Toronto FC lost 2-0 to the New York Red Bulls on Saturday afternoon at Red Bull Arena.

Frankie Amaya and Caden Clark scored the goals – the first coming in the 32nd minute when a quick move from Clark saw him capitalize on a turnover and play to Fabio in the TFC box, who then laid off to Amaya for a low shot to the bottom left-corner.

Clark added the second in the 69th minute after a driving Drew Yearwood run up the middle stretched the Toronto defenses and Fabio was on hand again to pry loose the ball leaving an open net for the teenager to finish.

New TFC coach Chris Armas’ homecoming soiled by defeat. The team knows it must do better.

“There's not a lot to say, but we talk about it quickly,” began Armas, asked what the conversations in the dressing room were like. “In moments like this you've got to take a hard look and say, ‘Can I do better? How can I do better? What more can I do? Where am I doing really well; where can I improve?’ And that's the message.”

“This is a new team with a different chemistry and different players and we are not sneaking up on anyone,” he continued. “When teams play TFC, they are playing the champions. They know this team is built on success, so in a league where the margins are thin, we have to be at our best, we have to carry our weight, we have to be up for it every single time no matter what – altitude, heat, short rest, whatever it is.”

“There's a feeling on the inside that we're giving away some games,” Armas confided. “We're becoming closer all the time and moments like this, as the guys say, will bring us together.”

“Disappointment, but we are on to the next one,” he added. “No one helps teams in tough times more than the team, all of us together. That's what was talked about.”

The opening half was a hard-fought, close affair.

“At halftime we talked about rewarding ourselves for some of the good actions defensively, some of the pressing moments, some of the counterpressing moments. It was there for us,” felt Armas. “We were in the balance in the first half.”

One loose moment proved costly.

“When you think about some of the goals that we've given up on the year, that we've tried to really address, we've talked about set-pieces,” explained Armas. “And the other one is some bad giveaways that lead to transition. In the first half this is the case and then it becomes about putting out that fire.”

“Second half it's another transition moment that we get caught a little bit,” he continued. “We have little situations we have to do better with, individually and then ultimately collectively. The second half they come strong, we faded a bit, but in the first half it was in the balance.”

Games against Red Bull, especially at their place, are never easy.

“We know it is difficult, but we have to do better,” said Chris Mavinga. “We have to play faster. It's never been easy to play here, we haven’t had a lot of success, but we just need to trust ourselves and in the way that we play to be a better team.”

The bright spot on the day was the debut of Yeferson Soteldo, the newest designated player, who came on in the 56th minute.

Not yet 90 minutes ready, around 35 minutes was the max the coaching staff wanted to demand of him.

“That was the plan going in because he's only had two light training sessions with us so far,” said Armas. “But we'll get him going and he's going to get going in a big way. You can see that he's an exciting player, an exciting attacker, he can make things happen.”

“And this is important for us in terms of creating chances and finishing off chances. He had a couple of one vs. one situations, a decent cross that he creates,” he listed. “He comes in and he's trying to make some things happen.”

Three games into the campaign, Toronto are yet to taste victory. Once more key players – Alejandro Pozuelo, Jozy Altidore, and Jonathan Osorio – were absent.

Disappointment, frustration, excuses... these things do not win matches.

“[The injuries] are reality,” dismissed the coach. “I don't operate and live with frustration, but what becomes bothersome is when these games are in the balance, like the first half before they have their chance, we created a few really good moments and you don’t score.”

“Then we don't do well enough in a moment and we're down 1-0. It psychologically hits the team a certain way,” Armas continued. “I want the boys to be rewarded for the work. I want them to feel validated for what we are asking every day. And when we're off to a good start and then it goes the other way, that's, in general, frustrating.”

“You feel like you're doing it right and it's a set-piece goal or the first goal in the series against Cruz Azul: we win a ball, we’re going the other way and it’s a giveaway and it’s in the back of the net. I have to find ways to help the team in these moments,” he added. “That's the reality. Back to work. Back to work tomorrow and we're going to ramp it up for Wednesday.”

Toronto are back on the pitch midweek with the Wednesday night visit of Columbus Crew SC to Exploria Stadium in Orlando. And then another tough date in New York City against NYCFC awaits come Saturday.

Armas is not worried: “I see realness every day around here, even the way the players speak in the locker room. That's where I put my comfort.”

“We’re heading in the right direction,” he added. “We’ve just got to clean up some of the stuff on the field.”