QUOTE SHEET
PHILADELPHIA UNION 2-2 TORONTO FC
TALEN ENERGY STADIUM; MARCH 11, 2017
Toronto FC Head Coach Greg Vanney
On whether or not he’s happy coming away with a point…
Yes and no. No because in the second half we got the lead, and at that point we have to be mature enough to lock the game down. At least long enough to give ourselves a chance. But to concede within two minutes of scoring a goal is just something we have to be much better at. I’ve seen the play, so I have strong opinions about the play, but it should’ve never happened, and in that way I’m disappointed because we fought to get ourselves back and get on top and we’ve got to be more mature than we were in that moment to get the results. The guys put a lot into it. Like you said, it was a difficult game. You know, the two halves, the wind plays a factor. We pushed the tempo of the game in the second half. Losing Sebastian is always a tough thing. But I thought Tosaint (Ricketts) came in and gave us a little bit of size sometimes when we had to play balls a little bit deeper and he came in and gave us a great effort and, you know, the rest of the group worked hard.
On whether or not the wind was a determining factor…
It definitely played its part, especially in the first half. Sometimes when we wanted to relieve a little bit of pressure or we had opportunities to play behind their back line and use a little bit of our pace behind their back line, the ball would just get knocked down. And so, their back line was able to squeeze our midfield a little bit tighter and so it became tough. For them, every time they tried to play a ball deep, the ball carried and it would end up behind our line. It’s a matter of adjustments, but it always plays a factor in terms of how tight and how much an opposition can press you and how much they have to worry about the space behind you. But it dying down in the second half didn’t necessarily help us or hurt us. The game got to be pretty high tempo at that point and we were playing at a good tempo. We had some good chances. Like I said, we got ahead and we’ve got to lock it down at that point.
On what he saw on the Union tying goal…
I think the first thing is Armando (Cooper) slips the ball through the guy’s legs and, foul or no foul, because he went to ground he’s eliminated from the whole situation, so that’s one midfielder down. We’ve got guys moving forward a little bit in the action because we were working in transition, but when we concede the ball that easily, they play one forward past and they’re in between our lines. We still had numbers between our goal and the ball to deal with it, so the second mistake is we had two center backs start to step forward at the same time. Drew started to step out to oppose the ball and Nick should stay inside to deal with the forward, but Nick starts to step as well to try and oppose the ball, and next thing you know, Sapong has a clear little path in behind. The third thing is I’d like to see Clint be a little bit more attached to the back line, so as that ball is rolled in behind us, he can come hard and snuff it out. Again, for me goals typically aren’t just one mistake. It’s usually some sort of series of mistakes and we made three on that one.
On seeing things go their way from the penalty spot…
That was fortunate that the first one hits the crossbar and it was good for Jozy to put one in the back of the net. It’s good to get him started for the season because I think this is going to be a good year for Jozy and it was good for him to get started.
Toronto FC defender Drew Moor
On getting two points in two tough road games…
It’s a good sign, but this is a different team than in the past. We feel like we can come in to a place like Philadelphia for their home opener, especially the way the game went and go away with three points. We felt like we should’ve gone away with three points in Salt Lake. These could be big points come the end of the season. It’s a long season obviously, there’s still a lot of soccer to be played, but anytime you’re disappointed about dropped points on the road, it’s a good sign and we have to pick ourselves up because we go back on the road again next weekend.
On whether or not he felt fortunate to be level at the half with the Giovinco injury early on…
Not really fortunate. I feel like we weathered a bit of a storm. Again, it’s their home opener, they had the wind in the first half and they were certainly coming at us. But Tosaint Ricketts brings on a lot of speed and a lot of quality. I felt like we earned the tie at halftime.
Toronto FC defender Justin Morrow
On the difficulty of starting the match going into the wind in the first half…
It was their home opener, and I think we felt that. The first 15 minutes or so they really put it on us. They were all over the place. We knew that they were going to be like that and we didn’t match their level I don’t think. So I think, as the game went on, we grew into the game and that goal right before half was crucial for us.
On how he feels coming away with a point despite the challenges his team faced…
I think you look at the way the game went and I think it will still be the same one that we didn’t win. You know, two games on the road and two points, I don’t think we’ll be happy with that. So we’ll be going to Vancouver with a lot of motivation.
On the disappointment felt when conceding the second goal after gaining a lead…
It’s a problem to concede so quickly right after we score. We’ll have to look at it and I haven’t seen it yet, so I’ll have to look at it and see what happens, what went down on that play. You know, like you said, we’re a unit back there. And so collectively we’re going to look at it and get better.
On the cold weather conditions…
It was cold today. The wind was the worst part.
