I hope everyone had a spectacular Labor Day weekend and is enjoying the short week that this week is. I was lucky enough to spend the weekend with a bunch of my best friends in Chico, CA where we did it big all weekend and floated down the river on Sunday. If you are in college, or just enjoy a good time, I cannot recommend going to Chico for Labor Day enough. Saturday I enjoyed a good US win that reminded me both of the heart and the inconsistency of this team, one which will greatly benefit them longterm and the other that has been a pain in the side throughout qualification. The great thing about international weeks are that you get to see whether what went wrong or right in the first game is corrected, and if your team has the strength and ability to go the distance with limited recovery time that mimics the set up of the World Cup.

The United States heads to Trinidad and Tobago Wednesday for a date with the team that has faltered of late, and has been mathematically eliminated from qualification for South Africa. They took a beating at the hands of Honduras, which makes me wonder if the US will face a side that looks bad and plays bad, or is revitalized in their attempts to ruin other teams chances to get to South Africa. Fortunately for the USMNT, it looks like we will likely see the first. However as this past Saturday proved in CONCACAF, nothing is ever certain. Three things to look out for coming into Wednesday.

- Jay DeMerit is still injured. DeMerit did not even travel with the team to Trinidad and Tobago today, which means the US will have to again square off without their first choice center back partnership in Onyewu and DeMerit. This leaves Bob Bradley to decide if he partners Bocanegra and Onyewu, leaving Spector and Cherundolo to play left and right backs or goes with Marshall and Onyewu with Bocanegra and Spector outside. I would prefer to see the second pairing, as I feel Marshall played well enough to start with Onyewu, and Bocanegra on the left should solve some of the defensive problems that have plagued the US on the left. Either lineup is workable, however the dangerous attackers of T&T will likely give the US center backs problems, in the form of Jones.

- How does Bradley use his central midfield pairing? Again, questions linger about what Bob will do with a rapidly improving center midfield pool. Look to see Michael Bradley with Feilhaber again, allowing Bradley to sit back more defensively. However, there were holes on Saturday when both Bradley and Feilhaber would go forward, and that allowed space for El Salvador to counter. This must be addressed, and fixed if the US expects to win on the road. Pairing Clark with Bradley is too defensive, and puts too much pressure on Bradley to be the creative force in the center of the park, unless Dempsey and Donovan do a better job of balancing their roles. My solution? Start Torres with Bradley, as he controls the center very well, and his creativity allows him to set up the wings and strikers in the same way Feilhaber has, while being slightly more controlled with his runs forward. Regardless, the US needs to start a quality attacking center mid with Bradley to continue the solid offensive vein that the US has been in.

- This game is a must win. Regardless of home or road, the US should be taking max points from teams that are holding down the bottom. T&T doesn't have a lot to play for, and is in some turmoil currently. The gulf in quality and depth is large between the two teams, and not leaving the island nation with a full three points would be a qualification disaster. The sooner the US qualifies, the sooner they can experiment with guys like Torres getting full playing time, and allow them to develop even more in situations with less pressure. The United States must win this game if they want qualification to be anything less then extremely rocky.

I see the United States leaving T&T with a 2-1 win, behind goals from Davies and Onyewu. You can catch the game at 4pm Pacific on ESPN classic.