Crew knows disappointment that Toronto feels
A year later, the feeling in the pit of Crew SC’s stomach to start the 2016 the season is well-documented.
A hard-to-swallow 2-1 loss to the Portland Timbers in the MLS Cup in December 2015 was followed by minimal downtime and a mental fog in the first month of the 2016 season.
Visiting Mapfre Stadium on Saturday is a Toronto FC team that ended 2016 with a similar numbness. For 120 minutes on its home turf last December, Toronto held the Seattle Sounders 8 p.m. Saturday Ch. 53, Spectrum Sports WWCD-FM (102.5), WVKO-FM (103.1, in Spanish)
scoreless before falling 5-4 in penalty kicks to narrowly miss out on what would have been the club’s first league title.
Reflecting on their experience, several Crew players say they are empathetic toward Toronto's experience, but stopped short of lumping their starts together. Toronto has four ties in five games but hasn’t lost to this point. The Crew lost two straight to begin 2016 but needed until April 16 to win its first game.
“Actually, they're in a better spot than what we were in '16, but it's a little bit of a hangover. You put so much effort and you lose, so close so I understand some of their feelings,” midfielder Justin Meram said. “You get thrown right back into it and it's a tough task to get there. But they'll be all right, I'm sure. Hopefully, we can take it to 'em Saturday.”
Toronto is tied for the fifth-highest point total in the Eastern Conference with seven. Having reviewed Toronto's film, Crew coach Gregg Berhalter described the team as qualitatively dangerous as ever.
An attacking duo of Sebastian Giovinco and Jozy Altidore up top remains one of the league’s most difficult pairings to mark.
“They’ve had some good games,” Berhalter said of Toronto. “I think they’re doing all right. They haven’t lost, but you know, I think it’s still a tough group. It’s going to be a difficult game.”
Helping the Crew understand the workings of Toronto is one of its former players, defender Josh Williams, who appeared in 27 games for Toronto between the 2015 and 2016 seasons. Berhalter described Williams’ role this week as one of confirmation for what the coaching staff has seen on film, but Williams downplayed it with a smile.
“These guys study so much film. They were saying stuff that I didn’t have much to add,” Williams said. “It’s more of a bounce-off thing where they’ll pull me in for two minutes and say, ‘What do you think of this?’ It’s not like I’m telling them anything that’s a mindblowing thing.”
Asked how he can relate to Toronto’s MLS Cup final experience, right back Harrison Afful said a key to growing from disappointment is quickly processing it. He enters Saturday knowing what a talented Toronto team is capable of.
“When you are a professional, you need to always learn. Learning is part of football,” Afful said.
“Even when you’re at the highest level, you make sure you’re always learning, because people are always looking at you.”