Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Tactician Vanney secures place on Toronto sideline

Despite blips, coach has ushered TFC into club’s third MLS Cup final in four years

- STEVE BUFFERY Sbuffery@postmedia.com

With his players yelling and screaming and sipping on fancy European beers, Toronto FC coach Greg Vanney walked into the visitor’s locker-room at Mercedes-benz Stadium last Wednesday night and was intercepte­d by a Toronto reporter.

Ditching his usual calm reservedne­ss, Vanney heatedly suggested that defeating Atlanta United and earning a trip to the MLS Cup final for the third time in four years wasn’t bad for a coach who appeared to be on the verge of being fired in June — though his actual words weren’t quite that diplomatic.

You couldn’t blame the 45-year-old for being a little riled up. It’s been a roller-coaster season for Vanney and his team. In June, after TFC went eight straight games without a win, team president Bill Manning essentiall­y put his coach on notice, telling TSN’S Kristian Jack: “Greg is in the biggest skid he’s been in since he’s been here. And we’ve challenged him that the results are unacceptab­le … we have to be a playoff team. With that said, Greg won us a championsh­ip and I believe, and (GM) Ali (Curtis) does as well, that he deserves the opportunit­y to get this ship right. But (he) has to get it right. We got to start getting results.”

They did get that. Vanney’s troops ended the MLS regular season by going 10 straight games without a loss and, since the playoffs begun, have run that streak to 13.

So, is Vanney still on the clock? Hardly. Win or lose in Seattle on Nov. 10, when the Reds face the Sounders in the MLS Cup final at Centurylin­k Field, Vanney has establishe­d himself as one of the most successful coaches in MLS history.

Since Vanney joined the Reds in August 2014, TFC went on to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in 2015; made it to the MLS Cup final in 2016 (losing 5-4 in a shootout to Seattle); won the 2017 MLS Cup final, with a 2-0 victory over the Sounders, as well as taking the Canadian Championsh­ip and Supporters’ Shield; and once again has his club in MLS’S biggest match, next Sunday afternoon in Seattle.

His one blip was TFC’S lost year in 2018 when the Reds failed to make the playoffs.

“Greg is an unbelievab­le coach,” said TFC midfielder Nick Deleon. “He’s a student of the game. He’s a tactician. He’s all about trying to get guys in the right spots to impact the game the best way they can. It’s really been a unique experience for me to have a coach like that.”

Like any good coach, Vanney isn’t afraid to make unpopular decisions to get the best out of his team — like when he pulled Deleon from the game against D.C. United after the first half at BMO Field on May 15.

Deleon had spent his entire career with D.C. United and wasn’t happy that his coach pulled him from the match against his former team. Today, the Phoenix native credits Vanney, and the TFC organizati­on, with revitalizi­ng his career.

At the end of the 2018 season, D.C. United declined to pull the trigger on Deleon’s 2019 contract option. Deleon was then selected by TFC in the

MLS Re-entry Draft and he responded with one of his best years ever in MLS, scoring seven goals, including the game-winner against Atlanta.

“I’ve got nothing but good things to say about Greg,” said Deleon. “It’s been a pleasure to play for him. A lot of these guys have been with him for years and I think he’s got a big part to do with TFC being here (in the MLS Cup final) three years in four.”

Vanney is considered one of the better tacticians in the MLS — case in point, the Eastern Conference final last Wednesday. Though the higher-seed Atlanta side generally outplayed Toronto, Vanney did push the right buttons without starters Jozy Altidore and Omar Gonzalez on the field to pull off the upset win. One MLS insider raved about Vanney’s moves in the match: “They started the game in a 4-3-3 with a false nine and a high line, switched to a 4-1-4-1 in kind of a mid-block, opened the second half in a 3-5-2 with a low block, changed to a 5-4-1 with a higher line and finished in a 4-33 with a true No. 9, a playmaker on the wing and playing on the counter.”

And, the analyst added, Vanney did all that without his club losing very much cohesion on the field.

When asked this week what he has learned as a coach during his time in Toronto, Vanney said: “Working to adapt and being more pragmatic at times and less ideologica­l at times, but also understand­ing why and when pragmatism is more important. Every new season is kind of a new mission, you take lessons and you try to stick with the things (that) helped get you there. But at the end of day, you’re working with people and you’ve got to be able to adapt and adjust along the way based on where the team is at in a given moment.”

Vanney said that with his usual calm reservedne­ss.

 ?? VAUGHN RIDLEY/GETTY IMAGES ?? Toronto FC coach Greg Vanney is considered one of the better tacticians in the MLS, a skill he demonstrat­ed in the Eastern Conference final against Atlanta.
VAUGHN RIDLEY/GETTY IMAGES Toronto FC coach Greg Vanney is considered one of the better tacticians in the MLS, a skill he demonstrat­ed in the Eastern Conference final against Atlanta.
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