Toronto FC head into Saturday nightās match away to Nashville SC unbeaten in five matches.
āYou can say unbeaten in five, but one win in five,ā countered Matt Hedges on Thursday. āWe want to win more games.ā
āTying games is fine, but weāve got to get three points, weāve got to hold leads,ā he continued. āWe've been giving up leads ā weāve got to stop doing that. Winning games is what we need to do.ā
Toronto has held a lead in five of their six matches this season, the scoreless draw in San Jose the sole exception. Only against Inter Miami CF did that advantage hold.
That the club is putting itself in those positions in positive, now itās about seeing them out.
āThe mentality is a mix between feeling like we're going in the right direction with a little bit of frustration that there's been games where there was real opportunity for three points,ā said Bob Bradley. āI don't think anybody feels that there's one thing that needs to be fixed, it's a little bit more consistency, it's being able, when we create advantages, to be a little bit sharper, execute better.ā
āThat came into play last week for sure, where we had some good opportunities to make the next pass and really create a big chance and we weren't able to do it,ā he continued, referencing the 2-2 draw against Charlotte FC on Saturday at BMO Field. āWhen your margin is small, if you don't take advantage of situations that you create, a little slip up and you've let something get away.ā
Games are defined by those small margins. Over 90-plus minutes both teams will have theirs.
āIf weāre not taking our chances, maybe they'll take theirs,ā said Hedges. āThose one or two moments in the game.ā
Nashville opened their season unbeaten in three, including a pair of home wins over NYCFC and CF Montreal, but lost away to the New England Revolution. A home defeat at the feet of FC Cincinnati would follow at the end of March, but a 2-0 win at Orlando City SC last weekend has them heading into Saturdayās clash in good spirits.
Gary Smithās side, who have made the playoffs in each of their three seasons, has had a firm identity since joining MLS.
āThey haven't changed too much in the last few years,ā said Bradley. āThey have a solid base in the way they play, some version of 4-4-2/4-4-1-1. They mix up their ability to spread out the field, they hit in crosses, at times they can go direct towards [CJ] Sapong. [Hany] Mukhtar is a key: he's mobile, he's able to make plays; obviously had an incredible season last year.ā
āBasic ideas that they do well,ā he summarized. āGood on set-pieces.ā
Mukhtar, the 2022 Landon Donovan MLS MVP, is leading the way again this season with three assists, while former TFC attacker Jacob Shaffelburgās two goals top the NSC scoring chart.
One challenge will be the way Nashville looks to attack quickly from deep positions.
āWe're going to have to be more compact; we can't get opened up too much,ā cautioned Hedges. āThey're vertical, they want to get on the move quickly. It's something that we have to be wary of all the time.ā
āWe always have to know that even if we have the ball or we're trying to attack,ā he added. āThey're ready to spring a counterattack.ā
Not that that will change how TFC go about things. Whether home or away, the same overall identity is on display.
āEvery team changes a little bit, but I don't think we want to change too much,ā levelled Hedges. āWhat we've been doing defensively has been working. Maybe the way we want to press them or the way we try to counter what they do is what will change, but our overall mentality is not going to change.ā
Saturday in Nashville will be Torontoās fourth away game of the campaign. Playing away from home in MLS is always difficult.
āBrand new stadium, last time I was there with Dallas it was full, the fans were loud. It's a tough place to play,ā said Hedges. āIt seems like a lot of the stadiums are getting that way, where the home fans are making a good atmosphere. So we have to go in there and battle, thatās what itās going to be.ā
In such circumstances the first goal is always important. Even more so given that Nashville have won their last 31 matches when they open the scoring.
āThey're a strong defensive team and with strong offensive teams when you get that first goal, you can settle back and play your style. That's what they do,ā said Hedges. āThey have great defenders and it's tough to break them down, especially when they get the first goal. We have to try to get the first goal, make them come out of their shell a little bit and make them play a little bit more.ā