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MLS Toronto FC

Toronto FC (1) - Nashville SC (2) Postgame Summary

June 19, 2024 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Toronto FC News Release


SCORING SUMMARY

TOR - Alonso Coello 34' (Federico Bernardeschi, Derrick Etienne Jr.)

NSH - Sam Surridge 65' (Hany Mukhtar, Sean Davis)

NSH - Sam Surridge 90' (Tyler Boyd)

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY

TOR - Deybi Flores 71' (caution)

NSH - Hany Mukhtar 71' (caution)

TOR - Kevin Long 72' (caution)

RECORDS (W-L-T)

Toronto FC 7-9-3 24 points

Nashville SC 5-5-8 23 points

LINEUPS TORONTO FC - Luka Gavran; Nicksoen Gomis, Kevin Long, Raoul Petretta; Federico Bernardeschi, Alonso Coello (Kosi Thompson 88'), Deybi Flores, Derrick Etienne Jr. (Deandre Kerr 88'); Matty Longstaff, Lorenzo Insigne (C) (Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty 62'), Prince Owusu (Kobe Franklin 81') Substitutes Not Used: Greg Ranjitsingh, Aimé Mabika, Sigurd Rosted, Charlie Staniland, Cassius Mailula

NASHVILLE SC - Joe Willis; Josh Bauer, Walker Zimmerman (C) (Brent Kallman 75'), Jack Maher, Daniel Lovitz; Tah Anunga (Sean Davis 46'), Dru Yearwood (Forster Ajago 85'), Alex Muyl (Tyler Boyd 46'), Hany Mukhtar, Sam Surridge; Teal Bunbury (Amar Sejdić 85') Substitutes Not Used: Elliot Panicco, Joey Skinner, Taylor Washington, Isaiah Jones

MEDIA NOTES

* Alonso Coello scored his first goal for Toronto FC, becoming the 10th different player to open his account for the Reds during the 2024 season. * Derrick Etienne Jr. registered his first MLS assist for TFC since joining the club on April 24, 2024.

JOHN HERDMAN - HEAD COACH, TORONTO FC

Q. Are you wondering how on earth your team lost this game? Yeah, I think we just had to be more clinical. We talked about after the D.C. game, just that killer goal, the goal that kills an opponent. We just couldn't find it. And when you play a team like Nashville with the quality of [Hany] Mukhtar, [Sam] Surridge, you just know with their style of play, as well, they are going to get chances. They always get chances. But you've got to be ready to kill that game off but also defend properly. Defend properly and manage the moments.

Again, moments tonight where the ball could be put into row z, and the game and the moment's managed, the danger's managed. But we are in this mentality that because we're 1-1, we have to keep the ball, we have to do something special. We have to use that moment to attack, and that's what's costing us.

We're just not managing the moments in that last 30 minutes of games. It's been dreadful.

Q. After Chicago [Fire], you talked about how the real us would have to show up. Did that happen? Yeah, I thought for 60-odd minutes, the crowd could see our identity at home. I thought we had good control. First 15, we knew it was going to be a bit of a bat royale with Nashville. But I thought we were able to get that rhythm that we find, and just needed to be more clinical to put the game out of sight.

On a different night, we've seen that against Dallas or Montréal, we're able to just go for the jugular, and tonight we didn't. And again, you know, when you're going into that last 30 minutes, and you're going to have to make changes and bring quality and experience out, it's tough.

Q. Is the giving up goals so late in the game a factor of the fact that you don't have enough quality in this roster right now to stretch it across the whole game? I think you've got to look at a number of factors. I think the factors are, you know, we dropped our intensity in the second half. You can see there's an intensity that gets dropped. We just sag a bit too deep and we're not able to get the pressure on their build the way that we were in the first half. And some of that's, again, just the makeup of our squad, some of it's the players and some of it's around the output they put out in the first half and not being able to sustain that.

Then when you bring certain players off like a Lorenzo [Insigne], who was gassed tonight, you could see he was fatigued, coming off the back of 90-plus, you can't replace that quality, you just cannot.

So for us, we've just got to stop making excuses in that last 30 minutes, and for us as a coaching staff, as well. We've got to look hard at ourselves as well. Tactically, the type of subs we're making, being able to shift into a different way of thinking and playing, to manage us through periods of time. I can point fingers at the players, but the staff have got to take a big responsibility there, as well. You know, we are making those changes, and yeah, we've -- again, to answer your question, I was proud of about 55, 60 minutes tonight. But that last 30, again, it just feels like old TFC is back. We just wobble and we look unsure. We look timid. And we look like we can score.

But when we look like we can score, we look like they are going to score the other way very quickly, and that's a challenge. I mean, you look -- a couple of square pegs in round holes. But people like Derrick Etienne has done well at wingback, and he's not played there in his career. I thought he's done good job there.

And obviously Matty Longstaff playing in that higher attacking mid role, he's put a shift in every game. Alonso [Coello] scoring his first goal. Did a great job, again, the first 60 minutes to control the play and show his bravery. And given some of the mistakes he made, he really showed his bravery tonight. And Deybi [Flores], the first 55, 60 minutes was an absolutely destroyer. He dealt with [Hany] Mukhtar.

So the story of this last 35 minutes, yeah, we've got to figure some stuff out because the stats don't lie. We are dreadful in that last 30 minutes of games.

Q. Were those goals preventable in your eyes? Absolutely. I think the last goal was horrendous. It's absolutely horrendous. I mean, it's poor. It's really poor. And we just shifted tactically to a 5-3-2 to try to get a little bit more proximity to [Hany] Mukhtar because we felt in the transition, he was starting to get available and they would get in that rhythm [Hany] Mukhtar discouraged.

But again, it starts with us. We can clear a line. We can manage the situation. We can put a fire out earlier, there's no doubt. And 1v1, there's an opportunity to empty the player and just show that commitment to keep the clean sheet -- or sorry, to keep the result in that moment.

The lads apologized. You know, they will tell you, we're sorry and we made mistakes there, but again, it's a collective. Those things happen higher up the pitch. We weren't getting enough pressure on their build and we were inviting us, and that can't be us at home. I can understand if you're 3-0 and trying to save legs for the next game, but there's definitely a bit of work for all of us to do to collectively to learn how to finish these games stronger.

ALONSO COELLO - MIDFIELDER, TORONTO FC

Q. Not the result you guys wanted. Seemed a game you had in the bag at the end of the first half but you weren't able to put away. Does it feel like a missed opportunity? For sure. As you said I think it's a game especially after the way we lost the last game, I think we came strong in the first half. I think we showed the kind of team that we are and the kind of team that we are suppose to be every single game we play, especially at home, and I think we deserved more in that first half. I think obviously when you deserve, you have to be clinical and earn it, and we didn't. And it hit us back in the second half and I think we were not able to close the game out. We allowed them to start to take control in the game, and at the end, take the game.

Q. It was a great finish on your goal. Did you anticipate Federico [Bernardeschi] was going to play it back like that? Well, sometimes he shoots too. Yeah, I think you have to try and give him as many options as possible because you know when he gets the ball, the other team puts a lot of focus on him and try and double, triple-team him.

I've been around there a few times during the season, and finally today I get the chance to get the ball from him and be able to score a goal, which obviously felt nice. But something that I really can't enjoy right now after the result.

Q. Do you have any insight into why this team is giving up so many goals in the last 15 minutes? I think it can come down to a lot of factors. I think it's on us, the starters, to close out the game whenever we can, and we feel like we're dominating and getting chances, and maybe sometimes we get a little too casual around the final third when in reality we can probably make it simpler and punish them earlier.

And then obviously, I think players coming in maybe making an impact a little bit more than we are as a team, whenever some of us come in, and yeah, I think the way they made changes and the players coming in for them, I think they did that, and you could feel a difference in their intensity and their hunger that we weren't able to find in that second half.

Q. How did you feel about your performance tonight? I felt good honestly. Especially after I had a rough night the other day with one, two, mistakes that led to a goal.

So I was coming into this game to try to reset a little bit from it and keep it simple and go back to the basics. Yeah, from early on, I was feeling pretty good about myself and obviously getting that goal also helps and it's just not great that it wasn't enough to get the three points at the end.

Q. The on-field huddle was a little bit longer tonight. Can you give us a sense of what that dialogue was like? Yeah, I think it's whenever you are in this situation, you have to look at yourself. I think you have to get back together. Look at each other's eyes and tell the truth, be honest. We are in a situation that we don't want to be, and we weren't expecting to be because of how we started the season.

So we have to do whatever it takes for us to get back on the track that we were a month ago, a month and a half ago, and yeah, I think that's it. Obviously whenever you are in these situations, people say things. People express the way they feel about it, and the way they think that it can be solved, and you have to try and let everyone say whatever is in their mind and take the positives and negatives and build from there.

Q. Fans would like to see you get more goals for TFC. Are you setting any personal targets for yourself? Well, I would like to see some goals some more too. I don't think I can set any personal targets really in regards to goals because that was my first in I don't know how many games so it would be kind of unrealistic.

Yeah, I'm trying to get a little closer to the box. In many occasions, I think obviously having Deybi [Flores] this year, it allows me to maybe be a little bit more free than I was last year. I trust my strike from there. I score a nice one in the preseason as well. And yeah, I especially because I think as I said before, our DPs get a lot of focus from the other team and it opens up a lot of opportunities for the rest of us to get into nice areas and get the ball.

Q. What's your message to the fans after this loss? Just I think we understand, obviously, that they are frustrated and we want to tell them that we are [frustrated] too, and we are working for us to come here every Saturday, every Wednesday, and show them the team that we are and the team that they deserve to see every day.

So just understanding their frustration and thanking them for the support that we get from them every weekend.

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