You were right Grant when you said earlier that the game would seem dark on TV; there were times when I wondered how it could possibly be ESPN covering the game. J.P's voice was the reminder however. I thought we played well, but missed chances too. It's a win though, and three points at that.

We were not good. Against Cuba, we should have have by 2+ goals. We tried possession and short passing but it was pretty aimless until the boot down the field.

Man, we are doing just enough to qualify for WC '10 and get shown the door in the group stage.

Grant, if you talk to BB, please ask him the following 2 questions:
- Players who don't seem to be producing for the club nor country get chosen over players that are, at least, producing for their club. Why aren't players producing for their club given a chance?
- How is BB developing players that should be able to contribute at WC '10? I can't believe Lewis, Mastro and Ching will still be World Cup caliber players in 2 years.

Thanks,

What's funny is if Dempsey doesn't miss his first real opportunity (breakaway that he shanked wide) and then in 2nd half - Beasley uses placement...not power we are talking about how great the offense was because they won 3-0.

Should be interesting Wednesday night. I hope we don't sit back for the draw now that we're in the drivers seat for advancing. We should be out of this group stage with max points going into the hexagonal final qualifying...but same old same old in the end - probably going to do just enough and then 2010 will be a disaster. We have plenty of talent - but it doesn't always mean the talent is on the field.

Great job blogging this week Grant, we fans really appreciate it.

Have to say I don't mind the 2 holding midfielders, especially in a road qualifier on a badly lit, bumpy, wet pitch. Play it safe, get your 3 points, move on. But beyond that, I don't really have confidence in either Bradley, Edu or Mastroeni to sit by themselves behind a purely attacking midfielder like Donovan or Adu anyway. None of them has the combination of reading the game, ball-winning and distribution that it takes. Hopefully Bradley and Edu will continue to develop and improve. (If Shalrie Joseph played for the US and not Grenada, that would be a different story.)

I'd like to see the US continue with the 4-2-3-1 formation against T&T but (assuming same lineup) really see Dempsey, Donovan and Beasley work on their combination play, interchange positions more, and try to get the fullbacks more involved going forward. If Cherundolo plays that will help since he crosses better than Hejduk. Honestly I cannot see the US dropping any points in this group after starting with the 2 away wins. But we'll need to improve a lot if we want to advance out of our world cup group in 2010.

Bradley is a holding mid, but he is a pretty poor passer and can't tackle well. He can score goals though. I wonder why his dad doesn't let his son go forward. Our strikers are poor, we need him going forward.

Grant -

This quote of yours is a great synopsis for the frustrations almost every US fan is having.

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"If U.S. coach Bob Bradley is going to continue leaving young attacking options like Kenny Cooper, Jozy Altidore and Freddy Adu off his rosters, the players who do get picked need to show they can be offensive threats. Continuing to use two holding midfielders (Michael Bradley and Maurice Edu, in this case) seems overly conservative, especially against a lineup of amateurs on a bottom-feeding Cuba side."
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Man, are you right. And could you do us all a favor and ask Bob Bradley why this is the case? And maybe mention that nepotism isn't cool when there are CLEARLY better options than Michael Bradley - that guy is a skilled player to a degree, but he doesn't ANTICIPATE anything - offensively or defensively. And like rook119 pointed out, he's a lousy passer.

I, as much as anybody else, would love to pummel somebody 3 or 4-0. However, you take a group of flashy, stylistic players down to Cuba or Guatemala, who have one letdown and don't get back on defense, all of the sudden you're looking at a couple of ties or losses, then having your backs against the wall at home just to advance out of the group. As well, as someone above pointed out, if Beasley had finished his VERY GOOD chances, we'd be looking at a 3-0 win, and everybody this morning would be happy.

We've got nearly two years to develop the roster for WC 2010. Let's not complain about having 6 points on the road in qualifying at this early stage, ESPECIALLY in the two venues we just played in.

This was a boring game. Ok..the field was wet and it was warm down there. US play was too predictable and slow. Every time they had a chance to get the Cubans of guard--the US would either slow things down or pass the ball back. Beasley needs to sit the bench for a couple of games. Don't know what this coach sees in him. Guess as long as the US plays teams like Trinidad or Cuba--guess they feel good. Don't most of these guys play all year round? Just my 2 cents.

I agree with Fandango. You don't complain about six points from your first two games in qualifying when they are both on the road.

If they're home games against Cuba and Guatemala look bad, though, then something needs to change.

Thanks 11forbes. Look at Barbados- we beat them 8-0 at home, but 1-0 at Barbados. You're content with a tie on the road, and very happily "drive off into the sunset" with a win on the road.

I think a lot of the frustration is just that we all know there are talented US players. The best team might not be out there. I know, I know we have a lot of time to figure out the best Starting XI but the mentality of grinding it out on the road in hopes of the draw shouldn't be the norm.

The other CONCACAF countries should fear the US coming in and potentially winning 2-0, 3-0, etc. We have yet to over come Azteca Stadium and Mexico in Mexico City BUT every other country SHOULD have the fear that the US will come in looking for a win.

As for this Cuba match - for all of us that watched - we know what the conditions were BUT the frustration was we were FAR, far better than Cuba however play didn't indicate it. In the end it will show a win BUT we should have that killer instinct to but a team away - whether on the road or not.

I gotta say... I'm a bigger fan of Dempsey now more than ever. I think he should have the reigns to center midfield... and Landon should be playing right wing on the attacking midfield line.... like David Beckham has forever played at ManU, RM, and now LA. I think he'd be much better served serving the ball across the box to people that aren't 5 foot nothing like he is to try and win a header... if he has an attacking opportunity, he can cut in on the net in the style that Thierry Henry has made his career..... cuz he is fast enough to do that.

The fact of the matter is, when it comes down to style or quality of play, the United States plays in such a way that makes it borderline impossible to come from behind and win. When you have 6 defensive-only players on the field (tactically speaking), that obviously leaves 4 attacking players on the field. Now, if you have quality at the (presumably) 2 MF attacking/distributing roles, then its not going to be terribly hard to break-down a defense or counter-attack when these 4 players have no defensive responsibilities.

In the case of the United States, not only do we lack the pure passers/dynamic attackers (outside of, arguably, Adu), but our 2 defensive MFs can't, for the life of them, link up play between the defense and offense. So in essence, we shoot ourselves in the foot twice. Lacking the sharp/quick/long passes or through balls, the counter-attack is dead before it begins. Making matters worse, we can't play a controlled, close/short passing game around midfield to break down a defense as we don't really have anybody who can supply the killer pass to send anyone through.

It's fine and all grinding out 1-0 wins against Cuba, but is playing like this seriously going to help if, oh I don't know, we play someone like Argentina, Spain, Brasil and they HAPPEN to score first? Especially when teams like these don't bunker down after going up a goal? I swear, everytime I see Bradley or Edu miss a 5-10 yard pass, I die a little inside. Same goes when our back 4 clears any ball within reach inside our 1/3rd. Ugh...sometimes, I don't wonder why people tune out Soccer in the United States...

The Cuba game was a disgrace. The fact that Bradley and some players were cool with it, is disgusting.

I think it time for GUUS chant GUUS GUUS GUUS GUUS GUUS GUUS GUUS GUUS GUUS GUUS GUUS GUUS GUUS GUUS GUUS GUUS GUUS GUUS GUUS GUUS.................. oh yeah the player do suck man what a disgrace just to win 1-0 nad be proud of it. I 'll be more jawing on my teammate for lack of play. This is what happen we the USSF decide to hire an inexperince coach. You know what maybe you could ask USSF to stop dream and face the truth, or they just to cheap and to proud to admit that we suck in futbol not soccer. If you want to win hire a REAL PROFESSIONAL COACH THAT HAS A PROVEN RECORD AND GET RESPECT FROM ALL THE TOP PLAYER AND COACH'S IN THE WORLD. IT"S time for GUS HIDDINK. HE HAS PROVEN RECORD EVERWHERE HE TOUCH REAL MADRID, KOREAN, AUSTRALIA, AND RUSSIA WHO SHOCK THE DUTCH IN EURO CUP THIS PAST SUMMER.

yea, soccer's great and all but...shouldn't we be more concerned with Grant's "gorgeous (and scantily-clad) men" comment??? bwhahaha

Can you elaborate?
Tell us why this strikes genuine fear in you or you otherwise believe its a subject of amusement.
bwhahaha

Adu may be dynamic but he is also at times infurating to watch. I saw a few US U-20 WC matches in Toronto last summer. He without a doubt the most exciting player in the tourney to watch and only Kun Agureo and Maxi Rodiguez were better (and not by much) than him in the tourney. Freddy is deadly on the wing, and could beat almost anyone one-on-one when he has space. He's also a deadly goal scorer on the wing and whips in a nasty cross from the position as well. The crowd, which was not made up of that many Americans ohhed and ahhed when he was able to show off his dribbing skills.

However, his enormous ego gets the best of him. Its why he's still not a regular on the US squad. He always says he hates playing the wing and that he thinks of himself as a Kaka like center mid who plays behind the strikers. So watch him, too often he gets the ball on the wing and turns inside. The problem is that he's a below avg passer in the center of the pitch and almost all of the time CB and holding mids easily outmuscle and disposes him. If you take away his space to work with he's a pretty poor player (unfortunately he does this himself). This is why the US U-20s despite being probably the 2nd or 3rd best team in the tourney, got beat in the quarterfinals by a mediocre Austria squad.

There is no excuse for his underachieving. You aren't Kaka Freddy, heck you aren't even Hull City's Giovanni. YOU SUCK AT PLAYING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PITCH PLEASE STOP! Maxi and Kun are stars in LaLiga while Freddy couldn't get a game at Benfica and had to loaned out.