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MLS Toronto FC

Toronto FC (2) - Atlanta United FC (1) Post Game Summary

June 26, 2022 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Toronto FC News Release


SCORING SUMMARY

TOR - Jonathan Osorio 8' (Jayden Nelson, Luca Petrasso)

ATL - Luiz Araújo 57' (Franco Ibarra)

TOR - Ralph Priso 78'

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY

TOR - Jayden Nelson 28' (caution)

TOR - Carlos Salcedo 52' (caution)

ATL - Marcelino Moreno 54' (caution)

ATL - Luiz Araújo 70' (caution)

RECORDS (W-L-D)

Toronto FC 5-8-3 18 points

Atlanta United FC 5-6-4 19 points

LINEUPS

TORONTO FC - Quentin Westberg; Kosi Thompson, Carlos Salcedo, Chris Mavinga, Luca Petrasso (Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty 67'); Michael Bradley (C), Jonathan Osorio (Ralph Priso 62'), Jayden Nelson (Deandre Kerr 46'), Alejandro Pozuelo; Ayo Akinola (Shane O'Neill 86'), Jesús Jiménez (Jacob Shaffelburg 67')

Substitutes Not Used: Alex Bono, Lukas MacNaughton, Kadin Chung, Jordan Perruzza

ATLANTA UNITED FC - Rocco Ríos Novo; Aiden McFadden (Machop Chol 82'), Alan Franco, George Campbell, Caleb Wiley; Franco Ibarra (Matheus Rossetto 64'), Emerson Hyndman (Amar Sejdić 82'), Luiz Araújo (Dom Dwyer 82'), Marcelino Moreno, Ronaldo Cisneros; Josef Martínez (C)

Substitutes Not Used: Bobby Shuttleworth, Alex De John, Brooks Lennon, Mikey Ambrose

MEDIA NOTES

Ralph Priso became the fourth different Toronto FC teenager to score in 2022. No other MLS team has had multiple teenagers record a goal this season.

BOB BRADLEY - HEAD COACH, TORONTO FC

Q. One more win in the books, are you telling anything to the boys? The game was very special.

It's not about telling them. It's just about the work being repeated over and over. You can see there's a growing level of confidence. I thought we had stretches in the first half where the ball moved quicker from one play to the next. We found some success when Jesús is coming off their defenders, Ale being inside, so between Michael and Oso and Jesus and Ale, we had ability to connect passes quickly in there, and I thought that part was quite good.

And then I like the fact that in the second half when we just needed to find a way to come back after giving up the goal and then get a goal, it was a smart play. We weren't having success on corners going direct so Ale's decision was a smart one and Ralph scores a great goal, really happy for him. And in the end, it's just defending. Yeah, good one.

Q. Can you talk about the decision taking Osorio out? What were you looking for?

Oso can only play a certain number of minutes. Coming back from injury and we had an idea and spoke to him at halftime. He was already tired. He felt he could give us ten or 15 more, so purely on that basis, Ralph knew going into the game he was going to be called on and when Oso needed to come out, he would come in.

Q. It's been a little bit of a tough stretch for him this season, especially coming up with short notice last game, and this game scoring the big goal. What do performances like this do for his confidence?

Yeah, it's important for confidence but I think what's also important are some details of staying tuned into the game, how he moves better to stay connected in the game and sees things faster, those things I believe -- we see improvement, and that's his ability to continue to grow as a prayer. Those are the little details in the midfield.

When he's around the play, yeah, he gets in hard. Comes away with balls. Sometimes the game moves and Ralph doesn't move and stay connected with the game and we work through that.

When he has a little bit of time on the ball, he's a good passer but when things are a little tighter, trying to make sure that's improving. But his attitude about seeing these things and working hard there and now you see that if now he gets set up a certain way on his left foot, the strike for the goal is really good.

Q. I hear telling Michael the boys in the warmup, "Guys, we have to keep the momentum going," and I was able to see the players listening to him. Do you remind him to concentrate and play consistent in the first half?

We remind the team. I think Michael has always been somebody who understands some of the things that are needed and is trying to find the right way with his teammates every day.

Q. Even we see the difference, I see Salcedo telling the guys, "guys, don't go so far" and Westberg telling the guys, "please pay attention." Do you think with Westberg being on the net, the team changed?

Yeah, look, I think they are different kind of goalkeepers. I think that Q's experience, his way of reading situations is good. I also think the team is improving; so have to be fair to Alex in that regard and also recognize that now certain things are getting better.

And again, it's not just telling guys not to go, right. It's easy to defend by telling every time to come back and stay tight but it's also the balance, you have to step up.

One of the things I liked about the first half is that I thought we were smart in picking moments to press; that we didn't extend ourselves crazy but when we saw chance, we collectively went after them in a smart way. There were times, again, where in order to do that, Kosi has got to release and move up and Carlos has to slide over, and you know, you do different things in those moments.

So I think that the understanding of how to pick spots to press and in other moments if it doesn't work, how to reorganize, those are some of the things that seem to improve.

Q. That's two straight results -- you've challenged the guys to have win after win, what does it do for the side having two back-to-back good games?

I think they feel good about improvement. I think we saw it in training. We were disappointed with the result against Red Bull but I think there was a feeling that we started poorly but we had stretches of playing good football that day, didn't take advantages of chances. We were able to carry that into the cup match against Montréal, created a bunch of chances.

So I think some of details, the understanding, the ability to connect faster. If everybody is spread out all over the field, then sometimes the ball moves but it moves too slow. So finding the right ways to get people closer and then still extend the field, have deep runs, those are things that -- I think those are ideas a good attacking team will implement. We've tried all year. I can go back through a bunch of games and show you we did really well. I remember the home game against NYC FC, the goal we scored, the first goal, was really well put together, the way the ball moved up the field. I think it went, again, through the midfield.

I love to see the when the midfield connects. And again sometimes I talk about a midfield three but the way we played in the first half, there's actually four guys in there a lot. Ayo is not coming off that much, but you've got Michael coming underneath, you have Ale coming inside, and now when you have ability to play faster through there, that makes it hard on other team and of course that also opens up opportunities to get people on the move wide, and then when you go from inside, outside, when they move, you can come back inside.

So those are attacking ideas thing are getting betterment I see guys getting sharp.

Q. It's been a long road back for Chris [Mavinga]. What did you think?

Played well. He had a very good attitude about his rehab. I thought when he came on against Montréal, his concentration, his understanding of the situation was very good, and he was excited to start tonight. So Chris playing at a high level with a really good mentality could be really important -- could be really important for us.

Q. Seems like your team is rounding into form at a really good time. Would you agree?

Yeah, I mean, look, I still see other things that need a lot of work. So I think we're improving. I've said that throughout the press conference tonight, but still see so many little things that I want to see improved. The pluses are great. The players know that. They feel good about that. That's the confidence that I think shows on the field and then there's all these different levels. We are not Barcelona yet, that's for sure.

RALPH PRISO - MIDFIELDER, TORONTO FC

Q. Talk us through the goal.

I took it short, played Mike. Mike tried I think a reverse pass to Jack, and I think the Atlanta guy slid and touched it and it came to me and I just hit it, just instinct. I think it takes a little deflection, but I'll take it.

Q. What does a goal like that mean to you?

I think it's big. Helped the team get the points. The crowd, a big crowd on a special night. So it's big, and now I've scored on both ends, which is good.

Q. Tell us about the celebration. You made a beeline for that corner.

Honestly it, was -- Kosi was in my ear, telling me, "Knee slide, knee slide, knee slide." So the grass was looking good. Maybe if it was earlier in the year, I wouldn't have done it. Grass was nice, wet. So just did it and it was clean. It looks good.

Q. Maybe just a larger view on the game?

From a personal standpoint I think obviously it's a good goal but the performance can be better. I think I'll go back and watch and see what I can improve because I don't think it was great.

On a team standpoint, I think in the first half, we were the better team. I think we were controlling the game. Then I think we lose control of the game a little bit. They score a goal.

I think our goal comes in a moment in the game where we are back in control. I think we are vindicating a play in the half -- obviously after the goal, I think we buckle up a little bit and just, see it out.

Q. Seems like your team is rounding into form at a nice time. What can results like this and victories like this do for your team as you head into the second half of the year?

Yeah, at the moment we have a pretty young team. So I think just winning games, and the feeling you get after winning, makes you not want to lose that much more. I think it just helps us get even more, and just going into the games with an even bigger desire to win.

I think, like you said, there's guys that are going to come in now and help us keep pushing forward. Until they get here, I think we have good players that can get wins and steady the ship until we get here.

Q. Bit of a general one. What's the mood like in the locker room?

It's good. I think it's really good. Obviously we got back-to-back wins, clean sheet, Cup final coming up, some other guys coming in. Happy, excited. A lot of the guys from the academy, we love playing for the first team. So it doesn't get much better than that.

Q. All five of the teams wins have been at home. Is there a sense amongst you and the boys that this place is becoming a bit of a fortress again like it was in previous regimes?

Yeah, I don't know if I can speak for everyone but certainly, it's a little bit weird, but I feel like it's one of my best games at BMO. I don't know why. I just play better when we play here. So, I don't know, it's just -- it's just something that you can't explain. It's weird.

Q. You signed in the pandemic, the end of 2020 and you haven't experienced a BMO that's somewhat normal. Have you gotten a taste of it?

Tonight is probably the most packed it's been since I played here. Obviously last year attendance wasn't too great. This is probably the first game where it felt like one of those 2017 nights when I was in the academy.

Q. Tell us your experience playing at TFC 2 and playing at a bigger stadium and getting more used to the players, and are you going to start getting used to the café macchiatos?

Personally, I didn't play too much in T2. I played a lot in the academy. I was in the academy from 14 years old and then I played maybe four or five games in T2 and then I was brought up to the first team.

T2 was a good bridge to get me used to playing against older guys that are more physical. Playing against other players helped, and what the Italians drink, we're all going to try it.

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