MLS Toronto FC

New York Red Bulls (2) - Toronto FC (0) Post Game Summary

Published on June 19, 2022 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Toronto FC News Release


TORONTO FC - Quentin Westberg; Kosi Thompson (Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty 76'), Carlos Salcedo (Lukas MacNaughton 90+1'), Shane O'Neill, Luca Petrasso; Michael Bradley (C), Deandre Kerr, Jayden Nelson (Jacob Shaffelburg 66'); Alejandro Pozuelo, Jesús Jiménez (Jordan Perruzza 76'), Ayo Akinola (Ralph Priso 66')

Substitutes Not Used: Alex Bono, Kadin Chung, Ifunanyachi Achara

NEW YORK RED BULLS - Carlos Coronel; Tom Edwards, Sean Nealis, Aaron Long (C) (Jason Pendant 82'); Dylan Nealis, Frankie Amaya, Cristian Cásseres Jr., John Tolkin (Cameron Harper 77'); Luquinhas, Lewis Morgan (Zach Ryan 90+2'), Omir Fernandez (Tom Barlow HT)

Substitutes Not Used: Ryan Meara, Steven Sserwadda, Ashley Fletcher

BOB BRADLEY - HEAD COACH, TORONTO FC

Q. You guys held an edge in possession yet again; last time you played these guys but you couldn't turn that into your advantage. Can you break down the game for us?

Yeah, we had a very poor start for the first couple minutes and then gave up a goal on the corner, a prime threat for them on corners, but we weren't organized well. The ball comes through the danger zone. I think it goes just over Jesús, so it's a really poor way to start a match. It took us a few minutes after that, but I thought we started to increase to the tempo of our play.

We started to get forward quicker, and as the half went on, I thought we had four to five big chances to get back to 1-1. You know, I know that Ayo has a big chance, he has another one later, Jayden has one or two, Deandre has a header. So there's some really big opportunities that I thought that the response in that period was good. We hoped that we could continue that and felt strongly that it was a game we could win.

And then the second goal was a killer. Forward on the back line, Carlos loses track of Barlow too easily on that one, and then the final part of it when the kid gets a hand on it but can't deal with the second part that comes from just outside the box. That's disappointing. We had a really big chance after that to get to 2-1 with Jacob.

What I say a lot of times, there's parts of the game where I thought the tempo was good, the ball moved quick and we got forward and we got into good positions. But being able to sustain that and do that over the course of the game, when you play Red Bull teams, obviously they are not worried about possession. So it's not like we can say, well, we had more possession. They play off of chaotic moments. They try to play quick. They try to take advantage of second balls and loose balls, and our ability to react and compete on all those plays in some stretches was good, but in other moments we come away second in stretches of the game where that gives them an edge.

Q. That corner kick you guys gave up first two minutes, I didn't really hear you early in your conversation about, but was that a corner you guys probably didn't have to give up there, the way the play broke down? Maybe your defender had more time than he realized?

Yeah, I have the same memory but I haven't looked at that again, but it was probably where we -- I told you that we didn't start well, and so I don't think that we did a good job. We gave up the corner, and if that happens, now you just have to organize and deal with it.

I think you're right. I haven't looked at the exact play, again, but I was very disappointed with the first couple of minutes. I thought we were too slow and they immediately put us on our heels, and that's what put us in that moment.

Q. This team's conceded a lot of early goals this season. What accounts for that and how does playing from behind ruin the game plan or change the game?

It's hard to say what accounts for that because it's -- you know, look, I think I've been very specific as to how we started tonight's game o can. Red Bull kicks off. They do what they do almost all the time. We were very well prepared for the idea that they were going to play back to the defenders, they are going to move their team up, they are going to hit a long ball, it's going to be a duel, it was between Carlos and one of their attackers. Now the ball comes loose and then they have got a loot of people around that loose ball and then they just try to put the next ball into the box. So early in the game, they just put us under pressure. We missed some opportunities to maybe connect a pass or two, and then we failed to deal with the corner.

Luis, when you play against them, Nealis, Aaron Long, Barlow comes on, those are the biggest direct threats on the corners, Luis Morgan, they move him around, sometimes he starts outside the box. Sometimes he takes corners. He started that around the goalkeeper. So the way it ended up being organized is Jayden went down on them. It would have been better if Luka -- if we had organized quicker when we saw what they were doing and Luka had gone down well. When he moved across, he didn't really stay with them but I would still say that we have Ayo and Jesus in those spots in the front zone, and that's a ball that we've got to defend better.

So you can't give up a goal from there against somebody who is not -- and I don't think Luis Morgan has scored many direct goals on headers off of corners. You know, it comes from, narcotics lot of ways, just a bad start where we were second. And again, against a team like Red Bull, it's not that you're going to immediately get control of the game and have a fluidity and make a bunch of passes. You have to play on their end. You have to deal with the chaos, and then little by little, which happened, we started to find ways that we can build from the back, we could get forward, we could play some of the football that we always try to play.

That's the positive part of the first half but going down early, to your point, especially away from home, is never a good thing.

Q. Kind of touched on it but obviously the Red Bulls, they really physically impose themselves on matches. How do you think your team handled that aspect of the game, especially with a lot of youngsters in the lineup and what can they take away from games like this?

I think we have certain guys that when the game is fast, I think we had a group of guys that adjusted, played quick, and you could see that they are comfortable at that speed, and I think you're correct that we have a group of other guys where the game is going faster than they are used to.

We try in training -- not try; we do, in training create sessions that go very fast. But this part of the development of some of our young guys, thinking faster, seeing things faster, a reaction, getting your body across a guy so when there's contact, you get the foul instead of arriving a little bit late. So I still think that we don't have enough guys that when the games are fast and have a little more of a physical element, are at the level they need to be. That's part of the growth of young guys.

So there are times where there might be a question after -- in a press conference and there might be a player who has made a couple of plays that have caught the eye of either people in the media or fans or whatever.

But then there are other moments where when the game is going fast, that player's ability to find space, play a little quicker, play on the right number of touches, get to a few or more balls that we are still working through that. That's an important part of our development going forward, seeing which guys can grow the fastest, and so I think you could see a lot of that in the first half.

Q. You guys have a pretty big game coming up on Wednesday. In some ways was it good to have an intense game like this coming off the break, getting ready for that one?

I think it's always good to have intense games. If we're going to get players where we want them to be, their ability to play in games that go fast, that have intensity, that demand that we can play at that speed and do the things that we want to do, I think that's always important.

So certainly, we know that semifinal of the Cup is going to be a tough match, and hopefully we can take from this match.

SHANE O'NEILL - DEFENDER, TORONTO FC

Q. Can you break that loss down for us? You guys, again, held the edge in possession. You had some decent chances but you gave up another early goal and that put you behind the 8-ball again. Can you break down overall how you thought the overall game played out?

Yeah, obviously this is based on how it felt, so I would say first ten minutes it felt like a Red Bull game, chaos. They were kind of all over us, which is tough. Yeah, just chaos.

Then once we got the ball, I felt the rest of the first half was really solid. Moved the ball well. Created some good chances, good opportunities and I felt like we did a really good job coming in at halftime. I felt pretty confident we could get a result in the game, we all did.

I thought we actually started the second half decent but we couldn't find ways to get out of our own half for maybe ten minutes. I don't know exactly the minute they scored, but I felt like there was a seven-, eight-, ten-minute period where we couldn't really get out, and obviously they ended up scoring the second goal.

In situations like this, it's such a tough blow. And yeah, we couldn't find that goal to bring us back in the game, even though if we could have gotten one, it was a very winnable game. I mean, this was an opportunity for us for sure.

The way we were playing the first half, the way we played at times in the second half, just, yeah, the game in general, I thought it was an opportunity for us and it's frustrating to let these opportunities slip.

Q. There's been a lot of early goals in matches for you guys this season. Is there something in common with those situations or is each one sort of unique?

Yeah, you have to look at it, if it continues to happen, whether it's the mentality we start games with or what, obviously this is a set piece situation which is a frustrating one to give up.

Yeah, I think we've talked about this in the past, making sure we're ready to go from the get-go. We've talked about this. Especially a set piece, definitely frustrating to give one up like that. Yeah, it's something that needs to be addressed.

Q. Obviously the Red Bulls when you play them, they are a team that likes to physically impose themselves on matches. How do you think you responded to that aspect of the game?

I thought we responded well for parts of the game. I thought the only frustrating bit was at 70, 75 minutes, the game is still there. We're down 2-0 with the game still there for us. I think we have to collectively keep pushing, keep pushing, because I think all these games, there's opportunities, if we can get just one back. You could see there was openings. The spaces were opening up and we got threats to score goals and we've just got to keep going till the end. I think, yeah, I think towards the end maybe physically they impose themselves a little bit on us, but that's competing. We have to compete for 90 minutes. It's cliché but I think it's important.

Q. That's the team's final away game until July 13th. Does a five-game homestand come at the perfect time for you guys?

Yeah, we know, it's a really important stretch. This is a really, really important stretch. We've got to be dialed in and we've got to, like I said, we've got to compete and we've got to be willing to do whatever it takes to get results in these next five games. It's a huge stretch for this team.

Q. Just wanted to get you real lick on Wednesday's game, your first taste against Montréal and semifinal of the Cup competition. How much are you looking forward to that and how much are the guys looking forward to that?

Yeah, obviously we got a little taste with the 2020 game.

Yeah, it's obviously a good competition. Really cool competition. It seems like based on the last six, seven, eight years, it's been between us and Montréal. We know the importance of the game and they obviously to be seem to be firing on all cylinders this year. I'm not sure how they are doing tonight but they seemed solid. It's going to be a tough game. Make no mistake about it; there are no easy games.

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