TORONTO – Unbeaten in six, eight if one includes the Canadian Championship series against Ottawa Fury FC, the months of August and September have been good ones.
Toronto FC will be looking to continue that form when they return to BMO Field on Sunday to host the Colorado Rapids.
And that the last few results have been achieved with both internationals away and key pieces missing through injury only stresses the point that the team has been coming together nicely.
“We are really close,” said Greg Vanney on Friday of his vision coming to fruition. “The relationships are continuing to find their form. It’s nice to get Jozy [Altidore] back in. The more we can be on the field together, the more this is going to come because the pieces are right.”
With results in tow, a nearly full squad and the long-awaited wingers in situ, there has been added excitement around the BMO training ground as summer turns to fall.
“Definitely more liveliness,” said Jonathan Osorio, back from a pair of wins with the Canadian National Team. “It’s been great. It’s very easy to come in and feed off of that vibe. We’re in a good position right now, feel like we can even get a better one with the games we’ve got left. We’re hitting our stride, hitting where we think we can be, and it’s at the perfect time.”
Less than a month remains in the MLS regular season. With four league matches between Sunday and Decision Day on October 6 and the two legs of the Canadian Championship final against the Montreal Impact, the annual MLS grind has given way to the playoff sprint.
It begins on Sunday with the visit of Colorado.
“It’s nice to be home,” said Vanney, speaking both metaphorically and in reference to the neatly manicured pitches of the training ground and stadium. “I’m sure the guys are excited about that; being in front of our home crowd. We’re on a good run, on our field and the weather is cooling off again. There are a lot of reasons that we’re excited to be home and playing big games at this time of year.”
The match will be a particularly special one as Robin Fraser, who departed at the end of August to take over the head coaching position at the Rapids, will return to the place where he was so instrumental to much success.
In the first three matches under Fraser, Colorado have collected three wins.
“They’ve gotten off to great start, obviously,” said Vanney. “I’ll catch up with him when he arrives, say hello. It will be strange because I know some of the philosophy that they’re going to use there is a lot of stuff that we used here. There are going to be some similarities, but the difference is they’ve had a shorter time to get in touch with it.”
“They’re excited as a group, have played a couple of good games in which they’ve been able to get good results,” added Vanney. “They’re feeling good about what they’re doing.”
It will be both strange and weird to see Fraser sitting on the wrong bench, patrolling the wrong touchline.
“Robin helped me a lot,” said Osorio. “He’s helped me develop into the player I am now, so it’s going to be weird. I was with him for a long time, as was everyone else here. Weird, but exciting for both sides.”
Seven points shy of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, the Rapids have shot up the standings with wins at home against the LA Galaxy and Seattle Sounders, as well as a victory away to the New York Red Bulls in Fraser’s first match.
Kei Kamara leads the side with 11 goals this season with Diego Rubio hot on his heels with nine goals and four assists. Rookie forward Andre Shinyashiki has seven to his name, including a brace against Seattle last Saturday that saw him earn Player of the Week honours.
“They are organized defensively, they work hard as a group,” summed up Vanney. “Robin would probably allude to the compliance: he’s got an honest, hard-working group of players that when they’re asked to do something they do it.”
“Most of their goals are still coming off of transition play and set-pieces – they lead the league by a long-shot over the course of the season, got another one in the last game. A lot of their success on the attacking side has come from good, honest shape-defending and good set-piece work,” he continued. “Nobody turns around a team in two, three sessions, but they’re obviously motivated to prove that each of them is a valuable asset to the team and they’re excited with what he is bringing to the table because you see a nice energy within their group.”
“That’s what we’re going to be dealing with tomorrow: a group that has some confidence and are working together to try to achieve whatever Robin is asking them to,” forecast Vanney. “When teams work like, they’re always difficult to beat.”
Added Osorio: “It just goes to show the kind of coach that he is: that he can make an impact like that. He has good ideas, the way he sees the game, and it’s helping that team. The team is really turning around, believe in his philosophy and that’s great for him.”
The two sides have met 17 times in MLS play with TFC winning eight, the Rapids seven, and two resulting in draws.
Colorado won last year’s encounter 2-0 at home, extending their current unbeaten streak to three, though that does not take into account the two-legged Concacaf Champions League series last February where TFC won the first leg 2-0 and then saw out a scoreless draw at home.
With that in mind, Colorado have taken result from three of their last four trips to BMO Field; Toronto have won seven of the ten all-time.
Having navigated a difficult three-game road trip with five points in hand, just because TFC are back home doesn’t mean anything changes in the approach that garnered such results.
“We can’t take being home for granted. We need to continue to have the mindset that we had on the road from a defensive standpoint,” urged Vanney. “Our defensive work has been very good. We gave up one shot on goal last game and one off the post. I look at the data after, [NYCFC] really didn’t touch many balls in the most dangerous area of the field, in and around the goal.”
“At times, teams have been able to get us to bend, but we haven’t broken,” continued the coach. “The goals given up have been a PK, a set-piece this week, and a goal maybe we should have had in New England. Teams are having to work really hard. We have to make it really hard for them.”
