Toronto FC returned to the training ground on Wednesday in front of some very special guests.
Members of the Canadian Armed Forces toured the Kia Training Ground, took in practice and laced up their boots for a game. They watched the Reds prepare for one of their biggest games remaining in the season.
The New England Revolution lead the Reds by three points for fourth place in the Eastern Conference. The Revs have also played one more game than TFC thus far, making Sunday’s contest at BMO Field (Tickets) a very important fixture.
Greg Vanney was missing six starters and four key bench contributors last Saturday in Seattle. That will not be the case against New England. Damien Perquis and Nick Hagglund returned to training on Wednesday. Benoit Cheyrou, Ahmed Kantari and Sebastian Giovinco worked out on their own and will be reevaluated as the week goes on. Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley returned to Toronto after taking on Brazil with the United States on Tuesday. Justin Morrow and his wife are basking in the afterglow that accompanies the birth of their first child. This is all to say reinforcements have arrived for the Reds.
The players pushed into the spotlight in Seattle performed admirably.Youngsters Eriq Zavaleta and Clement Simonin were tasked with defending the best attacking duo in the league and, aside from some minor blips, performed well.
Here are three storylines worth keeping an eye on heading into the weekend.
Zavaleta Gets His First
Defending runs in the family for Eriq Zavaleta.
His father, Carlos, played professionally as a centre-back and was a member of El Salvador’s national team. His uncle, Greg, is TFC’s head coach and was a defender himself.
While starring as a striker at the University of Indiana the 23-year-old used to plan out his goal celebrations. Today he’s a central defender. Zavaleta couldn’t remember his old celebrations after scoring his first professional goal on Saturday.
“As ridiculous as it sounds I probably had a new goal celebration for every game in my college career, from doing a scuba dive to doing a cartwheel,” Zavaleta said on Wednesday.
His celebration against the Sounders wasn’t exactly beautiful, but he’ll take it.
“For now I’m just happy running like a crazy child to the sidelines,” he added with a laugh.
Zavaleta has had an up and down year for the Reds. In the early portion of the season he was thrust into a starting role when Steven Caldwell was out due to injury. Ahmed Kantari’s arrival pushed Zavaleta back to the bench, but a toe injury inflamed by the long flight to the west coast last Thursday kept the Frenchman from playing against Seattle. Zavaleta took his chance and performed well under difficult circumstances.
“He’s a very intelligent player,” said Vanney.
“When you have a cerebral player it’s a little bit easier to slot them into places and it’s usually pretty consistent. He’s given us depth at the centre-back position, especially when we needed it most. He’s another player that’s going to get better with time.”
With Hagglund and Perquis returning to training Vanney will have some choices to make. A strong game by yet another young defender will make those decisions even harder.
Simonin Returns
It had been a long time coming for Clement Simonin.
The last time the rookie defender started for the Reds was back in March against Real Salt Lake. He performed well in that game, but a knee injury would sideline him for several months soon after. He returned to the starting lineup in an emergency situation on Saturday in Seattle. Like he did back in March, Simonin displayed the qualities that has management excited about his future prospects.
“The last time we saw him he had a very solid game in Salt Lake,” said Vanney.
“He showed you his class on the ball and his ability to get out of difficult situations. We saw that again on Saturday night. For him to keep progressing he needs more time and more opportunities.”
Simonin had been a spectator at CenturyLink Field as a member of Seattle’s PDL team. Saturday’s experience was a little different.
“Sometimes you could hear their supporters pretty loudly but to be honest I wasn’t even looking around,” said Simonin. “I was too focused on trying to do well.”
And well he did. Containing Obafemi Martins and Clint Dempsey is far from an easy task and there were times when TFC’s backline struggled. However, aside from his fitness, which Simonin believes will improve as he gets more minutes, it was a solid showing by the rookie.
Six Pointer
New England is coming off a 3-0 thrashing of Orlando last Saturday at home. Jay Heaps’ side is peaking at the right time, much like they did last season on their way to a MLS Cup Final appearance .
“Once they get going and once they’re confident [New England] is a handful,” said Vanney.
With the teams so close in the standings and a home playoff game on the line, Sunday’s contest can set the tone for the final seven games of the season.
“If our designs are to track down some of the teams ahead of us this is one of those games that becomes very important,” added Vanney.
The Revolution are a team Vanney expects to see when the playoffs roll around. Playing them at BMO Field as opposed to Gillette Stadium would be huge for a team that has struggled on the turf in Foxborough.
