On Saturday Carl Robinson played, in my humble opinion, his best game as a member of Toronto FC. But judging from the Welsh midfielder's demeanor post-match, you’d think he just finished reading the complete works of Edmund Burke.
Robinson rode the stationary bike in the far back corner of the TFC weight room, arms crossed, looking pensive.
Now most of the time in this business you're left writing a story around the same old bottled, cliché quotes that athletes spit out after a win or loss. Robinson is the exception to the rule; perhaps due to the fact that 'Robbo' has dabbled in the fourth estate as a columnist with his hometown newspaper.
Anyhow, I approached Robinson, congratulated him on what was a tremendous individual effort against Kansas City and proceeded to ask him to explain the 180-degree turnaround witnessed in Toronto this season.
"Massive difference," Robinson laughed, before launching in to a fairly in-depth assessment. "It was hard last year as a new team and all, but as a player I do not like using the excuse of a new team or players coming in and out because as a player you want to win every game.
“I don't think we were balanced and I don't think we had enough good players in our team last year."
Heading in to May last season TFC had names like Kevin Goldthwaite, Andrew Boyens, Andy Welsh and Edson Buddle in the starting 11.
"This year we have and you can see the confidence building. But it is not about the 11 players it is about the 18 boys in our locker room. A lot of the boys on our bench now would have got into our team last year."
Then just as I thought Robinson had exhausted the question, he carried on, and displayed what he brings to the team off the field.
"I talked to Mo Edu today and I was saying, 'When things don't go your way in football, still enjoy that because you learn from a bad time.' I said to him how things did not go his way in the first half and how he'll have plenty of that in his long life because he will go on and play at the top level for years to come. But he has to learn from things like this, and in the second half he played with a smile on his face."
As a central midfielder the responsibility of defending the opposition's best players quite often falls on Robinson. Through five games, the 31-year-old has lined up against Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Marcelo Gallardo, David Beckham and Claudio Lopez.
"I enjoy that. I keep saying to these boys that when you look at the other team sheets and you see the top players that they have, good players want to play against other good players.
“Today I was pitting my wits against Claudio Lopez, who is a very clever player, and I enjoyed the battle with him. I won a few tackles and he got a little bit frustrated."
The frustration quickly turned in to bullying as Kansas City tried to wrest momentum away from TFC by playing a physical game, an approach that did not surprise or faze Robinson.
"The older you get the more experience you get, and you learn to pick yourself up and get on with it. It's football, you kick somebody, you push them over and you pick them up. But at the end of the game you still shake their hand."
