Toronto FC rides into Frisco, Texas with little momentum. Thankfully, their opponent is enjoying an early season dry spell themselves.
FC Dallas are losers of two straight and have injury problems of their own to deal with. Mauro Diaz and Matt Hedges practiced this week, but their status remains unclear ahead of Saturday night’s match. It appears Hedges is the closer of the two to returning.
Meanwhile, Damien Perquis is expected to start for the first time since the Columbus match and Eriq Zavaleta will travel with the team. Mark Bloom is questionable and Warren Creavalle is suspended, which means more shuffling at the back may be in order for the Reds.
Here are three keys for Saturday’s match.
Hedges Looks Forward To The Challenge
Hedges suffered a head injury the day before last Friday’s match against Colorado and watched from the sidelines as his team was pierced by the previously inept Rapids.
It was a tough pill to swallow for the 25-year-old.
“I told the guys, normally we get the loss out of our system, but this one, you have to remember how it felt,” Hedges said, via MLSSoccer.com. “You can’t forget when you lose 4-0. You never want that to happen again.”
Hedges joined Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore at the U.S. training camp in January. He knows what a handful the latter can be up front.
“I was in camp with him and got a first taste of what he is like,” he said. “There’s always something to prove.”
Especially after last Friday’s result.
Vanney’s Plans At The Back
Bloom (calf) was unable to get through Thursday’s training session unscathed, putting his status in doubt for Saturday’s fixture.
Some tinkering will be in order for Vanney, yet again, if Bloom cannot play.
TFC’s gaffer offered the intriguing possibility that a left-sided player could slot in at right back. Et tu Justin Morrow? That would mean Ashtone Morgan would start at left back.
The other option could be starting Perquis and Zavaleta in the middle, with Nick Hagglund moving to the right and Morrow in his familiar role at left back.
OR we could see Morrow start at CB for the second second consecutive game, with Morgan on the left and Hagglund on the right.
There may be more options for Vanney, and he wisely refused to tip his hand during media availability on Thursday.
We’ll find out what the plan is on Saturday.
Instilling Confidence
Ask any of TFC’s defenders or Greg Vanney and you basically get the same response: The Reds have panicked defensively far too often early in the 2015 campaign.
What should be easy plays are turned into conundrums for seemingly no reason.
“Some of our mistakes are because guys feel uncomfortable when they should be comfortable. They panic a little bit and make decisions that they normally wouldn’t make and they know better than that. They’re a little uneasy,” stated the head coach.
Is this a result of players trying too hard?
“We have players on the team that have to give confidence to the other players,” said Perquis.
“When we lose one game they think life stops, but no it doesn’t stop. We have to work and improve game after game. Michael, Jozy, Seba, Benoit, we are players with more experience and we have to give more confidence to players who think they’ve lost their football.”
In a nutshell: the leaders on this team have to be leaders. It’s not rocket science, is it.
