A busy July continues for Toronto FC on Wednesday as they square off against the Chicago Fire at Soldier Field.
Forced to settle for a single point from Saturday’s 2-2 draw against the San Jose Earthquakes, Toronto will be looking to grab more from these next two – at the Fire and then away to CF Montreal on Saturday.
“They’re very big,” said Bob Bradley of the upcoming matches. “Our margin for the second half of the year is tight now that all teams have passed the halfway point. The margin to take points, the margin to improve, but make sure that we come out of games with points. We've got to be able to play well and win away.”
A five-match home stand brought mixed results.
A win and a draw against Atlanta United and San Jose, respectively book-ended defeats against the Columbus Crew and Seattle Sounders, despite solid performances throughout.
The massive win over Montreal in the Canadian Championship ensured TFC will have a shot at lifting another Voyageurs Cup on July 26 when they travel to British Columbia to face the Vancouver Whitecaps, but the side wanted more.
In MLS, it is these summer months that determine so much about a season.
Heading into the midweek slate of fixtures, the Eastern Conference is dense with nine points separating sixth-place from last.
Every result, every point can be the difference between making the playoffs and not.
In a stop-start season, TFC will aim to funnel all the work done and translate it into a run of results.
“The preparation for every game has been right,” baselined Bradley. “There's not been a game yet where the players didn't understand: here's what we need to do today, the stakes, and how we want to play. That's why I speak a lot about improvement and the process of becoming better.”
“In the final 15 games, we've got to put together a stretch of games,” he urged. “The way MLS works, when you can get a two-, three-, four-game winning streak going, when you take a bunch of points in a short amount of time, that makes a huge difference. We've got to find a way to do that.”
Toronto comes into this part of the season with expectations raised.
Domenico Criscito made his debut on Saturday. Lorenzo Insigne is set to make his soon as well and Mark-Anthony Kaye was reintroduced to his hometown club on Monday following his trade from Colorado.
The departure of Carlos Salcedo, contract terminated by mutual consent to allow him to attend to his family’s needs in Mexico, opens up space for even more roster overhaul.
“It’s normal when you get these kinds of players added to your team,” said Jonathan Osorio of these heightened expectations. “On paper, the team is already better and so because of that the expectations rise more and more, as it should.”
“But at the same time, we know this is a process, that we're still a new team,” he continued. “We will look to get that success right away. I really don't see them taking long to transition into the team, to start contributing.”
TFC defeated the Fire 2-1 in the meeting earlier this season at BMO Field, extending their winning streak to three matches and an unbeaten run to 14-matches.
Toronto has won four of their last five in Chicago, including their only meeting at Soldier Field, 2-1 last July.
Coming off a bitter 3-2 defeat at home against Columbus on Saturday, where the visitors scored three second half goals, Chicago will be eager to respond.
“A team that will now come off of a tough loss at home where they were ahead 2-0, try to respond,” anticipated Bradley. “They'll be missing a couple of players, but you'll get a strong effort”
Miguel Navarro picked up a late red card on the weekend and Gastón Giménez will also be suspended due to yellow card accumulation.
“Tough game as always,” levelled Osorio. “A team that is trying to bounce back from a bad loss at home. They'll have that desperate feeling going into the game. This is a big game for them, as it is for us. We know that we're going to have to go in and really bring the intensity from minute one.”