MONTREAL – While Toronto FC have advanced to the Concacaf Champions League semifinals, they are not happy about their struggles through their first two MLS regular-season games.
Four days after winning their CCL quarterfinal series vs. Tigres UANL in Monterrey, the reigning Supporters’ Shield and MLS Cup champions lost their second league game in a row on Saturday, a 1-0 loss to the Montreal Impact.
The Reds are 0-10-2 in their last 12 games following CCL action, having lost the past nine.
“Those are the challenges. They are for sure the challenges when you’re playing these massive games against the likes of Tigres,” TFC head coach Greg Vanney said after losing to the Impact at Olympic Stadium.
“Guys are on hyper-focus, hyper-alert, and the result there was going to be based on a whole different game plan than the result here. And so flipping those things, and staying as sharp as you need to be on those details sometimes get dulled between these games.”
Toronto also lost their MLS season opener to Columbus Crew SC and have yet to score in two league games.
Ignacio Piatti attacks the TFC defense in Montreal | USA Today Sports Images
“Let’s be a little bit honest and also say in the moment that, while there have been things in these two league games that haven’t been good enough, we’ve also been a little bit unlucky in terms of balls rolling across the goal line and some big chances that we haven’t been able to score on,” Reds midfielder Michael Bradley said. “So you have to look at it from all angles.
“We’re certainly not happy, that’s for sure. You know we continue to look hard at things and we’ll make sure that as we move ourselves along that things get better. But the main thing is nobody’s happy, nobody is writing these games off as if they don’t matter, that’s for sure. But at the same time I think there’s still enough there to look at and say as we move ourselves along we’re going to be alright.”
TFC don't return to match play until March 30, when Real Salt Lake visit BMO Field (8 pm ET | TSN1/5 in Canada, MLS LIVE in US). While the opportunity to rest is welcome after an intense stretch of games through the two competitions, Bradley won’t enjoy sitting at the bottom of the Eastern Division until the end of the month.
“It’s certainly not ideal to look at the table for the next 13 days until we play again,” said the Reds’ captain. “So on the one hand you’d like to turn around and play right away. On the other hand, it’s been a busy start and we’ve got to use the time over this next little stretch to regroup mentally, physically and get ourselves ready for what we hope is a really, really busy April.”
It’s busy enough as things stand with Toronto hosting Club América on April 3 and traveling to Mexico City for the return leg a week later. The Reds host D.C. United on April 7 and are scheduled to play at Colorado on April 14, though Vanney is hopeful that an MLS game could be postponed and re-scheduled.
“It’s definitely something that we’re looking at and hopeful for,” Vanney said. “It’s the league, ultimately, that has to figure out how those things work and what not. So I think those discussions will take place, and I think if anything is going to happen, hopefully it will happen soon – or this week – and we’ll know what the fixture schedule looks coming up the next couple of weeks.”
