Toronto FC 'closer' to becoming what Bob Bradley wants but more still to come
By Chris Smith
Toronto FC head coach Bob Bradley has called upon his team to be more ruthless as they battle to reach the MLS Cup Playoffs.
The Reds currently sit 11th in the Eastern Conference but are just three points adrift of the Playoff line with eight regular-season games to go.
Toronto are unbeaten in their last five MLS matches since the debuts of Italian stars Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi. However, on Wednesday, they had to settle for a 2-2 draw at home to the New England Revolution.
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The hosts were only able to take the lead via a Bernardeschi penalty, while fellow Italian Domenico Criscito's wonderstrike earned them a point after falling 2-1 behind - all despite TFC attempting 19 shots on the night compared to New England's six.
“Overall, I think we're closer to becoming a good team, but a good team on a night like tonight scores more than two goals, especially when you consider that one's a penalty and one's just a wonder strike,” Bradley said post-match. “And we don't give up two goals, given the way the game went.”
He added: “You see the way we are playing in a general way, but the timing of the goal before half time and then the killer goal right at the start of the second half. When they're deep like that, just the sharpness to create the openings and get more. And then at 2-2 there's real momentum to finish the game, get a third, and we weren't able to do that, so disappointed on that end.”
Team captain Michael Bradley agreed with his father, lamenting TFC's lack of cutting edge at one end on Wednesday, and a loss of concentration at the other.
“We did a lot of the things that we would want to do in a game like this,” he said. “In the end, for the way we play and what we create, we don't score enough goals and there's no way that we should give away two goals in a game like that.”
TFC now face a quick turnaround ahead of their trip to Inter Miami on Saturday. With Decision Day rapidly approaching, this might well go down as Toronto's most important game yet this season with Miami just three points ahead of them in the Eastern Conference.
"Miami, we'll look at them,”said Michael Bradley. “They have a good team, they're on a good little run, but the way that we'll try to go about it won't change for them.”
He continued: “We've not let anything faze us so far this year – that part has been really, really good. The mentality, the resolve of the group has been incredible. We'll be ready to step on the field in Miami on Saturday night and really go for it.”
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