TORONTO — BACK IN TESTING Julian de Guzman came into Sunday’s match
against Seattle following a critical mistake that cost his team points
against the Colorado Rapids on April 18.
In a sequence that was
replayed and scrutinized all of last week, the Canadian international
committed the error of jumping while in a defensive wall, allowing the
Rapids to score their game-winning goal. But he wasn’t supposed to be in
the wall in the first place.
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Others would have talked about
making amends or pointing out what they’d do differently.
Instead,
Toronto’s designated player decided to let his game do the talking as
he always has.
In likely his best game as a Red, de Guzman had a
complete performance in helping Toronto beat Seattle 2-0 on Sunday.
“I
felt a lot more confident this game,” de Guzman said. “In total,
everyone played with a lot more confidence coming off an unfortunate
result against Colorado. Apart from the little mistakes, everyone did a
good job.”
A lot was expected of the Toronto native after
Director of Soccer Mo Johnston pursued him for months and signed him as
the club’s first DP late last season.
So, when de Guzman got off
to a slow start this season, punctuated by the performance against
Colorado, some fans started wondering whether Johnston had made a
mistake.
Preki, for one, couldn’t understand the criticism
starting to surface from media and fans.
“You guys have been
critical of Julian, I don’t know what the problem is with Julian,” TFC
coach Preki told the media after Sunday’s game. “Julian worked really
hard in Colorado, he worked extremely hard today [vs. Seattle]. I put
him on the right, he never complained, he worked hard. I put him in the
middle it’s the same. He moved the ball for us. When Julian comes and
plays like that, he’s as good as anybody.”
The Toronto native is
starting to round into the form that made him a standout for Spain’s
Deportivo La Coruña, the only Canadian ever to play in La Liga. Against
Seattle, he made his presence felt in the midfield organizing his
teammates and effectively moving the ball.
As he gets more
comfortable in his role and with his teammates, he’ll likely become more
offensive-minded with the ball, exhibiting the passing and occasional
goal scoring that made him a CONCACAF Gold Cup All-Star in 2007 and
2009.
That will be some welcome tonic for TFC’s struggling
offense.
Toronto FC v. Montreal Impact - NCC Match 1&1