Re: [nas] US v Cuba [R]

On Sep 6, 2008, at 8:35 PM, Bill Fetty wrote:

> Also, that should be Jeff's cue... :)

Last I heard from Jeff, he was leaving the list... I guess I could  
fill the bill, except for the fact that it's kind of hard to work up  
any passion about a game that Bob Bradley so obviously had no passion  
about. I thought the guy's combination work was about as good as I've  
seen out of the team. I'd agree that I thought Edu was solid in the  
mid and let's not forget that where Baby B seemingly hasn't taken a  
shot for many, many years (was it u8's?), totally kidding btw, Edu had  
a very nice blast on goal and at least showed some enthusiasm to move  
up, if not the savvy. Howard's a brick. Donovan.... wow, I really was  
stupid enough to think that there had been a real change in his game-- 
what a fool I am. Baby B actually had a solid game and even made a few  
passes forward (gasp!). I don't know what was going on with Ching, but  
that first half was about as invisible as I've ever seen him. I'm not  
sure I even want to see him back in the line-up again at this point-- 
we have plenty of decent options there and he's just not taken  
advantage of his opportunities. Very disappointing, as he has the  
talent and pace to have really caused them terror and instead was  
mostly terrible in the first half and an acceptable holder in the  
second. Cooper has every bit the skill and ball-holding/distribution  
skills at this point and is far more dangerous on the ball. Ching has  
lost his "set" somewhere--when's the last time you saw him take ANYONE  
on? Probably MLS.... I love the guy, but it's time to move on--Cuba is  
a team that he should have totally dominated.

I don't understand and, probably never will, why folks are so down on  
Frankie. His crosses can often be suspect and, yup, he does turn the  
ball over, but he also brings energy, speed, and fearlessness to our  
team. The best combination of the night was between him and Donovan.  
His runs down the right side were giving the Cubans ulcers--they  
didn't realize that they mostly wouldn't result in anything dangerous.  
So go ahead and bash the guy if you want, but I fail to see a single  
player in the pipeline that can bring what he brings to this team  
energy-wise, not to mention that Cherundolo would never have gotten  
back on a couple of thos counter attacks of Cuba's and just tapped the  
ball away. Frankie pretty much does it every single time. Personally,  
I mostly feel a whole lot safer when he's back there.

Nice to have the win and points. But this team is utterly  
underwhelming me. Of course with the most imaginative and creative  
players in the country being left off the roster, I'm not sure what we  
should expect. Finally, I DID think that we dominated this game. But a  
1-0 lead is an invitation to any competitive team in the world to dig  
deep and find a way. Fortunately for us, Cuba just doesn't really have  
a "way" at the moment. I'm going back to sleep..... Doug

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