Toronto FC lost 3-0 to the New York Red Bulls on Saturday night at Red Bull Arena.
Elias Manoel gave the home side the lead in the 30th minute with a long-range blast, Dennis Gjengaar added a second in the 47th minute, sliding to get on the end of a ball to the back-post, and Cameron Harper added the third in the 75th minute after an interception led to a quick counterattack.
It was TFC’s third loss since returning to action last Saturday.
“We've had some harsh conversations in recent weeks, but tonight a number of us spoke. The key message [was] the guys didn't quit,” said John Herdman post-match of the conversations in the on-field huddle. “It wasn't good enough, we know that. We keep shooting ourselves in the foot in key moments at key stages in the game.”
“We've had some ups and downs, we’ve had some really good moments across these three games, we’ve had some good moments tonight, and we’ve had some moments that are way below the standard that's required to compete in MLS,” he assessed. “Collectively we move forward. That's all we can do. We can't look at what’s on the outside, we've got to stay tight together and move forward this week.”
With the adrenaline still flowing sometimes the answers are not immediately there.
“I'm still processing it. I'm still upset about the loss. We have to sit down and talk about it, analyze it, players and staff,” replied Derrick Etienne Jr., asked about the team’s performance. “One thing we didn't see is us quitting. We, at moments, played some very good football, got in behind. I’ve got to do better on some of the plays in the first half. Overall, just really disappointed right now.”
The margins are thin in MLS.
“Red Bull does a very good job making plays difficult for you,” said Etienne. “It's those little things: reading what the defender is going to do, making sure the pass is precise and firm enough or soft enough.”
“It's a lot of things,” he added. “We just weren't at our best tonight.”
The match was halted after 10 minutes due to inclement weather in the area. It did not resume for nearly two hours. Despite that pause, Manoel’s goal putting Toronto on the back-foot, and losing Alonso Coello to injury, the side felt optimistic going into the half-time break.
“I was happy for the rain delay because [we’d] been done in the channel twice in the first ten minutes, so it would just give us a chance to manage that,” explained Herdman. “Coming out you're in the game, you're away, they are getting momentum, but it wasn't Luka [Gavran] is making save after save, crossbar, shots, corners. It wasn't that.”
“But coming out of half-time, when you concede that early,” he lamented. “The team talk has been: ‘You're right there. One goal away to the Red Bulls. You’ve had some good moments. We've come off the tactical identity the last ten minutes, let's get back to that process.’ Showed them some clips of where the opportunities are and the things we need to clean up and then you're 2-0 down after two minutes. Goals change games.”
Goals either side of half-time are some of the toughest to stomach.
“When you concede straight after half-time, it's an awful time because now you're going up against the best transition team in the league where you've got to open up a bit and guys are thinking more forward than back. You're playing right into their hands,” said Herdman. “We needed to be more patient.”
“At 2-0 down, you're still in the game,” he continued. “It's hard to get that through to the players. The players are thinking, we've got to score. That's part of the discipline, the journey that we're on when we're coming into away environments.”
“There’s moments where we looked threatening,” Herdman added. “The guys kept pushing. The guys that came into the game had more energy, more bite, more fight, but at times we were just lacking that little bit of quality, the quality in big moments to unlock them or to protect our net.”
The first trio of matches during this nine-game push to the Leagues Cup has not gone to plan.
“A lot of times we beat ourselves,” said Etienne of the recent form. “Little mistakes cause lapses in the game and when you're in a tough stretch like this, it's very easy for confidence to go down. We’ve just got to get back to the football that we were playing before and the mentality and the confidence that we had.”
“I see a lot of the quality in the group; we have a lot of winners in this group,” he continued. “It's one of those times when you're in a bit of a bad spell where things aren't going your way [and] you’ve got to make things happen.”
“We came to a tough place, played a good team, and we came up short. That has to hurt – we all have to feel something about that and just be ready for the next game,” Etienne urged. “There is a game next week, so we have a chance to fix our mistakes. Very disappointing losing three on the bounce and winless in six. We’ve just got to get back to playing our way. Once we hit that little stride I think you're going to see great things.”
The next triplet of matches begins on Saturday when TFC head to Georgia to face Atlanta United.
“We'll get back,” said Herdman. “As I've said to the lads, they just have to go to the next task.”
“That's all we can control at the moment,” he closed. “Just next task, back to basics, and then looking at evolving tactically for a tough match at Atlanta.”
