Reds brace for Bullish New Yorkers
Toronto FC looks to extend winning streak
New York Red Bulls manager Jesse Marsch challenged his side this week after being absolutely battered by the Los Angeles Galaxy.
“Let’s see what we’re made of,” Marsch responded, adding New York’s next opponent “clearly” is the “best team” in Major League Soccer.
Enter t he Toronto FC Reds, who travel to Red Bull Arena Friday night looking to extend their six-game winning streak.
The embattled Red Bulls, meanwhile, are coming off what Marsch called the club’s worst home performance during his tenure, a lifeless 3-1 loss to the downtrodden L. A. Galaxy on national TV.
It’s uncharted territory for a former Eastern Conference juggernaut that hadn’t lost a regular season match at Red Bull Arena since last April.
“I have to take responsibility for this,” Marsch said. “To have a team that’s not ready to play from the start and to play a first half like that, where we showed no life, commitment or belief, I have to look carefully at what I’m doing.”
It’s what TFC head coach Greg Vanney expects Marsch to do. If anything, Sunday night’s embarrassing defeat could serve as a launching point that revives the Red Bulls ahead of one of their biggest tests so far this season.
However, the Reds — despite finally enjoying a week of rest — travelled to New Jersey without two key players who were injured in last weekend’s win over Minnesota
Both Sebastian Giovinco ( quad strain) and Nick Hagglund ( torn MCL) will miss this Eastern Conference tilt, leaving Vanney with voids to fill at both ends of the pitch.
“New York is going to make every effort to be the best version of themselves,” Vanney told the Toronto Sun. “I do think they’re teetering on this confidence line and this belief line where if things don’t go so well during the start maybe they start questioning some things.
“I think they’re a good team. I think they’re going to be there somewhere in the end in the Eastern Conference playoffs and a team that we’ll have to go through, potentially, in the playoffs, assuming we get there.”
But it’ s how the Reds have got to this point that has been the more remarkable storyline. Collecting 15 points in 16 days while using 19 different starting players isn’t just unheard of, it’s never happened.
Perhaps it’s why Vanney evoked 2015 ahead of Friday night’s fixture. Remember Giovinco’s unbelievable goal — the one he scored, against New York, no less — hours after stepping off a plane from Italy?
“I remember we were called a one-man team,” Vanney told the Sun. “( People said) if it wasn’t for Sebastian we couldn’t win games. I think we’ve come a long way since then.
“If one guy goes down, the next guy has to step up and perform. There’s ability here across the board. Nobody is replacing what Sebastian does, but we’ll put another guy in who creates problems for the opposition.”
That’s been Tosaint Ricketts in recent weeks. The Canadian international has game-winning goals in backto- back games, becoming a vital third scoring option for a TFC side in need of goals.
Supporters also should take a keen interest in how Victor Vazquez returns after Vanney saved his Spanish m id fielder’ slegs during TFC’ s recent Saturday-Wednesday-Satur day run of games.
Vazquez was supremely influential through the final quarter- hour of last weekend’s back-and-forth win over visiting Minnesota — a result that pushed TFC to the front of the line in terms of Supporters’ Shield contenders.
“If you can really get on a run in this league you can separate yourselves ( in the standings),” Vanney said. “It’s not like teams pick up points every single weekend. ( Winning streaks) are vital.
“We’ve been able to go on a run that’s unprecedented i n terms of how quickly we’ve been able to pick up those wins. Hopefully we can maintain our form and create some more distance.”
But Vanney also submitted that teams in this league — due to parity and international absences and injuries — typically end up closer together by the end of the season.
He did, however, add that TFC’s ultimate challenge is to see how much cushion it can offer itself given the Reds already are nine points clear of New York, which currently occupies the final playoff spot.
“This isn’t about points in the standings right now, it’s about identity. It’s about making sure there’s a belief system in who we are, what we are, what we do. That’s where we’re at right now,” Marsch told reporters.
“It doesn’t make it a crisis, but it certainly has to be a massive, massive learning curve. Massive. A massive slap in the face. Massive.”
A win over the hottest t eam in t he l eague will change that instantly.