Jose Francisco Torres did not see a minute of playing time for the U.S. national team in the Confederations Cup, but that hasn't stopped him from looking forward to a vacation.
In an interview with yanks-abroad.com, the Pachuca midfielder stated that he wants to play in the Gold Cup (which starts July 3) but that his body is in need of rest after a year and a half of activity, which included the FIFA Club World Cup, Pachuca's Clausura season and World Cup qualifiers.
Torres, who has not played since the U.S. team's World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica on June 3, has also recently been linked with a move to Spanish club Deportivo la Coruna, but has stated that he intends to return to Mexico for the fall's Apertura season.
Still think Torres should have played in the Confederations Cup? Wish he was on the Gold Cup squad? Would you like to see him go to Deportivo la Coruna or should he stay with Pachuca?
Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Algo huele a pescado.
I will not rest till I get straight answer from Bradley about Torres. Me wonder, it must be conspiracy among the US crackers coaches, no? I also heard same people who kept Torres down also killed all Indians.
I want to know why John Thorrington hasn’t played!!! He played in two qualifiers this cycle AND against Sweden at the beginning of the year and then BOOM! He disappeared from the lineup.
I want to know what John Thorrington did to deserve this treatment from Bob Bradley! Do your job, Ives!
He is clearly in Bradley’s doghouse, for some sinister reason that we all don’t know about.
Torres wouldn’t have gone to South Africa if Bob didn’t want him to be a part of the team, you boobs. You internet folk can be a bunch of drama queens.
WELL THE ONLY WAY TO FIND OUT WHAT REALLY HAPPEN TO TORRES IN THE COSTA RICA IS TO SEND MESSAGES TO THE USSF AND ASK MR. SUNIL GULATI AND MAY HE HAS THE BALL AN GET ANSWER FROM MR. BOB BRADLEY AND DONOVAN HIMSELF. I GOING KEEP SENDING SOME TEXT TO SOME MEXICAN REPORTER TO ASK TORRES HIMSELF WHY HE WAS ON THE BENCH AND WHAT HAPPEN IN COSTA RICA.
SO EVERYBODY LET WRITE E-MAILS TO THE USSF.
Ives, i will add my voice to those of others who want to know why Klejstan kept getting picked over Torres in South Africa. The second half of the final cried out for someone with his skills. When Klejstan came on I pretty much lost hope — and patience.
Jose A, Berlin & Superchivo
If you go to other Blog from Ives, You’ll see my post respond, I been crying out loud asking for any reporter with Huevos(Balls)to be firm with Bradley. I’m tried that our reporter only as dumb question. Instead of asking why you didn’t play this guy, why you didn’t make a sub for this guy. Why are you always give the second half away, ask question about his tactics and be more aggrassive like the way the media is in other country that love soccer, Brasil, Argentina, Germany, England or even France, Like Central America or our neighbor Mexico. See what happen when we all send all those messages to the USSF and Gulati took some notice. Well we raise our voice and the changes can in and what happen he played two and half games like an elite team. But then Mr. Bob Bradley went to his old ways putting Sasha and Bornstein and Casey in. Hey at least Bornstein played his heart out. SO WE NEED REPORTER TO GET INTO BOB BRADLEY SKIN AND ASK THE TUFT QUESTION. AND WHY ADU AND TORRES WERE ON THE BENCH. JUST GIVE US AN ANSWER SO WE CAN STOP THIS ESQUESTION.
Torres is way better than Sacha and he should see some playing time, go Torres
To add to my point above,what if it is something that has gone on in the locker room? Is that to assume that Bob Bradley is the main cause of the conflict that may have happened at some point? Maybe Torres is responsible or partially responsible for the incident. It’s ridiculous that people think that everything that goes wrong or may have gone wrong on the MNT is Bob Bradley’s fault or could have been stopped by Bradley.
Tell Torres to get the sand out of his vadge..
Jajajaja You are making me laught if Bob Bradley knows his player who is fatigued and are not in shape to play so why the F**k he put Beasley and Klejstan. Please we all know there is something going on between BB, Donavon and Torres. Or else why he didn’t answer when Bob was ask what happen with Torres in the Costa Rica game, all he said was no comment that stay in the Locker room. So thats the Key “Stay in the locker room” so that means something bad happen. Plus I don’t blame him if he doesn’t want to play any more for the USA. Why have took him to the Confederation Cup if you were not going to used him and now he wants him on the Gold Cup. Must as well should off left him behind let him had his vacation and then call him up for the Gold Cup since he thought that Torres wasn’t ready for the big stage
Posted by: Angel | June 30, 2009 at 07:24 PM
I can agree that there might be something going on beyond what we see on the pitch/bench and his quotes, but I neither Sacha or Beasley were tired; they just weren’t effective. Like Ives has said before, we don’t have the best depth in the squad in the moment. As much as we hate to admit it, Kljestan, Bornstein, and Casey are the best we can do at the moment in terms of subs off the bench. (NO Freddy Adu is not a better option)
Sounds like a smart chap to me. Coach Bradley was very vulnerable on his selections and substitutions yet Gringo Torres didn’t attack him. Hope he gets a spot in Spain, terrific talent.
I agree with many above, there is a story here. Why hasn’t Torres had a sniff of PT since Costa Rica??? Someone associated with the NATS, whether it be a player or staff member, knows the true and sordid tale..
Come on Ives, work your magic!!! Break the story!! Go through Bob Bradley’s trash if you need to. This is your watergate..
“Bradley spends a lot of time with these guys in training so he knows whether or not some one is fatigued.”
Posted by: ChingAdore – Isaac | June 30, 2009 at 04:24 PM
Jajajaja You are making me laught if Bob Bradley knows his player who is fatigued and are not in shape to play so why the F**k he put Beasley and Klejstan. Please we all know there is something going on between BB, Donavon and Torres. Or else why he didn’t answer when Bob was ask what happen with Torres in the Costa Rica game, all he said was no comment that stay in the Locker room. So thats the Key “Stay in the locker room” so that means something bad happen. Plus I don’t blame him if he doesn’t want to play any more for the USA. Why have took him to the Confederation Cup if you were not going to used him and now he wants him on the Gold Cup. Must as well should off left him behind let him had his vacation and then call him up for the Gold Cup since he thought that Torres wasn’t ready for the big stage
I will never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever understand why he was on the bench every time Kljestan was on the pitch.
I do hope Kljestan gets his game improved and become a part of the team if so, so i’m not a “Sacha hater” as folks like to say, but holy crap that was rediculous. You cant help but wonder what could’ve been with Torres on instead of Kljestan or Beasley….
I want to know what happened after Paco got subbed out of Costa Rica. He was playing his ass off out there. He earned a ticket to Confed thats all great but what did Sacha do to earn his ticket? And was he really too tired to beat Sacha for the ‘sub’ spot or is there something else?
I don’t think many of us believe that Sacha wins the spot in practice or based on what we see on the field.
There is a story here and the fans wanna know.
Posted by: kofi_x5 | June 30, 2009 at 06:36 PM
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I second that motion. Something is not adding up.
Reading reports from the cup (Ives, Wahl, Goff) and soccer discussions on this board and others – its hard not to notice that minus a few eager fools, the level of discussion, interest in the game and knowledge of the game is quite high.
Another sign of progress.
The next one should be for journalists to pressure coaches and managers to give better answers. Correct me if I am wrong, I don’t believe an English manager would be able to get away with keeping the whole Torres story a mystery for so long.
What the heck happened? Ives, did anybody ask the question straight up? Thanks.
He’s got a pretty decent gig at Pachuca, hate to see something like Jozy’s situation unfold for him in Spain. If he played, it would be a good move though.
Sacha < Torres
I want to know what happened after Paco got subbed out of Costa Rica. He was playing his ass off out there. He earned a ticket to Confed thats all great but what did Sacha do to earn his ticket? And was he really too tired to beat Sacha for the ‘sub’ spot or is there something else?
I don’t think many of us believe that Sacha wins the spot in practice or based on what we see on the field.
There is a story here and the fans wanna know.
Didn’t Ives mention the other day that he had heard a rumor about a possible concussion sustained against Costa Rica? Regardless, he’s clearly in the picture. Torres is young and there is no use burning him out.
they say his feet taste like timbers in a crackling fire
FFS, he’s 21, he’ll have plenty of chances. Why would Bob include him on the Confederations Cup if he hated him so much.
Spazzes.
I would have liked to see him in the confederations cup, would like to definitely see him play in Spain, think about all the priceless experience he would get playing against the best player in the world.
Superchivo, I’m with you. Ives, get it out for real.
Ives – A little off topic, but do you know what ever happened to Anton Peterlin? I’m surprised that he’s not given a chance at the Gold Cup.
IMO, I think Torres should stay in Mexico. I don’t think he is quite ready to go to Spain and truly fight for minutes. He has shown steady improvement in Mexico and I think the competition there will help that continue. I kind of wish more of the US guys would look to Mexico. The money is good and it is a step up from MLS. I still remember Mike Sorber suiting up for PUMAS back in the day.
The boy needs playing time with the USMNT and Gold cup would have been a good opportunity. And moving to Deportivo makes perfect sense, hopefully they can make a deal.
Could not agree more with you, Vman.
superchivo, spot on. why is it so difficult for a reporter to press bob bradley on this?
crack the stone!
This is such a crock, some journalist needs to point blank come out and ask Bob why Torres hasn’t played and why he was left off the team instead of getting crappy, enigmatic quotes like in that article.
Every player occasionally has a bad match (or half a match) and if the reason truly is that Bob doesn’t think Paco is good enough than he should let us know. If not, put this crap to rest.
Ok, heres BREAKING NEWS for you all!!!
Mexico’s Edgar Castillo, who has played four or five times for the MNT, and who is a defender for Tigres de UANL, has said that if the USMNT or Bob Bradley where to call him HE WOULD CHANGE SHIRTS AND PLAY FOR LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS!!! EVEN IF AGUIRRE WHERE TO CALL AGAIN!!!
the only way Torres gets a real shot is if someone like Klejstan gets hurt. Spector got his chance because Hejduk and Cherundolo were hurt. Demerit got his chance because Bocanegra was hurt. Davies got his chance because Ching was hurt. Had it not been for those injuries, these talents would have never been able to shine on such a prominent stage. That speaks volumes about Bradley, and not in a good way.
I’m thinking that the Confed roster was already submitted when BB decided he didn’t like him anymore so he had to take him. The Gold Cup went in after the start of the Confed and he leaves him off. It will be interesting to see if BB ever calls him again.
He should have played of useless Sasha in the Confed
Berlin, Kjlestan was over-rated from his Sweden “C” team performence……..and i was shocked when Bradley did not put in Adu and Torres at the 75th vs Brazil instead of BB’s personal favorites Kjlestan and Casey who do nothing but give the ball away. And its funny- Adu and Torres Hold the ball extremely well.
I hope Torres stays at Pachuca for one more season.
I don’t know why people assume that Torres’ lack of playing time MUST mean he’s in Bradley’s doghouse. Unless you have insider info, you’re just spreading rumors.
That said, let’s take what Torres says at face-value. I hope he gets some needed rest, and that his play in the coming year warrants more playing time for both Pachuca and the USMNT.
I like Torres and was disappointed to see him on the bench…but Bradley did something right in getting to the final, so I can’t complain too much.
He should stay at Pachuca. They are a great club!
Fred- did you not read this before you posted? HES SPENT and needs a well deserved rest!
Berlin- I want to know too. There has to be something, because I don’t believe it’s all got to do with things “on the field.”
Bradley spends a lot of time with these guys in training so he knows whether or not some one is fatigued. Nobody here wants to have Torres playing if he’s not at full fitness; the risk of an injury is too great.
I do not think anything is amiss between Bradley and Torres. Personally, I feel he had some minor injury or tweak (from the packed club schedule) holding him back and Bradley was reluctant to throw him into the mix thinking long-term. The quote states that he is looking forward to a vacation, be it a short one.
Also, as we all know, the Gold Cup is the perfect opportunity for Bradley to try out some potential new US Nat pool talent. Bradley knows what Torres can do and I believe Torres may have declined a Gold Cup roster spot in order to recover and be ready for the upcoming qualifiers in a month. As he is well suited for the WC Qualifiers from playing in Mexico, he becomes that much more important with his speed and technical skills. Give Bradley some credit.
Well I am glad it works out that he needs a rest, but what is the the deal? Is Bradley going to use him in the future? I think the game in Mexico in August will be telling. If he is not on the squad, then something is up. I hope he is not discouraged, he certainly deserves to play.
Any firm story on why Torres didn’t play in the Confederations Cup. I’ve heard everything from he’s tired from the season (Bogus – Dempsey? Kaka? Everyone else that plays in Europe), he’s injured (possibly), Bradley has no confidence in him (odd that he’s confident in Klejstan & Beasley instead), and that he had a falling out with Donovan (?). What possible explanation could there be for not playing him?
Bradley totally should have played Torres in the Confeds Cup. What was he thinking putting in Bornstein as a left mid? That should have been Torres.
Also, Bradley is crazy for not including Torres in the Gold Cup roster. This could have been a chance for Torres to shine and show his chops for Euro clubs, in the same way Davies hopes to. Instead, Torres is heading back to Mexico, probably wondering what he did to piss Bradley off.
To me, Bradley’s failure to nurture Torres, like his failure to include exciting young European players in the Gold Cup squad (e.g. Whitbread), betrays a troublesome ongoing myopia. I give him some credit for the Confeds Cup, but I give most of the credit to the players, and I think a better coach would have gotten to this point a lot more quickly.
Something is amiss. Torres should have seen some playing time since the Costa Rica match. Have no clue why he’s in Bob’s doghouse. Wish there was someway to get quotes or info “off the record”. Some say he took the fall for Costa Rica … but I thought he was the best US player and was puzzled why Bob took him out. It is just strange that a player getting lots of playing time for one of the top teams in Mexico and is a potential La Liga target gets 0 playing time with the US team after Costa Rica.
Depor is becoming CONCACAF in Spain. Julian De Guzman, Andres Guardado, Omar Bravo (on loan to a Mexican team) and now possibly Torres.
I think he should have been included in the Gold Cup roster, but then again these guys aren’t machines. I still believe we will not see Torres play under Bradley. It has become very obvious that Bradley has no confidence in him and by benching him he is making him work harder.
Can wait to see him play in 2011.
Torres should have been playing in place of Sacha through the cup. If Torres would have been in vs Brazil he probably wouldnt have gifted passes to Brazil leading to no chances in the final however many minutes he was in.
He gets lots of PT at Pachuca, at Deportivo, I’m not so sure. Better to be in La Liga, for sure…if you’re on the pitch. Same story for just about every US player out there, I suppose.
Cheers,
There really was no reason for Bob to keep him off the Gold Cup. We’re using it to sure up our bench, and he seems to be a bench regular.
Smart of Bradley to not play him. That shows how important Bob thinks Jose is to this squad and what he could be for the future. I would rather him play at La Coruna, especially with the new ESPN deal, but if he’s assured playing time at Pachuca, I’d stay.