Post game press conference

[Dev707]

A reporter asked Bob why he subbed Torres at the half and he says.....

"uuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhh.....I don't think this is the kind of night to talk about individual players..."

How about individual coaches? WTF!?!?! At least he observed that in "every area, we came up short".

I heard not one positive from him....is it possible he's getting it?

[keller#1]

it would have happened by now if it was to heppen

[polska26]

if that is a direct quote from bradley I hate this idiot even more then i ALREADY DID . IN THE WORDS OF GORDAN RAMSAY PISS OFF

[judodono]

A reporter asked Bob why he subbed Torres at the half and he says.....

"uuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhh.....I don't think this is the kind of night to talk about individual players..."


wow are you kidding me??

I thought he subbed out Torres to rest him for Saturday. If he thought Torres was having a bad night.. LmFAO, this guy really is an idiot.

lol...

[Trav-Man]

I think you guys are exaggerating Torres' contribution. I'm not saying I would have subbed him but he had a HORRIBLE first 15 minutes and also was at fault on the 1st goal. That being said, I think I would have subbed out Mastro instead of Torres.

[SamsArmySam]

The second goal was a clear result of Torres failing to track his man coming out of midfield. It is why they had a player open in the box directly in front of goal. On

I haven't seen a lot of comments faulting Torres on the second goal, so I'm wondering if maybe the ESPN cameras didn't show it. I was watching the Galavision feed, and it was crystal clear that Torres should've tracked that guy. There is even a moment when Torres notices him, has an "oh shit" moment, and tries to catch up, but it was too late.

Anyone notice Boca throw his hands up in exasperation after he slid over and no one covered the vacancy at the center of D that results? It was Torres's job to do that. MB and Mastroeni were both too far upfield.

It's a young player's mistake. Gooch had one at Azteca when he got caught ballwatching instead of tracking Borgetti. He learned from it. Hopefully Torres will as well.

[Marko72]

wow are you kidding me??

I thought he subbed out Torres to rest him for Saturday. If he thought Torres was having a bad night.. LmFAO, this guy really is an idiot.

lol...

Despite having some good touch and creativity from about the 25th minute onwards, Torres was having a bad night. He was hanging the entire left side of defense out to dry, particularly in the first 15 minutes or so. Both of the first 2 goals were partly his to blame along with a general soft-approach gutlessness on the left side of the field. Some nice passing, while looking good, just does not compensate.

And I like Torres.

In fairness, the guy that we bring along precisely for the qualities that Torres was lacking (Mastro) wasn't bringing it either, and that really hurt. One of several things that just went horribly wrong last night.

[deron]

I think you guys are exaggerating Torres' contribution. I'm not saying I would have subbed him but he had a HORRIBLE first 15 minutes and also was at fault on the 1st goal. That being said, I think I would have subbed out Mastro instead of Torres.

Absolutely.

Mastroeni's presence was supposed to represent experience and composure. He provided neither.

His defensive timing was off. It hasn't been mentioned much, but his passing wasn't bad.

[judodono]

u guys are right.

With that said, there wouldn't have been any defensive difference subbing in SK for Torres.

Still, I'm glad Torres is better rested for Saturday.

[Marko72]

u guys are right.

With that said, there wouldn't have been any defensive difference subbing in SK for Torres.

Still, I'm glad Torres is better rested for Saturday.

True.

[Nyghtewynd]

Who exactly was in attendance at the press conference? This country has neither members of the press willing to have real questions and expectations nor the gonads to actually do something about it.

It's not like they're going to get any cues from the current state of the "media" in this country, but still.

[ty webb]

I think you guys are exaggerating Torres' contribution. I'm not saying I would have subbed him but he had a HORRIBLE first 15 minutes and also was at fault on the 1st goal. That being said, I think I would have subbed out Mastro instead of Torres.

On the first goal, Beasley lost the ball from a first touch that went chest high. Torres pushed the player to Mastro. Mastro decided to fall down, when Mastro was on the field to comfortably provide a tackle in such situations. I don't give fault to Torres on that play.

Torres was light years better than Mastro in the first half. He was one of our few players with any composure.

[Marko72]

On the first goal, Beasley lost the ball from a first touch that went chest high. Torres pushed the player to Mastro. Mastro decided to fall down, when Mastro was on the field to comfortably provide a tackle in such situations. I don't give fault to Torres on that play.

Torres was light years better than Mastro in the first half. He was one of our few players with any composure.

He had no composure to start the match. He found his sea legs about 25 minutes into the match... and was soft the rest of the way on a night when he had to cover a very weak left side of the back line. He passed it better than anybody else, but he was completely porous.

Then again, so was Mastro, and that's exactly why he bring him to matches like this: for grit. At least in Torres's defense, he's a young guy that is known more for his touch and vision than his grit. But that's what he had to provide, and didn't.

[ECUNCHATER]

The second goal was a clear result of Torres failing to track his man coming out of midfield. It is why they had a player open in the box directly in front of goal. On

I haven't seen a lot of comments faulting Torres on the second goal, so I'm wondering if maybe the ESPN cameras didn't show it. I was watching the Galavision feed, and it was crystal clear that Torres should've tracked that guy. There is even a moment when Torres notices him, has an "oh shit" moment, and tries to catch up, but it was too late.

Anyone notice Boca throw his hands up in exasperation after he slid over and no one covered the vacancy at the center of D that results? It was Torres's job to do that. MB and Mastroeni were both too far upfield.

It's a young player's mistake. Gooch had one at Azteca when he got caught ballwatching instead of tracking Borgetti. He learned from it. Hopefully Torres will as well.

He's just the new "flavor of the month" as Tim Howard put it when referring to Altidore about a year ago. Since Torres is new, he can do no wrong.

[gnk]

He had no composure to start the match. He found his sea legs about 25 minutes into the match... and was soft the rest of the way on a night when he had to cover a very weak left side of the back line. He passed it better than anybody else, but he was completely porous.

Then again, so was Mastro, and that's exactly why he bring him to matches like this: for grit. At least in Torres's defense, he's a young guy that is known more for his touch and vision than his grit. But that's what he had to provide, and didn't.

Look, Torres was not exactly stellar last night, and certainly he did not close down the player on the 1st goal as well as we would have liked. However, why Bob plays Torres on the left side of midfield, when all he plays for club team is centrally, and why Bob decides to do this while also putting Beasley behind Torres at left back, when we all know that Beas hasn't played a competitive match in a long time and he's simply not a seasoned left back (certainly not at the international level), is beyond me. I could have lived with one of those moves, but not both considering neither is very defensive oriented.

[tubby_butter]

I know this thread was started to pile on Bob some more, but that response was actually very professional and respectful of Torres. Obviously he didn't want to slam a player publicly.

Whether or not you agree with the decision (and I don't), you can't blame him for refusing to be goated into saying something negative about an individual player.

[Grumpy in LA]

I know this thread was started to pile on Bob some more, but that response was actually very professional and respectful of Torres. Obviously he didn't want to slam a player publicly.
No, no, it's always good coaching for a coach to tell the press pool exactly how he thought a player failed. If Bradley were a good coach, he would have already broken down some game footage and edited together a highlight package so he could play it on a projection screen while narrating how he thought Torres was playing poorly in each instance.

I dunno. It seems to me that Torres had the game we expect from talented young players--moments of real promise combined with real screw-ups. I really enjoyed seeing him on the ball (after the first 15-20'), but he wasn't doing the necessary defensive work consistently enough. Still, he'll get better.

Mastroeni, though, I'm not sure what happened there. That was dispiriting.

[QuakeAttack]

Weak on Bob's part and shows no accountability. No surprise...

As far as Torres, he got off to slow start (as did the whole team). He was not at fault on the first goal (Beasley, Boca taking the wrong angle, and Mastro following down over his own feet), but he was part of a complete defensive breakdown on the second goal (starting with Wynne and Gooch). Yes, he should have tracked back...

However, there was no reason to take him out of the game compared to the play of the other players. Dempsey? Mastro? Beasley? Wynne? How was Sacha going to be better (which he wasn't)?

A simple answer from Bob was to state that he wanted to rest Torres for this weekend. However, it apparently wasn't true. Bob found fault with his play. Go figure.

Just when I thought Bob was started to figure it out...

[uniteo]

Despite having some good touch and creativity from about the 25th minute onwards, Torres was having a bad night. He was hanging the entire left side of defense out to dry, particularly in the first 15 minutes or so. Both of the first 2 goals were partly his to blame along with a general soft-approach gutlessness on the left side of the field. Some nice passing, while looking good, just does not compensate.

And I like Torres.


The telling play for me came late in the first half when a Tico attacker was dribbling across the top of the US box from attacking left to right. Torres was running right at him and as the 2 players passed Torres (NOT goals side, btw) stuck his right leg out and waved what appeared to be a cape...missed the ball and kept right on going...CR attacker was then alone at the top of the box.

And I like him too, but fancy passing does not compensate unless you're in the 'fancy passing' position.

[superdave]

I know this thread was started to pile on Bob some more, but that response was actually very professional and respectful of Torres. Obviously he didn't want to slam a player publicly.
If the substitution was made because BB was mad at Torres for his defense, I still think BB's response was very disrespectful to the fans. First of all, Torres isn't a U-10 player. He plays in Mexico. Bob had a chance to lay out to Torres what he did wrong at the half. As for Bob's response, he doesn't have to blast the player, but he should be honest. "We weren't happy with the defensive effort we were getting from him, and we thought Sacha might bring us some more size in the midfield." That's how it's done in pro sports.

Both of the first 2 goals were partly his to blame along with a general soft-approach gutlessness on the left side of the field. Some nice passing, while looking good, just does not compensate.
Bradley had a stinker last night. Allow me to pile on.

It seems like Bradley's only thought was a straight sub. Torres is a central mid who can play wide. Sacha is, you guess it, a central mid who can play wide. After 45 minutes, Bradley didn't think there was anything wrong with the general tactics!!! Unbelievable. One response would be to go to a 4-4-2...sub in a central defender, move Boca to LB, Beasley to LW, and then take out Torres. (Or Bradley Jr., or Mastroenni.) Sometimes, a team that is trailing is getting so overrun that the whole team is out of balance, and they get more offensive with a defensive sub. Last night was, in my opinion, such a case for the US.

Instead, Bradley's approach was, Torres sucks, I've gotta take him out, who is the player on the bench most similar to him...hmmmm, Sacha, come over here.