Disgruntled star Federico Bernardeschi benched for upcoming TFC match

Toronto FC's disappointing season became a lot more complicated off the pitch with news that disgruntled Italian star Federico Bernardeschi has been benched for Saturday's game against D.C. United.

Coach Bob Bradley denied the move was disciplinary, calling it instead 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.

Toronto (2-5-7) is mired at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. And it has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons this week 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.

Bernardeschi, who has not scored in nine games, dropped a bombshell in a virtual availability with reporters after the stoppage-time defeat.

"We don't play," the Italian said in English. "We play long pass. We don't have any idea to play."

"I think this city, the fans, everybody, don't deserve this," he added. "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."

Future not in question

Bradley, in his first public comments on the outburst, 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 Bradley said Bernardeschi's future in the club was not in question.

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," he said.

Considering Bernardeschi is the team's leading scorer with thee goals and three assists this season, not to mention the league's fourth-highest paid player at $6.295 million US, benching the Italian is quite the statement.

Especially when Toronto has won just once in its last 11 games (1-5-5) in all competitions and suffered four straight shutouts in league play. Toronto's scoreless drought stands at 404 minutes, dating back to CJ Sapong's goal April 29 in a 1-0 win over visiting New York City FC.

Toronto launched just three shots, none on target, last week in Austin.

'It's a strange one'

The turmoil in Toronto has not gone unnoticed.

"It's a strange one," D.C. United coach Wayne Rooney said Thursday when asked 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."

Wins have been hard to come by for Toronto this season. Injuries and a lack of depth have cost Bradley's team.

Both D.C. and Toronto have been dealing with injury issues but are slowly getting some players back.

D.C. was missing eight players last week while Toronto was without 10 players through injury or suspension.

But Italian star Lorenzo Insigne, who did not travel to Austin due to a foot issue, was back in training this week. And midfielder/forward Jahkeele Marshall Rutty is also available after serving a two-game suspension.

The two teams met Feb. 25 in the season opener at Audi Field with D.C. rallying for a 3-2 win on goals in the 90th and 98th minute.