TORONTO – The all-Canadian portion of the MLS regular season continues on Tuesday night at BMO Field.
Toronto FC will play their fourth match of the series when the Montreal Impact come to town and the stakes are high.
First there is the three points and with TFC atop the Supporters’ Shield standings every single one going forward will matter. Then there is the Canadian Championship implications, where TFC again top the table heading in.
As always against the Impact there is pride on the line.
And a shot at history lies in the balance.
Toronto are unbeaten in their last 18 regular season matches, one shy of the all-time record shared by Columbus Crew SC (2004-05) and FC Dallas (2010).
But even more importantly it is about using the platform of the pitch to continue to herald the change that must come, in terms of justice and equality.
“Everybody now is of the mindset that we keep playing and we keep going,” said Greg Vanney after the uncertainty of last week’s stoppage. “[The mindset] now is how do players, coaches, clubs, everybody, keep the cause in the forefront and how do we actively work to make change and to do meaningful work on that side.”
“Those dialogues and those conversations are still going on,” he promised. “Our guys are focused, ready to play for tomorrow.”
Since MLS returned earlier this month, TFC have not allowed a goal.
Back-to-back clean sheets against the Vancouver Whitecaps at home were followed by another shutout on the road to Montreal last Friday.
Toronto will look to do the same on Tuesday.
“Defending is never just how well you defend,” began Vanney. “A little bit of it is taking care of the ball, not losing balls in bad places. Defending is also about discipline when you have possession. We’re a team that tends to have more possession than the opposition, so it's about guys who are not involved in the attack or in the possession making sure that they're in positions to defend when the ball turns over so that we don't get exposed.”
“Defending is about our reactions when the ball does turn over, guys quickly getting pressure to the ball, making sure that they don't have any passes to get out of our pressure or to get us on a counter attack,” he continued. “Those have been really good from our team.”
“And then there's also just sometimes you have to manage the crisis situations and do that appropriately,” he added, suggesting the strategic foul or two will be necessary at times. “Our defensive shape has been a little bit better, we've been a little more connected, we've dealt with situations better. Once we have numbers behind the ball, we're a pretty good team defensively. Also set pieces, our concentration level has been better on set pieces in general.”
“All those things have gone up and have improved since we've been back from Orlando and, for sure, from last year. As a result teams are getting less chances – goalkeepers always have to come up with that one or two saves over the course of the game,” Vanney said. “All of those things have to fit together if you’re going to put up shutouts that’s why it’s difficult to get them. But our guys has been locked in, have managed these games very well, so we're going to try to keep that going.”
“If the opposition doesn't score they can't really win and you can't lose,” he concluded. “That's the mindset of teams that win championships.”
It is a fine balance.
Of reading and reacting, having a plan and adjusting to the game.
So, as with the back-to-back matches against Vancouver, the expectation is that this second one against Montreal will not look exactly the same as the last one.
“Both teams will make some adjustments,” anticipated Vanney. “After every game you go back and you have what you took from that game and then you watch the video a couple more times and you might pick up some things that you could do better defensively or ways you could exploit the opposition slightly differently.”
“So I expect some changes, some things where each team will adapt a little bit,” he continued. “But then when the game starts both teams have to read and figure out what changes were made and then make those adjustments to try to bring the game back into their vision.”
The old cat and mouse.
“We want the game to look a certain way and we'll have our approach, but we also understand it's very possible that they’ll make some adjustments and then we'll have to answer those. That's the beauty,” Vanney reveled. “And Thierry [Henry] is a very good coach; obviously very experienced and understands a lot of different things that he can do to try to unbalance us or try to give his team some momentum.”
“We’ll be as prepared as we can for that, but we're going to enter the game with our ideas and our processes and ways that we think we can win this game too,” he added. “I look forward to it. These back-to-back games [are] always a little more interesting, in terms of the way things can adapt from one game to the next.”
One thing that will be the same is that Alejandro Pozuelo will be in the middle of it all.
Through eight regular season matches, the Spanish midfielder has two goals and seven assists. He scored the game-winner on Friday from the penalty spot and received some special attention from the Montreal defenders.
That too is expected to be unchanged.
“All teams understand that Pozuelo is one of those guys who can open up the game with his passing, can, not just open up the game, can kill you with this passing,” said Vanney. “They're highly-aware of where he's at and if he's dropping into midfield or anywhere around where [Victor] Wanyama or anyone else really for that matter, they're going to be tight, they’re going to be physical, they're going to make the game difficult on him.”
“We've seen with some of our players in the past, especially the guys who open up the game on the attacking side, they get a little special attention,” he added. “I'm sure they're very cognizant of where he's at at all times and making sure they have numbers around him to be able to deal with him.”
Montreal will have reinforcements in the middle of the park as well.
Both Sapher Taider and Samuel Piette missed Friday’s match, each welcoming a new child to the world.
Old friends from the Canadian National Team, Jonathan Osorio was pleased for Piette, but will offer no quarter once the whistle blows.
“No, I won’t take it easy on Sam,” Osorio, who reached a new milestone on Friday with his 250th appearance for TFC, laughed. “Once we’re on that pitch, we’re focused on the game and that's it. But I have been in contact with Sam, I've congratulated him. A really good friend and I'm really happy for him and his family.”
“I know he's going to be motivated with that as well. We see it a lot in sports in general: it motivates players and it should,” he continued. “So Sam will be motivated, I anticipate Montreal also to be motivated to come out with a better performance. They'll have a few players back. And they know that this is a crucial game. They'll be on the front foot and so we'll have to be ready for an even tougher game than it was on Friday. We're prepared for that.”
