TFC knows the score for East final
Now is the time for the 1-0 game that Reds coach Vanney preaches
All season long, Toronto FC coach Greg Vanney impressed upon his squad the importance of being at ease with a 1-0 win.
His mantra began last year, after the Reds conceded a league-worst 58 goals that handicapped the offensively gifted team. It reappeared in pre-season, as TFC worked to reinvent itself as a defensively sound team. And it paid dividends in the six matches this season that Toronto won by a 1-0 scoreline.
Little did Vanney know, his much talked about onegoal-plus-a-clean-sheet combination will be enough to propel his team into Major League Soccer’s final when it lines up against Montreal Impact in the second leg of its Eastern Conference championship at BMO Field Wednesday night.
“They were prophetic words at the beginning of the year in pre-season when I said that’s something we have to get comfortable with,” Vanney said Tuesday.
There are many permutations that would see TFC advance past Montreal Impact and into a Dec. 10 final at BMO Field.
Most importantly, the Reds must win. But two away goals in the 3-2 loss to the Impact during last week’s first leg means TFC can do so by the slimmest of margins.
And knowing a 1-0 scoreline would do it means the team is not looking much past being defensively stable and securing that crucial first goal.
“We don’t necessarily have to rush at the beginning and look for the goal,” Vanney said.
“We can look for that goal over the course of the match.”
Goalkeeper Clint Irwin, who was in net for eight of Toronto FC’s shutouts this year, believes his team has shown it can win games where goals are few and far between.
“We can be comfortable at the back knowing that guys that we have on this team can produce goals, produce mobments out of nothing,” he said.
That’s exactly what captain Michael Bradley did last week, when he got the Reds on the scoreboard for the second time in five minutes after Toronto conceded three unanswered goals in the first 60 minutes at Olympic Stadium.
Starting a game thinking you have to score a goal is nothing new, Bradley said; Toronto has said time and time again this season that it approaches every game looking for a win.
But getting past a Montreal team looking to protect its lead — a win or tie would see them advance — will require some creativity.
“They are very comfortable sitting deep with a lot of guys behind the ball,” Bradley said.
“Especially their four defenders are very focused on defending in the central areas of the field and so you have to have different ideas in terms of ways to unbalance them, ways to get through and what types of balls you can play.”
And with Vanney saying there’s no particular rush to get that first goal, Bradley believes another test will be to keep a clear head if it does, in fact, take Toronto time to find the back of the net.
“The mentality to keep going and not get frustrated and to keep at it will be very important on a night like this.”
So far, the Toronto captain said, the Reds have managed to strike the right balance of seriousness and relaxation in the eight days since their last game.
“There’s three teams still in the league who were training this morning and we’re one of them so I think, even with all of this, it’s important to enjoy that part and be proud of what we’ve done up until this point.”
That doesn’t mean Bradley’s ready for it to come to an end.
“We’re not satisfied. We want to keep this whole thing going.”