TFC has some cracks to fill on defensive end
Goalkeeping needs a boost in chase for playoffs
Toronto FC manager Bob Bradley has had to add plumber duties to his role as head coach this season.
It’s like every time something gets fixed with the team, the roster springs another leak — the latest crack in the armour being the goalkeeper position.
Alex Bono, Toronto’s No. 1 ’keeper, has played some stellar football this season with Quentin Westberg out with a rib injury. However, in the last two games, the native of Syracuse, N.Y., has let in a couple of shaky goals — the most damaging one being the first goal scored in a 2-1 loss to Inter Miami on Saturday night. In the 24th minute, Miami midfielder Jean Mota picked up a pass well outside the box and left-footed a shot right at Bono. The ball went off the TFC ’keeper’s hands and then spun over his head and into the goal for a 1-0 Miami lead. With the Reds desperately fighting to get into a playoff spot at this point of the season, Bono can’t afford to let in goals like that.
The other TFC problem right now is, of course, an old one. The club’s top two strikers — Jesus Jimenez and Ayo Akinola — are mired in an awful drought. Jimenez, with eight goals in 26 games, has the second most goals on the team, but hasn’t scored in 10 straight. Akinola started on Saturday and hasn’t scored in 13 straight games. The situation got so bad that Bradley left the 28-year-old Jimenez in Toronto when TFC flew off to Miami last Friday.
Toronto’s three new Italian stars — wingers Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi and left back Domenico Criscito — are playing very well (Criscito was named to the MLS Team of the Week following the 2-1 loss to Miami on Saturday). As well, veterans Michael Bradley, Jonathan Osorio and Richie Laryea are near the top of their games. But with two key positions (goalkeeper and forward) misfiring, Bradley has his work cut out for him. The coach is looking for a way to keep Bono confident and somehow get Jimenez and Akinola back scoring.
“Whether you’re a goalkeeper and whether you’re a striker, if you go through a stretch and things don’t go your way, you’ve got to be ready for the next moment, you gotta be ready to make the next play — make a save, score a goal, something that’s going to push the team,” said Bradley following a team training session at the BMO Training Ground on Thursday. “So we count on Alex in the moment, because yes, Q’s (Westberg) still not ready to be in and Alex is our No. 1.”
It will be interesting to see whom Bradley starts at the No. 9 spot on Saturday in Charlotte — Jimenez or Akinola. The coach said Jimenez is “fine” after being told to say home last weekend.
“He’s fine. He’s a good guy. There’s never a question about that,” said the coach. “I know physically and mentally, you get through a season and you go through a stretch where as a striker things aren’t coming as easy. And for those reasons there was a feeling that, ‘Look, let’s see if we can give him some days to recharge’. And he’s come back into training, into the locker-room, into the building, in a good way.
“He and I have talked often why it hasn’t gone as well (and why) it’s been harder for him,” said Bradley. “It’s different reasons. He’s talked about in some ways feeling his role has changed a little bit. He and I don’t actually agree on that one. I think the role, his qualities as a striker, his ability to be part of the buildup but still be a threat to get into the box, use his skill, use his ability around the goal to create chances for himself and others, I think that’s something that we need. And hopefully, we can find the way to get him going and being in top form again.
The last time TFC played Charlotte, on July 23 at BMO Field, the club had all three Italians as well as new midfielder Mark-anthony Kaye all on the field for the first time together and the result was a resounding 4-0 victory. There’s a sense that if Bono, Jimenez and Akinola regain their confidence and get on a roll, nothing can stop this club. But that better happen quickly as the Reds are in a very precarious situation right now.
With only seven games left in the MLS regular season, TFC (8W 13L 6D) sits in 11th place in the Eastern Conference with 30 points, five points out of a playoff spot with four teams to jump over, including Charlotte (10W 15L 2D), a club that sits one spot ahead of Toronto with 32 points. The Reds need to start piling up victories and for some other teams to start losing games. And they need the ’keeper and the strikers to step up. Bradley said Kaye, who hasn’t played since July 23 because of a lower body injury, is back in full training and could see some action on Saturday.
YOU GOTTA BE READY TO MAKE THE NEXT PLAY — MAKE A SAVE, SCORE A GOAL, SOMETHING.