It doesn’t get any easier from here on in.

Toronto FC began Phase 2 of the MLS regular season with a run of three games in eight days. A disappointing 2-2 draw at D.C. United was followed by a pair of impressive, in different ways, wins – a gutsy 1-0 away to NYCFC and 3-1 at ‘home’ in East Hartford, Connecticut over league-leading Columbus Crew SC.

With six days before their next game, the club was able to take a break, to rest and recuperate, to brace for what lies ahead.

“We returned back to Toronto post-game on Sunday late, arrived at what would have been 12:30 am,” explained Greg Vanney on Friday’s Zoom conference call. “We were able to at least see our families and spent a couple days at home.”

A brief stopover to recharge the batteries before returning to Pratt & Whitney Stadium’s Rentschler Field ahead of the visit of the Philadelphia Union on Saturday night.

“We returned back to Hartford Wednesday midday. We trained, when we got back, at the stadium and then [Thursday] we trained at a different site just to try to give the field a little bit of a break,” continued Vanney. “Training on it every day, we're beating it up a bit, so we have another training site that we're going to be using on certain days, which was nice, and then [Friday] we're back in the stadium preparing for the match.”

The come-from-behind win over Crew SC in their debut in Hartford was a strong finish to their first taste of life on the road.

Having conceded an own-goal in a lacklustre first half, Toronto found another gear for the second 45 to score three, each more spectacular than the last.

“Any time you finish three games in eight days with a very sound second half performance, score three goals, beat the team that currently is at the top of the table, go home for a couple days, and you’ve got a little bit of time between the next game, there's always a better emotion that comes out of that than the alternative, that's for sure,” quipped Vanney. “Looking ahead we get some information out of the last game and we try to build off of that, try to take some of the things that we really liked and reincorporate those in the right way against a different team but another good team.”

In the Union, TFC are facing another team at the top of the Eastern Conference – the two are tied for second place on 28 points from 18 matches, though Philadelphia’s goal difference is four better.

“We look at it as a process,” repeated Vanney. “We'll have to find our moments to defend, hopefully in a similar way as we did in the second half, but at the same time, we recognize that they have a different shape that requires us to adapt a little bit.”

“We want the mentality to be the same: we were much more proactive, much better with the ball, our defensive reactions and transition were much better, we were connected as a group and everyone was working hard to get numbers around the ball and takeaway options,” he continued. “There were a lot of things that were positive that came out of it and we've got to keep building on those, but for sure the emotion is better having finished that stretch of games in that way.”

Long-serving head coach Jim Curtin has his Union side ticking over nicely from a strong campaign in 2019.

Like Toronto, Philadelphia have just two losses this season, both enter the match riding unbeaten runs – TFC four matches, Union five matches – and each are coming off of solid wins – Philly beat expansion side Inter Miami CF 3-0 on Sunday.

Yet another fascinating clash at the top of the East.

“They're playing in a diamond and they really crowd up the middle of the field, make it difficult for teams to get any sort of rhythm,” began Vanney’s assessment of this weekend’s opposition. “They're pretty good at pressing and pretty good at forcing you out of those key areas in the middle.”

“They've defended well in that regard; their centre-backs have done a good job of not making mistakes and not giving up silly goals, and Andre Blake is a guy who can come up with the odd save here and there to keep them in games,” he continued. “That enables them to be a little bit more aggressive at times.”

“And they've got a handful in terms of strikers,” Vanney noted, referring to the duo of Kacper Przybylko and Sergio Santos. “Two strikers who really do a good job of occupying the back-line – all four players – because of their mobility and the way they move. Brenden Aaronson and, lately, Anthony Fontana have really benefited from the space that's created by those forwards.”

“Their wide players are reliable on the ball, they move, they take care of it, and they get those full-backs in high positions,” he added. “They know what they're doing, they've been reliable, they've got an engine in Aaronson, who finds good spaces and keeps the tempo of the game high and they've got two big forwards that really make the back-line work.”

“They've got a system and a way of doing things that has been successful,” Vanney concluded. “And they've got some experienced guys and some young guys who provide them with the roles that they need to be successful, and the work that they need to be successful.”

The opponent on the day is just one of the challenges that must be confronted.

The ongoing struggles for social justice and racial equality, daily life in a time of pandemic, and election season roiling south of the border – never mind that TFC have been forced to relocate their camp from Downsview Park to East Hartford – make this playoff race even more turbulent than usual.

Home life is usually where the rigours of competition evaporate. It’s been tough being away – first in Orlando for the MLS is Back Tournament and now on semi-permanent tour.

“It's hard, I'm learning on the go,” said Jozy Altidore, who opened the scoring on Sunday against Columbus. “I'm, for the most part, a single dad, going long stretches and [my son], he's not seeing me around. That's really difficult for him and difficult for me.”

“I don't really know how to deal with those situations, having not dealt with them like this before,” he continued. “We all have kids, we all have families, and it's difficult to try to explain these things when they don't really get the concept of time. That part makes it all the more difficult because they're innocent – the kids don't really know what's going on – you, of course, wish you could be with them during these tough times and monitor them and make sure everything is okay.”

“To be honest, I'm just navigating it like everybody else, just trying to find the best way forward,” Altidore added. “I just can't wait till it's all over. And just to be with the families and regroup and, hopefully, next year things can move more in a positive way for the league and just in general.”

Even the peaceful chaos of the match ain’t what it used to be.

“It's definitely not easy,” admitted Altidore. “What we've all been accustomed to in the past, it was an escape – you walk into a stadium of 30,000 fans screaming and yelling, wanting to be entertained – and now that sense of reality still follows you, even on the field, playing in the empty stadiums, the atmosphere, there is none. So it's up to us to get each other going and try to do what we need to do to get the results.”

“It's not really that much of an escape anymore, especially when the reality is we have to come [to Hartford] to play, have to be away from the family and then you get to the stadium it's empty, it's not noisy,” he continued. “We've done a good job, everybody has done a good job, each player all across the world in terms of playing in [front of] no fans, but it does stick with you.”

“But hopefully now, as the next weeks come, it can become the new normal, become something that we become used to and just deal with it,” Altidore added. “We don't really have much of a choice.”

That is why it was so vital to get home for a few days, no matter the complicated hurdles involved.

“It's important to get home and see the families, clear the minds, and then we're back in for another stretch,” levelled Vanney. “It's a challenging time period for everyone, especially the Canadian teams having to go through the unique challenges of being on the road for this whole time, but I think it was good for our group to hit a minor and quick reset. Guys seem to be freshened up and ready to go.”

“This is going to be a heck of a stretch, basically five games in 16 days, so getting some physical recovery was also important,” he added. “It allowed a couple guys who are managing little things to get some rest and some guys managing bigger things, we’re closer to getting them back.”

Michael Bradley, Auro, and Julian Dunn have all travelled with the club. Neither Bradley nor Auro are quite ready to return.

Following Saturday’s match against Philadelphia, Toronto will hit the road for two matches – against the New England Revolution on Wednesday and FC Cincinnati next Sunday – before returning to The Rent on Wednesday, October 14 against the New York Red Bulls.

The gauntlet ends the following Sunday when Atlanta United FC come to Hartford.

Much will be asked in these next two weeks.

“This next five games is all hands on deck,” said Vanney. “Half the battle is going to be to take as many points as possible, but a big chunk of this is to get to the end of it as healthy as possible down the stretch.”

“There's not a lot of time between the end of this one and the start of the playoffs,” he reminded. “Five in 16, two on turf, is going to be a physical and mental grind. Everybody needs to be ready to go, everybody needs to be ready to contribute.”