In the midst of a season, there is never time to dawdle.
Days after losing the final of the 2022 Canadian Championship to the Vancouver Whitecaps in a penalty shootout following a 1-1 draw at BC Place, Toronto FC are preparing to get back on the road ahead of Saturday’s clash with the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium.
One must have a short memory.
“Disappointed, for sure. Good team meeting this morning,” said Bob Bradley on Thursday of the aftermath. “That was a good feeling after the Charlotte game and so now we go and we play in a cup final and it's 1-1 and, yes, we lose penalties – it would be a completely different tone if we win the penalties – but still, as a team making progress, they see some of the good things.”
“We still have to get guys as sharp and as fit as they can be to be at their best. Lorenzo [Insigne], Fede [Federico Bernardeschi], these guys have been incredible – to come over here, have a couple of training sessions with a new team, and immediately you're on the field playing these kind of minutes, that's a credit to those players,” he continued. “Teammates respect that, everybody sees the moments where the football is getting better. And now, in a way, we've got 12 finals. The work to continue to be a good team, and especially where we are at the moment, there's determination on that end.”
It was a long flight home in the wee hours of Wednesday morning.
“It's weird. You're up in the clouds and at a certain point you see the horizon and the sun starts to come up... it's morning. That's a tough one,” replied Alex Bono, asked if he got any sleep on the plane. “The sun always comes up; that's the beauty of it.”
“Had the day to be sorry about the loss, be disappointed about the loss, came in this morning, talked over a couple of things, and now it's time for us to move on,” he added. “We've got 12 games left and we have to treat every one like a final. We know the importance of each one.”
Shifts in spirit can be subtle. The opening 45 minutes against Charlotte FC with the debuts of Insigne and Bernardeschi was a jolt of electricity, but beyond that initial burst there is a need to do the work.
The clock is ticking.
“We all know that the games are dwindling, but we also know that we're moving in a positive direction. Every single person feels that,” said Bono. “If we can take that urgency to make the most of our remaining games while continuing to move in the right direction, adding the new pieces that we have, as they continue to gel and find the tendencies of the guys that they're playing with, then it could be a really exciting end to the season.”
“There's not one person in that locker room that thinks that this season is over,” he stressed. “It’s far from over and we're not going to give up until all is said and done.”
A cup defeat, 90 minutes on turf, a cross-continental flight, a third game in seven days, Bradley expects there has been no change to player availability for Saturday.
“I think so,” he replied, asked specifically about Insigne. “Guys are tired today. Starters stayed inside, did recovery stuff. Tomorrow we'll do a little bit more, assess everybody and then when it comes to quick turnarounds like this we don't even finalize the lineup until Saturday.”
Toronto and New England will meet twice in the coming weeks with the return date at BMO Field set for August 17. The Revolution won the last meeting, 2-1 at BMO Field last August, but TFC has taken points from their last three visits to Gillette, winning the last two.
“They're good team at home,” said Bradley. “[Carles] Gil is one of the best players in the league. He’s special: his cleverness with passes, his eye for seeing windows, making the right plays, so you always have to understand when he has the ball how good he is at slipping the ball through the little spaces.”
“[They’re] another team that has scored goals from crosses,” he cautioned. “Solid team; good team. They've had to deal with some changes, some injuries, they've got a new striker who's just in and they're trying to get him fit, so I don't know what that means [for their XI]. There's still some questions, but they're a good team.”
Having lifted the Supporters’ Shield last season, Bruce Arena’s side has not been able to replicate that form in 2022. They enter Saturday’s match winless in five, coming off a scoreless draw away to the Columbus Crew.
The departures of Tajon Buchanan, Adam Buksa, and most recently, Jozy Altidore, who was loaned to Liga MX side Club Puebla, has meant a transition. Gil is still a constant threat, his 11 assists leads the side, while Gustavo Bou is level with the departed Buksa on a club-high seven goals scored.
The new striker Bob Bradley referred to was Albanian forward Giacomo Vrioni, who joined the club as a designated player from Italian giants Juventus’s system. The 23-year-old has made just one appearance so far, coming off the bench in the draw at Columbus.
“It's our first look at New England, but it's a team that we've faced many times,” said Bono. “Going there, the challenges, the atmosphere, the stadium, the turf, the way that New England plays. They have a couple of difference makers that are really good players, so the challenges that that will pose, taking care of those guys.”
“We spent a little bit today going over Vancouver,” he continued. “Tomorrow and Saturday will be spent prepping on New England and we'll be ready for it, it's another big occasion for us.”
Bradley and Arena have crossed wits many times in MLS play, stretching back to when the TFC coach was the Revs coach’s assistant at D.C. United in the inaugural season of the league – the two lifted the first two MLS Cups before Bradley left to take the reins at the Chicago Fire in their expansion season.
“Bruce always has a good idea of getting the right players in the right spots and letting the team play,” said Bradley. “He sets a very good tone for what it means to play football, be successful.”
“Never complicates things, but his sense of getting guys that he trusts, guys that are in the right spots, letting them play,” he continued. “That's been for me how he's gone about it wherever he's been.”
As a bonus, TFC II will play NER II in a crucial fixture on Sunday evening as the playoff race heats up in MLS NEXT Pro.
Saturday will be a special one for Bono, who is in line to make his 150th MLS appearance for TFC.
“I'm obviously so grateful for what Toronto FC and the city of Toronto has done for me,” he smiled. “Afterwards when you think about it, it'll feel special, but still, only halfway to Oso.”
“There's a special aspect to it. My parents are planning to be there, which is exciting. I don't even know if they know [it’ll be my 150th], to be honest. They're just in a close proximity/radius that they go to the game,” he continued. “It'll be exciting after the fact. After I sit down after the season, after the career, and you think about these milestones you hit, but I was saying the other day that there’s a wall of pictures for 100-, 200-, 300-; there's not a wall for 150, nor should there be.”
“150 is great, it's a milestone per se, but I want to be at 200, I want to be at 300,” Bono added. “Hopefully those will come, but yeah, the 150 at the moment, it's definitely special for me.”
