Not all social media lineup cards are created equal. At minimum, they’re supposed to tell a viewer at a glance who is playing that day. Some of them do a very good job of this, while others barely meet that requirement.
I hate rankings, as often times they’re pretty arbitrary. I’ve tried to make these rankings as metric-based as possible, however there is a certain aesthetic that a lineup card should have that is immeasurable by metrics. The things we can actually measure are worth points, however. Points are given for the following:
- Player full name (where applicable)
- Player number
- Player photo
- Positions (or identifiability of the position a player is playing in formation)
- Listing of the bench players
- Listing of the captain
- Match information (Date, time, location, and opponent are critical)
So let’s take a look at the lineup cards presented this week by MLS clubs, ranking them from worst to best.