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MLS Toronto FC

Toronto FC (1) - New York Red Bulls (4) Postgame Summary

October 2, 2024 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Toronto FC News Release


SCORING SUMMARY

RBNY - Emil Forsberg 27' (penalty kick)

RBNY - John Tolkin 48' (Lewis Morgan, Emil Forsberg)

TOR - Prince Owusu 66' (penalty kick)

RBNY - Lewis Morgan 69' (penalty kick)

RBNY - Elias Manoel 88' (Lewis Morgan)

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY

RBNY - Ryan Meara 23' (caution)

TOR - Jonathan Osorio30' (caution)

RBNY - Andrés Reyes 38' (caution)

TOR - Federico Bernardeschi 43' (caution)

TOR - Federico Bernardeschi 74' (ejection)

TOR - Kosi Thompson 80' (caution)

RECORDS (W-L-T)

Toronto FC 11-18-4 37 points

New York Red Bulls 11-7-14 47 points

LINEUPS

TORONTO FC - Sean Johnson; Richie Laryea, Shane O'Neill, Kevin Long, Raoul Petretta (Kosi Thompson 66'); Federico Bernardeschi, Deybi Flores (Alonso Coello 46'), Jonathan Osorio(C), Tyrese Spicer (Matty Longstaff 46'); Deandre Kerr (Prince Owusu 58'), Derrick Etienne Jr.

Substitutes Not Used: Luka Gavran, Aimé Mabika, Sigurd Rosted, Kobe Franklin, Brandon Servania

NEW YORK RED BULLS - Carlos Coronel; Dylan Nealis, Andrés Reyes (Sean Nealis 57'), Noah Eile, John Tolkin; Peter Stroud (Dennis Gjengaar 81'), Ronald Donkor (Felipe Carballo 62'), Daniel Edelman, Emil Forsberg (C) (Cameron Harper 62'); Dante Vanzeir (Elias Manoel 81'), Lewis Morgan

Substitutes Not Used: Ryan Meara, Aidan O'Connor, Julian Zakrzewski, Serge Ngoma

JOHN HERDMAN - HEAD COACH, TORONTO FC

Q: What was your take on the performance?

Not good enough. No excuses. Just not good enough. Not good enough tactically, not good enough with the setup and not good enough on the pitch. Wasn't until the second half I think the team really start to show up.

We needed to go a goal down before we woke up. Almost like we were sleepwalking. I think even as a tactical staff, just not being able to find the solutions as well.

We got to own this, the whole group. This isn't a player thing. This is a coaching staff too passive, and it was a team that were too passive in a game we had to be strong in. We had to have personality, character, we had to fight.

We needed all of that and it just wasn't there. It wasn't there.

Q: How do you explain that as it was such an important game?

Life, John. Life. Humans. Big moments. Under pressure. Personalities. Coaching decisions. Selection. Structure. Comes down to having people with a personality that want that moment, that really want that moment. We'll look inwards first as we always do as a staff, from the medical to the sports science to the technical, the decisions that have been made, good bad or indifferent in the last two days.

Getting the lads showing up like that in the first 30 minutes, it was dreadful. Yeah, really poor. And I think like I say, they didn't really threaten that much. Didn't do too much in the first 35, 40 minutes. We didn't either.

Then what we've done pretty much all season, we give the game away. Just keep giving games away. So for whatever reason we're still in the fight. Still got an opportunity on Saturday. That's all we can look forward to, as I've said to them there. Men have really got to show up this weekend, really represent, and their take the opportunities that's presented. We have had three, four, five different opportunities and just haven't taken them.

Q: How do you evaluate Fede's [Federico Bernardeschi] performance tonight? Flying around firing shots, not on target, then he loses his head and it's not the first time.

Look, he's an experienced player. He has to be experienced in that moment. You know, it was probably a hot moment for him given we just conceded. Frustrated I imagine.

But that's the sort of behavior we have to change. It has to be different on Saturday against a really tough Miami team. We need people that can keep their cool in those moments.

I understand Fede [Federico Bernardeschi] is frustrated. We had some big moments there. We've given a penalty away, but you're right back in the game. You can see frustration. It was hot.

But at the same time, I think he'll be disappointed in himself that he hasn't been able to manage that moment. And that might be the end of his season.

Q: Do you expect Lorenzo [Insigne] to be available for the weekend?

I'm not sure. I mean, maybe five minutes, ten minutes. Yeah, we'll see. We'll do everything we can to get him patched up and ready to go.

He has strains in both of his calves. We'll do our best and the medical team will try and get him on the pitch for some minutes.

Like I say, it's more about the guys that really can contribute that just want to pull on the jersey now and say, look, I'm willing to go down fighting with everything I've got. That's what this club needs at this moment in time.

Q: This may be a question for after the season but do you have players here that don't want to be here?

I wouldn't say that. I think players want to play here, but I've said this from day one, you come into a club that has a lot of the trauma from last season and the season before.

When the bad omens and the bad signs start setting in, that trauma comes to the front and you get behavior in different forms that are not going to help you in these playoff moments.

I think we didn't look like a team ready for the playoffs tonight mentally, emotionally. We got two days to turn that round. For whatever reason we could win on this weekend and we're in. We don't know that, but that's the only thing in our control.

The guys that want to be here will be on the pitch this weekend and that's for sure.

JONATHAN OSORIO - MIDFIELDER, TORONTO FC

Q. What went wrong tonight and also can you explain what happened after the game, we saw you talking to the fans in the south stands, what was going on?

In the game, I think the key for me was the way we started. Was just not good enough. I wasn't with the right mentality and intensity of a team fighting for playoffs, fighting at home. Tactically we could not adjust quickly.

And saying that, I think first 18, 20 minutes we were kind of weathering a storm, and we thought if we could weather the storm and get on the other side of it the game could flip in our favor.

But, you know, they get a penalty. We started the second half slow again. That's been the story of the season. We let in a goal. Get ourselves back in the game and then another penalty.

Story of the season, killing ourselves. We killed ourselves the whole season. Did it again today. Just not good enough to be honest. And it's not a case of effort. There are guys in there giving everything on the pitch. This is not the case this year.

It's more so a little bit of naiveness on our team. I think not enough players that have been in big moments or pressure situations. I think there is too many players that this is new to them, to us as a whole, and that cost us today.

And at the end, after a result like that, I felt like I had the responsibility to face the fans. They stay there after the game. Those fans are there every game supporting us through the highs and lows and through the very lows.

I wanted them to vent towards me. That's all it was. They were voicing their dissatisfaction with our team.

That's it.

Q: Can't have been easy for you, you wear your heart on your sleeve for his club.

No, it's not easy, but as the captain, you know, in these hard times, I accepted that responsibility to show my face first when these things happen.

It's part of it. It's part of the responsibility. So I felt I needed to do that.

Q: John [Herdman] mentioned a lack of intensity tonight, how can you explain that? Such an important game, so much on the line. As you said the effort was there, but maybe not the intensity?

To be honest I'll take that back. Maybe not lack of intensity. I would say the lack of urgency, which is a little bit different.

I think games are not going to go as perfect as you plan. Never. We kind of get rattled when the game presents a different picture than what we trained for or expected.

Yeah, as a group we need to be better in how we resolve those situations on the field, as players and as the staff on the outside.

Q: Could one of those moments been, when Kevin Long scored and it was called back. Was that one of the moments where it was not going your way?

Well, that's not lack of intensity or solving a tactical problem. That's adversity. That's mentality. Yeah, something doesn't go our way, and instead of using that as momentum and gaining momentum, we kind of let it rattle us and we're not really able to keep that pressure on other teams.

I think this happened a few times this season, that we weren't really able to keep the pressure and the momentum after maybe a call doesn't go our way.

Q: You're not out of it yet. Obviously, you need a win on Saturday, which is another test of character can this team turn it around?

Well, yeah, there is not really a choice. We have to win on Saturday, and then at this point we have to hope now results -- we count on other results now, unfortunately. It's not all in our hands.

But we have to control what we can control, and that's our performance on Saturday. That's to get a win on Saturday. There is really nothing else that -- without a win we won't be in. With a win we give ourselves at least a chance. But now it's not completely in our hands.

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