Who is willing to give Torres another shot at proving himself? I am in favor of slotting him in the left back, his natural position. I am more in favor of seeing the ball at his feet as opposed to Denton, not that Denton isn't decent, but just to give Torres the opportunity. If you remember last year, most of his follies and bad plays came at the left center back. A position at which he failed miserably, obviously. Then he got injured. Don't forget, he takes up an SI spot. We have McCarty, Clark, Dunseth, Akwari, Hejduk(at Defense?), Leitch, Denton, and Torres. Obviously Leitch looks to be sitting again this year, is Akwari in the running right away? I'd imagine not, and Hejduk maybe in the midfield. But that still leaves minimum of 5 for 4 slots if we play four in the back and the Hedge-duck transaction takes place. So does it play out like last year w/ Clark, Dunseth, McCarty and Denton? Or will it change? It's quite a promising list. We seem to be extremely deep in defenders and forwards. Few other teams have this experience off the bench.
I got to disagree. Torres had most of his problems when he played LB not CB. All his Red Cards came when he played LB. In fact, the very first game he played LB for the Crew he got a Red Card after McCarty's first suspension and Andrulis moved Clark and Dunseth inside. When he started the season at CB he was the best out there and he played really well in the playoffs, when Clark could not play. He's said several times that he feels more comfortable playing CB anyway. His problem at LB is that he is not that quick. He has good speed, but he doesn't have that burst of speed that helps when a wing mid or forward turn their's on. Denton has that and that's why he's better at LB. Well now that Dunseth has signed and Hejduk is on his way, someone is going to be left out. I said before I think it is Leitch. I don't like it, I just have a feeling that Andrulis has lost cofidence in him. I'd much rather see Torres gone.
He is too slow. He gets beat and, at the last moment, he grabs the guy and yanks him down. Sorry, but he just isn't the answer.
That REALLY wasn't a hard thing to accomplish, CrewToon And I don't see a future for Torres. Send him back to Costa Rica. SI spots should be held for proven starters, since they are so limited in number.
If teh rumor about this polish cat is true you would think that Torres may be expendable. I really don't care to see him with the team next year.
In my book, I value Torres more than Denton, Chad, and Leitch. He is a better footballer than these three, regardless of the position they play. So, I'd have to cut the three before I reach Torres.