Reds focus on Minnesota with long break looming
Toronto FC is looking forward to having almost a week off after an arduous stretch, but first it hosts Minnesota United FC on Saturday.
As a demanding period — Saturday’s contest will make it five matches in 16 days — winds down, Toronto is riding the highest of highs. With 22 points from its first 11 games — good enough for first place in the Eastern Conference — the Reds are off a clubbest start.
The gritty come-from-behind road victory against Columbus Crew on Wednesday extended their club-record win streak to five games.
So when questions of mental and physical fatigue owing to such a busy schedule were posed to Michael Bradley on Friday, the captain was quick to convey that fatigue hasn’t frayed the focus within Toronto’s camp.
“When you win, there’s confidence, there’s excitement, there’s enthusiasm, but there’s also hunger for more. You don’t want to settle for anything,” he said.
So don’t expect the Reds to take Minnesota lightly when the expansion team comes to BMO Field for the first time on Saturday afternoon. Nor should they. Minnesota, which has 11 points from10 games (3-5-2), has developed an identity since March turned into April. The Loons have three wins, a tie and two losses over their last six games and have climbed to seventh place in the Western Conference.
Toronto’s past four games have included two top Eastern Conference teams, Orlando City SC and Columbus Crew, a top Western Conference team, Houston Dynamo, and a MLS Cup rematch against Seattle Sounders. It would be easy for Toronto to view Minnesota as a soft touch at the end of a tough run.
From Bradley’s perspective, anyone in that mindset is “flat-out wrong” and will be “sorely mistaken.”
The Reds are also expected to get a boost in the form of striker Sebastian Giovinco, who has sat out the past two games with a heel bruise.
Coach Greg Vanney said Thursday he expect the Italian will be available to play against Minnesota, meaning only midfielder Jonathan Osorio (illness) and defender Drew Moor (irregular heartbeat) will be unavailable.
And the coach hopes having Giovinco back will help Toronto finish a busy couple of weeks the same way it started.
“I don’t expect any letdown, just based on the emotion and the energy of (Friday’s) training session,” Vanney said.
“I think these guys have taken a lot of pride in the results that they’ve been able to pick up over this stretch. They know that this is, in terms of this stretch, the final game of that and by no means do they want to let themselves down in this run.”
Following Saturday’s tilt, the Reds have a five-day break before an away match against the New York Red Bulls.