Philadelphia Union (4) – Toronto FC (0) Postgame Summary
October 9, 2022 – Major League Soccer (MLS) – Toronto FC News Release
SCORING SUMMARY
PHI – Dániel Gazdag 4′
PHI – Mikael Uhre 42′ (Dániel Gazdag)
PHI – Dániel Gazdag 60′ (penalty kick)
PHI – Dániel Gazdag 63′
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
TOR – Michael Bradley 29′ (caution)
TOR – Chris Mavinga 65′ (caution)
TOR – Federico Bernardeschi 81′ (caution)
RECORDS (W-L-D)
Toronto FC 9-18-7 34 points
Philadelphia Union 19-5-10 68 points
LINEUPS
TORONTO FC – Quentin Westberg; Shane O’Neill, Lukas MacNaughton (Doneil Henry 68′), Chris Mavinga; Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, Mark-Anthony Kaye, Michael Bradley (C), Noble Okello (Ayo Akinola 61′), Luca Petrasso (Themi Antonoglou 61′); Federico Bernardeschi (Jayden Nelson 85′), Jesús Jiménez (Hugo Mbongue 68′)
Substitutes Not Used: Alex Bono, Kadin Chung, Deandre Kerr, Ifunanyachi Achara
PHILADELPHIA UNION – Andre Blake (C); Olivier Mbaizo, Jakob Glesnes, Jack Elliott, Matthew Real; José Martínez (Quinn Sullivan 86′), Jack McGlynn (Alejandro Bedoya 74′), Leon Flach, Dániel Gazdag; Julián Carranza, Mikael Uhre (Cory Burke 67′)
Substitutes Not Used: Matt Freese, Nathan Harriel, Richard Odada, Paxten Aaronson, Brandan Craig, Chris Donovan
MEDIA NOTES
Michael Bradley started his 34th regular season match for Toronto FC, marking the first time he has started in all regular season matches across ten seasons in Major League Soccer.
Hugo Mbongue made his debut for Toronto FC.
Jayden Nelson made his 50th appearance for Toronto FC in all competitions.
BOB BRADLEY – HEAD COACH, TORONTO FC
Q. Given the players you were missing today, I’m not sure what can be taken out of this result, same with some of the last few games. But it’s clear more work needs to be done on this roster. Just how much more work needs to be done?
Yes, just so many different kind of challenges and any type of consistency. As we entered the latter part of the season, we had hoped that we could get ourselves on a run and then during that period we just never really were able to play the same lineup, keep things going. We continued to hurt ourselves with different kinds of mistakes.
So all of that adds up to the situation where there’s a lot that needs to be done. You take all the information from start to finish of the season and look hard at it and try to figure out how we can make important steps to improve ourselves.
Q. The decision to start with three center backs, was that due just to the player absences or was that more of a tactical decision?
A little bit of both. I thought that the way Philadelphia plays with their diamond, with the way Gazdag stays up high, with Uhre and Carranza; that it might allow us a little bit better shape in terms of how we could engage them.
In order to do that, we needed to make sure that our wingbacks step at it aggressively and we didn’t start the game that way and I thought after we gave up that early goal, we started to be a little more aggressive and had some better stretches.
You know, their main treat overall was still that they play a lot behind the defense, and the timing of the ball and the runs, Uhre’s fast, and so our ability to understand when to drop, our ability to step up, move up the field faster so that we weren’t sort of caught half and half, those are a lot of the details that if you don’t get right, that’s what makes Philadelphia dangerous.
Q. There’s a non-call at one end and the hand ball call at the other side a couple minutes later. I’m not so much concerned about the decisions themselves but more your thoughts on those fine margins and those little swings that can turn into big things and how that was a factor for the team this year?
Yes, that’s spot on that we didn’t find enough ways to take advantage of key moments. We seem to be a little slower sometimes to react to a given play and the other team faster thinking and faster to get to something and so if that’s the case, then the ball can tilt a little bit in some of those sort of random key moments, not something that’s coming in a big way based on how the game is playing out or tactically what’s going on.
But just a quick situation that is still — that’s part of football. The ability to help your team improve so that the different type of situations that present themselves in a game, that can be anything, it can be a reaction to close down, it can be as one goes in on a tackle the second guy is ready, it can be the speed at which we play the ball on and on and on. The best teams still, the package of those things, they are usually doing better in moments and if that drops a little bit, then that team loses its edge.
An example would be in the moment is Liverpool. They’re still a great team but some of those small little details when they are at their best are at such a high level, now are not quite at the same level and the margin in every game gets tighter and tighter and tighter.
You know, when you look at our season, overall, our margin in games, our ability when we do something good to make a big chance at it, to take advantage of an opportunity, score the right goal, make the right pass, and if you compare that with our ability to end in certain moment, then we’ve got to deal with a quick situation, make a play in the back, react faster or make a save, those things were not aligned in a way that you could be a very good team so that is part of improving the roster and that is part of the work collectively to improve.
Q. Given when you said about your team’s margin for error in a game this season, obviously not going into detail by breaking down positions, but can you say how close this team can be from being a winning team?
I think we need to look hard at everything. I still think that our ability to make certain moves this year were hampered by preexisting contracts, preexisting moves, things that didn’t allow us to do certain things that we would have liked to do.
So I think we’ve got to know step back, look at everything, figure out what’s possible in terms of how we continue to add more of the right kind of guys. I said it at the beginning of the year, guys that know football, guys that are excited about what we are trying to do in Toronto, the way we want to play, guys who love to compete, guys that come in every day excited, good teammates.
I think we tried to raise the bar this year but I look hard at everything and say that we have a long ways to go.
Q. Michael [Bradley] finishes the season having played all but ten minutes in MLS this year. How impressed have you been with his longevity over the course of the season?
Yeah, he takes care of himself. He’s a pro. He hasn’t missed one training session. Yes, he’s getting older. The plan at the beginning of the year was that he wouldn’t play every minute, all but ten, but when you throw in injuries and you look at examples sometimes and the mentality every day, the love of the game and the intelligence of how we can as a team do things better, on that end, any metrics you want to look at for a midfielder, things that we would consider important, passing, progressive passing, ability, whatever you want to call it, defensive gains, recoveries, interceptions, yeah, you can find certain categories where a guy has like a better defensive package than he has.
But if you put together all of the qualities of what you still look for in a midfielder and look closely at him compared to any midfielder in the league, it’s been an impressive season.
Q. Given the changes, the good and the bad, do you see the glass half-full or do you need a stiff drink or maybe both?
That’s an interesting way to answer it. Yeah, do I need a stiff drink right now. But in the end, there’s a lot of work to be done and I’ve repeated that three or four times. We tried to raise the bar in every way.
And now you need a little time and you need to talk to guys to find out in moments how they felt. When you raise the bar and try to approach some players out of their comfort zone, some are up for it and others aren’t. Sometimes it might be that they have a feel for that and then they are ready to really push harder.
But that part of seeing more guys grow on the job, get better, become more dependable, more consistent, that probably is the most important thing for a team. You see so many guys in a season raising their level, and we talk about the inconsistency, some of which is injury related.
But the inconsistency of getting the same lineup on the field and still from game-to-game, how guys play in the beginning of the year versus middle of the year.
Q. Hugo [Mbongue] came on in the second half to earn his first senior team start. I won’t ask you to evaluate his performance because it was only 22 minutes but how important was it just to get the kid on the field and get him minutes and playing time and some experience?
It’s important and for Themi [Antonoglou] as well. Two players that trained at different times with the first team this year and did well for the second team and players that we know we can push forward.
Q. I know we’ll talk to you next week, but if you had any closing thoughts on the season is, we’d love to hear them.
Yeah, I mean, it fits with what I had said at the beginning. From start to finish, this was a very, very challenging year. Challenging when we are looking at existing situations. Challenging to figure out ways to improve the roster. Challenging with the wait for guys coming in midseason. Challenging with the different injuries where just maybe you thought you had a little chance to get a little bit more consistency, you were never able to do that. The biggest example would have been seeing more games, for example, where Michael and Mark-Anthony and Oso could have played, as they had hardly any minutes together.
So there’s other examples like that. So in all ways, just a huge challenge. Probably in that regard, I would say that one of the most challenging years that I’ve had as a coach to keep guys going and to try to keep a focus on things that we needed to think about every day. It’s a test for everybody. I appreciate all the efforts but at the same time some do better than others when things, when it gets cranked up to a higher level, so we have to really assess all that, and understand that we’ve got to take away really important information and look to build on.
QUENTIN WESTBERG – GOALKEEPER, TORONTO FC
Q. I thought you deserved a better fate today than what you got. We just talked to Bob, and he called it one of the more challenging seasons he’s had as a coach. And I know you’ve faced challenges in other seasons off the field. I wonder, even though it’s just ended, if you can give a sense of what this season has been like for you and the team.
Very challenging. I think at one time we had two, three times in the season, we had a little bit going but they were overturned by bad losing streaks. That made it a roller coaster year in terms of result.
With a very young group to start with, and every time it was shaping up, it got difficult to build on negative results. Then there was a boost in the summer obviously. That took a low ending, and then a rough one towards these last few games, and yeah, very challenging because as athletes, we want to win. As athletes we want to play well and we want to build and there’s a lot of things that come into consideration and then facing all the challenges and stepping up and showing up every day when everything is not going your way. It takes a toll on people. But you know, I think for the young guys, they are going to need the adversity because nothing comes easy and for us more experienced players, it’s another good lesson. It’s sort of a slap in the face but a proper humility check.
Q. A little bit of a strange one but I know you always roll with it so I’ll go ahead. Philadelphia is going into the playoffs as the top seed in the East and you guys are missing out on the postseason. For you having just played them, what are the differences between those two teams? What are the margins?
They have an extremely strong idea of what type of team they are, how they play and how they are built. It was obvious from the first second. I think Philadelphia has been the most consistent team since I joined the league four years ago. I think every single time playing their diamond, they have two strikers that run a lot. They always have a creative No. 10 that still runs a lot and works very, very hard also and they are a very, very hard-working team that had very clear tactical principles, and yes, as soon as someone gets into that group, it feels like there’s a place for him and yeah, I think you need to give him credit. They have been doing really well in terms of consistency, not as much in the playoffs, because it’s more uncertain, one game, you’re in or you’re out. A couple of games is a different mentality, a different approach, but I feel they have what it takes to go quite far, and compared to us, they have been building on foundation and on a very solid foundation now for four years.
We have had a bit of changes, more changes to face, and we are also a different market where there are different expectations, different playing style that has been changing a little bit more than them, so they have been able to build a more consistent basis, I would say.
Q. What’s it like in that room right now? Where is everybody’s heads at and what do the next few weeks look like for the team?
It was showing up already today, a challenge, playing a top-seeded team in your conference in their stadium. Even though they had a bad game in the previous one, this is a team that is very confident and they were playing for a title and they were playing for the conference.
Obviously they are getting ready to play for playoffs that have a lot of certainty in what they are do and they are trying to build momentum. We knew they would come flying and for us, we are a little bit on the other side of the spectrum. In terms of confidence, it’s obviously a little harder, I’m not going to lie but everybody showed up and had great intentions throughout the week and coming into this game.
But you know, there’s a lot of small details in that game where you can tell it’s a team that’s confident and a team that is high up in the standings and a team that’s not doing as well. There’s a lot of small details but this is what we love about this game, right. You pay the bill, at the end of the day, okay, it’s deserved, but it’s also, like I said, showing up and never letting go because it’s always very close, and showing up, it’s a good lesson for a lot of the younger guys and for the veterans it hurts like crazy.
But it’s about showing up. It’s about not giving up, it’s about not giving up five, six. It’s not comfortable to be out there on the field on a day like today and especially when things don’t turn out your way but it’s a point to not give up. Your career, the season, everything falls back into place and it’s about not letting go. Obviously the atmosphere is not great but we know we played a very strong team today.
Q. You talked about the identity of Philadelphia growing over last few years. Your team went through a lot of coaching changes and roster changes, but do you see the beginning of a new identity here?
It’s very important that we give this club this identity that we all look for. There’s no question about it. You need to trust and follow what is responsible for that, and my job is not to set it. My job is to try to understand and help as much as possible. Philly has, if really we are going to compare, Toronto has been doing extremely well and now there is all change. There is all this change that occurs and it’s really rolling with the punches when you are in our situation. Philly has been looking for momentum like they have been getting for the past series and they are at different stages.
So comparing makes sense because today we played them but also, it’s a little unfair because as a club, we are at different stages. Yes, it’s trusting the process, and as I said from a player standpoint, it’s showing up and making sure you understand the responsibility you have, and when you know how nice it is to play for this club, whatever the identity, whatever the playing style, it’s about adapting and bringing our own personality.
So I think it’s the trusting part. You know when you walk into this club, you understand that, you know, pleasing the fans and bringing wins and bringing great nights for our fans is really important and I think it’s what this club is all about. Then it becomes very tricky because in football, it’s small detail, the communication, everything. And it’s also super thrilling because yeah, it’s not always sunny. It’s not always super bliss. But, you know, hanging in there and rolling with the punches, it brings a lot of pride at the end of the day when you start winning again.
Q. I wanted to ask about the hand ball that led to the penalty. Did you have a clear view or was it clear and obvious to you?
I had no view at all. I was more focused on who was going to take it because they were little bit fighting about who was going to take the PK and trying to guess. I think you guys probably know better now but to me, it wasn’t super obvious.
• Discuss this story on the Major League Soccer message board…
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
