfielder position. Adams would assume the reserve defensive midfielder role if we played without a box-to-box midfielder.

Below, we have laid out several options that have both the starter and backup option at each position based on the point percentages. Please note that I had to dig deeper in the depth charts than the top two options at many positions due to the overlapping in the voting. In the poll below, please pick the option that you believe would fit the best and put the USMNT in the best possible position to win. Just like the player voting, if there is a formation that you don’t see, please put it in the comments and the number of “recs” it receives will suffice as votes.

4-3-3 (4-1-2-3)

4-2-3-1

4-1-3-2

4-3-1-2 (4-1-2-1-2)

Flat 4-4-2

3-4-1-2 (5-2-1-2)

3-4-3 (5-2-3)

3-3-3-1 (5-1-3-1)

4-1-4-1

5-3-1-1

From whichever formation wins the vote, we will determine a preferred 23 which will take the top 3 Goalkeepers and the top two players at each position.

I want to thank everyone for voting and contributing to this. It’s interesting to find out where we are in terms of some level of consensus at this point in time. Hit the comment section to discuss your formation preference and what you think of the results.