TORONTO – For Toronto FC's Greg Vanney, who was named 2017 MLS Coach of the Year on Monday, the roots for this success truly grew last year.
“It's possible [I was more deserving of the award last year],” said Vanney. “Last year was more learning as we went, not just through the regular season, but to be a team that could go deep in the playoffs. Thinking through that led to conclusions that we were able to use this year.
“That's what every year is about,” he continued. “I need to take conclusions from this year that will help us be better next year.”
That process, he said, led to three major developments. As a coach, he began to think about the team's needs from a depth perspective, the evolution of the team's identity, and, finally, how to motivate a squad that reached last year's MLS Cup final to focus on each and every game.
For that first move, he added Victor Vazquez and Chris Mavinga to particularly strengthen his side, allowing Toronto, as he put it, to “stay ahead of everybody else in terms of options" with their lineups.
Next on his list? Consolidating identity with a 3-5-2 system.
“[That] took us through playoffs,” said Vanney. “Our mindset this season was to be more stable, utilize something that clearly created problems for teams. How could we get stronger within that shape, and continue to develop our philosophy?”
With all that in place, Vanney said, he moved on to the motivational aspect. He set goals for his squad during preseason, but checked in constantly throughout the year as a reminder.
“The only way you achieve goals is if you have the right attitude every day,” he said. “It became the dialogue within group. It's the philosophy of how we do business around here.”
All of that added up to Toronto's record-breaking 69 points this season, as well as the team's first Supporters' Shield.
Though Vanney was honored to get the Best Coach nod, he said several of his peers equally deserved it.
“Different coaches have had different platforms,” said Vanney. “Tata [Martino of Atlanta United FC], an accomplished coach, whose team played an exciting style. Whenever we played them we knew it was going to be a game.”
“Mike Petke stepped into a very difficult situation in Salt Lake and turned things around,” he added. “Wilmer [Cabrera, of the Houston Dynamo] took a team that was nowhere to be found last year into the Western Conference final this year. There are a lot of people who are deserving.”
As far as the most influential figure in his own journey, though, Vanney looked internally, to TFC assistant coach Robin Fraser, under whom he previously fulfilled that same role at Chivas USA.
“[From] when I met him in '96 to today, there haven't been many days where we haven't discussed the game in one way, shape, or form,” said Vanney. “The two of us have always been seeking, learning, discussing, and evolving. Along the way we've had different paths and learned a lot from other people that we have brought back to discussions with each other.”
