Unhappy Bernardeschi benched
Toronto FC’s disappointing season became more complicated off the pitch with news that disgruntled star Federico Bernardeschi has been benched for Saturday’s home game against D.C. United.
Coach Bob Bradley denied the move was disciplinary, calling it a “coach’s decision.”
“Fede will not be in the squad for this game. A lot going on this week, a lot of internal discussions … When you think about preparing a group for this game, we felt this was the best way to handle it,” he told reporters after training Friday. “There’s discussions that are going on just about how we’re going to continue to work together.”
Toronto, at 2-5-7, is last in the Eastern Conference and has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons in the wake of Bernardeschi’s unflattering comments about the team’s style of play following last weekend’s 1-0 loss at Austin FC.
“We don’t play,” said Bernardeschi, who hasn’t scored in nine games. “We play long pass. We don’t have any idea (how) to play.”
“I think this city, the fans, everybody, don’t deserve this. And I think maybe we need to change something. We need a little bit more tactics. We need an idea how we play, because this is the real problem for me. It’s impossible to play like this when we play without (an) idea.”
Bradley said Tuesday that Bernardeschi was “out of line.” On Friday, the three-time MLS coach of the year revealed Bernardeschi, who was not on the field in the portion of practice open to the media, would not play on the weekend. But Bernardeschi’s future with the club is not in question.
“I think that the plan is, for sure, that Fede is back in it (next week) and we put this week behind us and we all move forward,” he said.
Bradley chose his words carefully and tried to downplay the rift: “He and I had a good discussion today. I think we’re both on the same page and excited to keep working together.”
The turmoil has not gone unnoticed elsewhere.
“It’s a strange one,” D.C. United coach Wayne Rooney said about TFC’s season. “The main focus on the game on Saturday is us, if I’m being honest. Because Toronto, as you said, they’re not going through a great moment. I think it’s clear that there’s been a bit of wear between the players and maybe staff.”
D.C. is coming off a 3-0 win over the visiting Los Angeles Galaxy.