TORONTO – In sports, it can be good to have a short memory.
With the Concacaf experience already in the rear-view, Toronto FC return to league play on Saturday with a mission, as they prepare to welcome the Chicago Fire to BMO Field just days removed from the conclusion and disappointment of the Champions League in Guadalajara midweek.
“Guys are looking forward to playing again,” said Greg Vanney on Friday. “It's a quick turnaround after long travel, but we turn our attention now to the league. We have a little bit of space that we need to catch up on. That's our focus. We know we have a lot of work ahead of us, but we're looking forward to it.”
A little more than two months after the 2018 campaign began, the club now fully turns their attention towards MLS and climbing up the table.
The transition will not be a problem.
“We take it one game at a time,” said Ashtone Morgan. “That's always one of our main goals: give all our effort to our next game, which is this weekend against Chicago. That's what we need to do.”
After a pair of Western Conference opponents, Toronto will be looking forward to being thrust back into the melee that is the East with a visit from the Fire.
Under the tutelage of Veljko Paunovic, the Fire were one of the stories of the year in 2017: the arrival of Bastian Schweinsteiger, Nemanja Nikolic and his golden boots – the striker was top-scorer last year with 24 goals and has five through six matches this season.
Chicago have looked a little different this time around, however.
“They've been playing in virtually a back five with Schweinsteiger in the middle,” noted Vanney. “He's a very good passer, good at orchestrating the game. They like to spread the field, create spaces that force you to have to defend over large areas.”
“They have some good players in the midfield and Nikolic is always looking to get behind,” continued Vanney. “He's a guy who is always thinking goal first, looking to stretch out the back-line, run into the channels. Anywhere around the box he is sniffing out spaces to get in front of goal.”
“We've got to manage the space appropriately defensively, take away some of their strengths, but one of the biggest things is we've got to be good with the ball, try to hurt them in moments when we have stretches of possession,” added Vanney. “We've got the ability to open them up in certain areas and create chances. That's where the game starts for us this week.”
Gregory van der Wiel, who has crossed paths with Schweinsteiger many times before, called the German midfielder: “One of the better players of this league; a big player back in Europe. It's nice to come across players like this in MLS.”
The difficulty in combating his new, deeper role, according to Vanney, is that, “It's hard to get pressure to that person.”
“In order to, you end up extending your lines and then you get separated from front to back,” explained Vanney. “Especially when you have a Nikolic who is always looking to run forward and Schweinsteiger is dropping deeper to get on the ball. Knowing that he can hit such a variety passes, can start attacks in different ways, you start to find yourself getting stretched out around the field.”
“It's important we approach in right way,” urged Vanney. “We don't want Schweinsteiger to be running the entire game and we've got to control Nikolic's runs. They have other players who can play in between the lines as well.”
Morgan summed it all up nicely: “They have a solid team; we're prepared and ready to go.”
With all attention focused on league play, Toronto will be looking to make the most of a run of home fixtures in the coming weeks. Saturday is the first of three-straight at BMO Field, with the Philadelphia Union and Seattle Sounders FC on May 4 and May 9, respectively.
“Our emphasis and focus now is on the league,” said Vanney. “We got onto some good runs throughout the course of [last] year. We have five out of six at home, starting with Chicago. It's important we get on a run here, make up some ground.”
