This afternoon, the USA Men’s Olympic Soccer Team begins their tournament in Marseille against the host nation, France. On Monday, we published a poll to get readers’ picks for the starting lineup. After receiving 302 responses, let’s look at the results!
Here’s the roster readers were choosing from:
Goalkeepers (2):
– Patrick Schulte (Columbus Crew)
– Gaga Slonina (Chelsea FC)
Defenders (6):
– Maximilian Dietz (Fürth)
– Nathan Harriel (Philadelphia Union)
– Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati)
– John Tolkin (New York Red Bulls)
– Caleb Wiley (Chelsea FC)
– Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC)
Midfielders (5):
– Gianluca Busio (Venezia)
– Benjamin Cremaschi (Inter Miami CF)
– Jack McGlynn (Philadelphia Union)
– Djordje Mihailovic (Colorado Rapids)
– Tanner Tessmann (Venezia)
Forwards (5):
– Paxten Aaronson (Utrecht)
– Taylor Booth (Utrecht)
– Duncan McGuire (Orlando City)
– Kevin Paredes (Wolfsburg)
– Griffin Yow (Westerlo)
With those players available, here’s the lineup readers selected:
The lineup choices weren’t very controversial. The closest battle was between Taylor Booth (211 votes), Djordje Mihailovic (199), and Paxten Aaronson (188). Booth and Mihailovic made it into the starting XI, with Paxten just missing out.
As the Olympics continue, we’ll be able to see trends over time. Gaga Slonina received nearly two-thirds of votes, ahead of Columbus Crew netminder Patrick Schulte. Over-age center-back duo Miles Robinson and Walker Zimmerman were near-unanimous. Caleb Wiley significantly outpaced John Tolkin at left back (perhaps partially due to Wiley’s recent high-profile move to Chelsea from Atlanta United).
The front six was the most interesting part of the field. Venezia duo Tessmann and Busio were clear choices, as were Kevin Paredes, who naturally plays out wide, and Duncan McGuire up top. That left two remaining attacking positions, where Taylor Booth and Djordje Mihailovic were top picks. Paxten Aaronson is the only player who received more than 38% of votes who didn’t make it into the XI.
What do you all think? How can we keep improving this format in the future? What do you think of the results? What lineup do you think we’ll see today? Which players are you excited about? Hit the comments to discuss.
