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MLS Toronto FC

Toronto FC (0) - Inter Miami CF (1) Postgame Summary

October 5, 2024 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Toronto FC News Release


SCORING SUMMARY

MIA - Leonardo Campana 90+3' (Luis Suárez)

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY

TOR - Matty Longstaff 55' (caution)

TOR - Alonso Coello 77' (caution)

TOR - Sigurd Rosted 79' (caution)

RECORDS (W-L-T)

Toronto FC 11-19-4 37 points

Inter Miami CF 21-4-8 71 points

LINEUPS

TORONTO FC - Sean Johnson; Shane O'Neill (Henry Wingo 62', Tyrese Spicer 72'), Sigurd Rosted, Nicksoen Gomis (Raoul Petretta 62'); Alonso Coello, Matty Longstaff (Brandon Servania 80'); Richie Laryea, Jonathan Osorio (C), Derrick Etienne Jr. Lorenzo Insigne (80'), Kobe Franklin; Deandre Kerr (Prince Owusu 46')

Substitutes Not Used: Luka Gavran, Aimé Mabika, Deybi Flores

INTER MIAMI CF - Oscar Ustari; Noah Allen, Tomás Avilés, Serhiy Kryvtsov, Franco Negri; Julian Gressel (Diego Gómez 80'), David Ruiz (Sergio Busquets 61'), Benjamin Cremaschi (Luis Suárez 71'); Matías Rojas (Yannick Bright 71'), Robert Taylor (Lionel Messi 61'), Leonardo Campana (C)

Substitutes Not Used: Drake Callender, Ryan Sailor, Jordi Alba, Lawson Sunderland

MEDIA NOTES

Raoul Petretta made his 50th Major League Soccer appearance for Toronto FC.

JOHN HERDMAN - HEAD COACH, TORONTO FC

Q: Your team led the dance for much of the evening, but the lack of cutting edge, is that sort of a problem you had for a while?

Yeah, I think to start, just to thank the fans who have been right behind us this season, this is a group that show up week-in, week-out. They brought the energy. We needed that energy. We just weren't able to deliver. I thought we defended really well today. That was a pretty impressive performance against, or what is, a talented team, regardless of who they start with. That's a tough Miami team to play against.

But you can't hide it. We are not as ruthless or as clinical as other teams. We see Miami get that one big opportunity, and it's taken, and so I think for us, you know, we knew it was going to be a mountain to climb this season, and we've climbed. We've had some performances that weren't at the standard. And that's for us to reflect on. But we've had some performances that we should be really proud of. There's been some moments in the season, you know, the derby wins or nations -- sorry, the Leagues Cup progressions, beating Pachuca, being in the top four for the first parts of the season, all of those things were great steps.

But it just hasn't been good enough in this last four months, and you know, we'll have to look hard at ourselves. We were in a playoff fight but I don't think we had enough punch in that fight.

Q: What was your take on the whole atmosphere this evening. Is its strange to hear your crowd chanting for the star of the other team?

It's tough, eh. You're in a game like that and you're expecting the last 30 minutes to feel like it's a pressure cooker for everyone, and it felt like a circus. You know, it was -- when you bring the best player that's ever walked the earth, I mean, what do you expect? I mean, it's just a gift, I think, for the fans, the people of Toronto, to be able to see that man in the flesh. You know, so I understand it. I understand it coming from the northeast of England, I can't comprehend it but I understand it.

It was a wild night. We could have came away maybe with a point, which that would have helped us in the run. We had to go for it. I thought we did all right against Messi. I thought the lads managed Busquets, Suarez, Messi, and it wasn't until we started committing numbers looking for a goal that we looked vulnerable.

Q: What do you tell the guys after the game, especially now that it's out of your hands?

I think we've got to be honest. We've got to reflect. We've got to be honest and reflect. This is my first season with the club. I told them what the fans were telling us and the fans were saying, we've got your back. Their performance wasn't as strong in different parts of the season, but they can see there's a fight in there. There's something different. But at the same time, that it wasn't good enough, from me, from others that have came into the club and tried to turn this around, this is the first project we have not turned around in our first season.

That's going to require, again, high-level honesty from all staff, people who have been here for ten, 15 years, people who have been here for four years, people who have been here for only a year, there's just got to be high-level honesty around all aspects of what we can do to learn to grow, to improve.

And I know the fans don't want to hear that. They just don't want to hear it, and they don't want to hear those words of we lose and learn and all the clichés. They want to see action. I think they have seen some elements of action this year. But not enough. Not enough to fully get a picture of what this club could be in the future.

For me, it's a case of evaluating, re-evaluating everything that we have done this year, and then just keeping our hands tightly together and praying that the gods give us something.

Q: Do you hold out any hope tonight?

No. We had to win. We had to win tonight.

Q: Maybe you'll want to reflect on this a little bit but what has it been like for you? You've had the intensity of games every week, twice a week, compared to the national team. You've had to endure ups and downs going home without your family and things like that. What has it been like for you?

I mean, I made a commitment to give it my all this year. I said that I would be willing to leave my family and just immerse myself fully into the job, and that's all I've done. I've give it my absolute best. I think the group that came in with us, we've worked long hours to try and close the gap that we've had not being club coaches, seasoned club coaches, and there's no game I've never took a step back from. I've always been in that fight.

I think from my side, I know I've given it my best. The practices were there. But it wasn't good enough. I think that's -- you know, I'll reflect on that. It has been an up and down season. The emotions have been so high at times but then just so low. Like you know, that game against Sporting KC, or Chicago here, you just can't get your head around it, how you can go from beating Atlanta one week to that type of result, and then you go from beating Austin and pushing, pushing, like being a team, and the Canadian Championship where you look like bloody Barcelona at BC Place and you look fantastic, and then you roll up and you know, we concede four goals. You just can't fathom it. Again, I have to look inwards. That's the first step.

Hell of a ride. A lot I've enjoyed. A lot I've hated. But just resilient. That's probably the word now for the next few weeks, just to stay resilient.

Q: You're here for the long haul?

I'm committed, fully committed to the journey with Jonathan Osorio. He's a great man. I've watched him lead and turn into a stronger leader over these last four months. I think the harder it got, the better he got as a leader. I've enjoyed that challenge.

We've got some good men here that I would like to see turn around. I think there's a really solid group of staff behind the scenes that are destined for success. And I'd like to think when I would have walked in these doors and spoke with Jason Hernandez and Bill Manning, they told me, this is a three-year project. Year one will be difficult. We're not going to be able to create the roster that you dream of.

But you know, with my mentality, it's, look, we'll win the league without it; we'll do our best to get to the top four, top five. I think the critical piece is, it is going to take some time. I've learned that, and I've learned that MLS is a beast. This is a beast. And you need a deep squad of very committed human beings that can win football matches consistently.

I know the club is committed to building that.

Q: Lorenzo [Insigne] coming on for the last 10 minutes is that as far as you could push him?

You could see, he didn't have much in him. I think he managed to get Messi's shirt. But yeah.

Q: Can I ask what your thoughts were when you saw the Maimi team sheet tonight?

I knew. I knew that was the team sheet. I just thought, oh, sh-t, because you knew that's a hungry team. That group of guys are coming in there to fight. And you knew Tata [Martino] was saying, okay, you guys get us through 60, give it everything. The other fellas will come on and finish the game.

I was hoping the other lads were going to start. I thought they would have give us a few more opportunities. We'd have to have been resilient but I thought that was again smart. He's got a hungry squad, championship squad. They can rotate a roster, similar to Columbus; and if they can keep you to 0-0, they have the winners coming into the match. I thought our lads did everything but score. That was the critical piece; we had to score. We had a couple of good looks there, and if we score, we're in that fight and Messi is coming on in a different scenario. Just, yeah, same old story.

Q: What does Monday look like for you guys?

Well, the lads will be back in on Tuesday. I think we'll have a prayer room, and then do everything we can to convince the gods to give us a bit of slack. I don't think we've had much luck this season with injuries and other bits and pieces. But yeah, we'll get back at it. But I do think this next -- as soon as we know it's done, yeah you have to get into an evaluation with the players.

It starts there first. You know, we've got to understand, you know, where we fell short this year, and that's part of the improvement cycle.

I don't know if they have been engaged in that before as a group but we'll have a solid process. We've got to hear everything.

Q: With Henry [Wingo] was it the same injury he's been dealing with?

Yeah, I mean, it's a bit of a mystery to me. The MRI is not showing anything. There's something going on in the tendon. Yeah, it's a tough one.

DERRICK ETIENNE JR. - MIDFIELDER, TORONTO FC

Q: What was your take on the performance tonight?

Yeah, very disappointing. I would have to go back and look at it but I think we did a lot of things right. Kept them at bay for large parts of the game and unfortunately weren't able to get that goal which is very disappointing to reward ourselves.

Yeah, I mean, it's hard to say we'll take stuff from it. You know, at this point in time, guys are really frustrated. It was a performance, we went out there and tried to go after the game and get results, and I think in many ways, we were close, but, yeah, we didn't -- we didn't succeed today.

Q: It's out of your hands now, do you hold on to any hope that you can squeak in?

There's always hope. Yeah, I mean, I know the teams underneath us have some difficult games. We know we've just got to go home and pray that they don't win or tie or anything like that, and we're able to get into the playoffs.

But yeah, we won't lose hope but at the end of the day we understand how difficult it is and the situation we've got ourselves in.

Q: You're a former MLS Cup Champion how frustrating was this season for you?

Yeah, it's very difficult. You always want to make the playoffs and it's always a difficult run of games, especially with how the schedule is and all that stuff but that's part of the game. It's just unfortunate. Always seemed like at certain times, guys were gone, guys were injured, stuff like that. But like I said, that's part of the game. Other guys missed players as well.

So you just have to look at this, reflect, and you know, if God blesses us, we make the playoffs. If not, everyone has a hard look in the mirror and we fix the things that we could have this year because we had the group to get in the playoffs. We've showed in many games that we could be a dangerous team to play against in playoffs, as well.

But we fell short in aspects of the game that we just can't, and at the end of the day, as you saw today, good teams will punish us, and when we don't take our chances, we leave ourselves open at the back end. And I mean, it's hard to put into words right now.

Q: What did you make of the atmosphere out there tonight? A bit strange when a home crowd is chanting your opponent's name.

The fans have been great all year to be honest. We felt their presence at all the home games and we're disappointed because we weren't able to reward their faith and their hard work with results. So again, we want to look at that and we want to fix those things.

Yeah, Messi is arguably the greatest player of all time, so obviously you're going to have people coming out in the thousands to cheer him on.

But for me, it was good because, hey, I mean, they are all here watching. So doesn't matter who we are watching. We just wanted to get a result. I liked it because, hey, you can chant his name all you want but we are going to go out there and do what we need to do and all those things. But like I said, the fans have been great all year, and we need to do a better job to reward their faithfulness.

Q: Seemed to have found a home within this team, they appreciate your skills, do you think you found a soccer home within this team?

Yeah, definitely, I felt it from the moment I got on the phone with John Herdman and Jason Hernandez. They had a plan. We talked about how I can fit into the plan and all I had to do was come in. And I think you can see what happens when a coach and a staff and a club show their faith in you, and I was just glad that I was able to at times reward them.

But again, I feel like it's only the beginning, and I'm excited to be here. I'm excited to come back, and hopefully we get a chance to go to the playoffs. But if not, to come back next year stronger because I don't like not going to the playoffs. That's unacceptable for me.

Q: You see light at the end of the TFC tunnel?

Definitely.

Q: What are you doing tonight? Are you watching the other teams playing tonight?

Yeah, it's difficult. The competitor in me doesn't want to watch those games but I'm going to be glued in. It's going to be difficult. I know I'm going to be screaming. Might get some noise complaints. But yeah, just, I'll probably be watching hopefully some teams can take care of, I'll hit up a couple of guys and say hey better not mess around today. But yeah, it's tough. But it's the reality we're in right now. God willing, we'll be in the playoffs.

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