Pozuelo carrying load admirably, but TFC could really use Altidore now
Toronto FC coach Greg Vanney laughed on Monday when he was asked by a reporter for the daily Jozy Altidore injury update.
“It’s the same as yesterday, it’s day to day. Game-time decision,” said Vanney.
That means Vanney will have a huge decision to make on Wednesday night when the Reds walk on to the turf at Mercedes-benz Stadium to face a dynamic Atlanta United side in the MLS Eastern Conference final.
Altidore has missed the opening two TFC playoff games with a strained quad. Vanney said Altidore, even if he’s ready to play at some level on Wednesday, won’t be 100 per cent. So do you start him anyway? Or do you begin the game with Altidore on the bench and go with essentially the same starting XI that won the first two playoff games and bring Altidore on in an emergency if you’re behind in the latter part of the match? Based on the fact that Altidore is not healthy, Vanney likely goes with the same lineup (with Alejandro Pozuelo playing at the false nine spot) that defeated D.C. United and New York City FC in the first two rounds.
With Altidore out, Pozuelo, normally an attacking midfielder, was shifted to the false nine and responded with two outstanding games in the playoffs. The Seville native was also big in helping TFC defeat Atlanta in a 3-2 victory at BMO Field on June 26. Playing as a false nine, he caused the Five Stripes all sorts of issues on defence.
Pozuelo has somehow managed to stay on top of his game despite the fact he’s played back-to-back professional league seasons (76 games) without a significant break in between, first in the Belgian League with Racing Genk and then MLS with TFC.
“So those will be tough decisions,” Vanney acknowledged, when asked about his lineup on Wednesday. “Once we get through training (Tuesday) and once we see where we’re at, we’ll have a better sense and a better plan.
“It depends on what form (Altidore’s) in, and whether he’s really ready to go and how long do we think he can give us,” the coach continued. “There’s a lot of factors. (It’s difficult) just coming off an injury and being ready to go for 90 minutes of a soccer game.”
Vanney was asked if he is surprised that Pozuelo is still able to play at such a high level in the playoffs despite all the games he has played this season. The diminutive Spaniard admitted a couple of weeks ago there have been times when he’s felt fatigue and his legs have been heavy at times. But he keeps rising to the occasion in big, late-season games.
“Not really surprised,” said Vanney. “You can have your ups and downs and your moments, but Poz, he loves to play soccer. He’s the first one on the field and sometimes the last off the field. I think the biggest thing is, these games require, and they demand, such a higher level of concentration, focus, engagement, those kinds of things. And when players are super-talented and they reach that zone of high engagement, then you see things come from them.
“(Pozuelo) obviously has all the talent and these one-off games and these playoff games just bring the best out of the players that have talent,” the coach added.
Pozuelo said one of the reasons he’s been able to stay on top of his game is because he always lets Vanney know how he’s feeling and then the coach adjusts his program accordingly. Vanney laughed when relayed that sentiment on Monday.
“He’s never told me anything,” he said, with a smile. “He leaves that for me to decide. (But) he’s good. He’ll talk to the training staff and to myself and we’ve tried to map out as much of the season for him as possible, especially during that Gold Cup break (June 15-July 7). We tried to get extra days (rest) for him because of the length of time that he had been playing. But I think you get into the end of the season when there’s just so much adrenalin and intensity that I don’t think anybody really knows if they’re tired or not tired or whether they have a ding here or a ding there. You just get out there and you go.”
Another player who has put in a ton of minutes this season is captain Michael Bradley. Vanney joked earlier this year that asking Bradley to sit a game, or even part of a game, is one of the toughest jobs he has. Bradley was on the TFC teams that went to the MLS Cup final in 2016 and won the domestic treble in 2017. And now his team is looking to play in a third Cup final in the last four years, if they can get past Atlanta. A tall order.
“I think we love the competition,” said Bradley. “I think we love when those lights come on. The opportunity to play in big games, that’s what you play for. When that spotlight comes on, (we) have a group of guys that embrace that in every way. And not one guy blinks, not one guy’s phased by it. And every single guy is ready to go out and just go for it. In sport, there’s nothing better than that.”
It depends on what form (Altidore’s) in, and whether he’s really ready to go and how long do we think he can give us.