At some point in the long and often tedious process of building success, a team must turn the corner. On Saturday, Toronto FC leaned in to that proverbial turn.
Up a goal with the 30 minutes to play, the heat at field level began picking off players like a black ops sniper with an itchy trigger finger. It began with Chad Barrett in the 69th minute; whose substitution put Preki in the precarious position of being out of moves with just under a third of the game left to play.
Shortly thereafter, Nana hit the deck and stayed down. Up the field, goal scorer Fuad Ibrahim struggled just to stay on his feet, gingerly chasing clearances in a vain attempt to quell what was becoming a storm of Colorado pressure.
Bad fortune also played its part. Dan Gargan absorbed a volleyed attempt on net with his face; making a sound that was heard three-quarters of the way up the stadium in the press box. New signing Maicon did the same; except his ribs played the part of Gargan’s face.
In his post-game discussion Preki made light of the anxious finish, pointing out that the bench ran out of water. But Preki was also quick to applaud the effort of his team, who for all intents and purposes played the final 20 minutes and cruel five minutes of stoppage time with a player receiving treatment along the touchlines. He spoke of commitment and closing out games, and that in the dying minutes of a game coaches were irrelevant and only the players can dictate how the scoreline finishes.
How many times last season were the words ‘commitment’ and ‘closing out games’ mentioned in the opposite context?
Young Ibbe
If former coach John Carver is still able to smile about his time in Toronto, when he reads the game recap from Saturday he just might crack one.
Carver was a big supporter of Fuad Ibrahim, using the teenager in 12 games — four as a starter — in 2008. Ibrahim thrived under the direction of Carver, but saw his appearances cut in half when the Englishman quit the team and another took over.
Now, under his third MLS coach, ‘Young Ibbe’ (as Carver would reference the striker) is once again emerging as a fixture in the Reds starting XI. Of the two goals Toronto has scored in the last two games, Ibbe assisted on the first and scored the second.
When asked about his production, Preki was not surprised:
“I have trust in him,” the Reds coach said. “He is beginning to understand what it takes to get to the next level. He performs in training, and as you know, the players decide who plays, not me.”
Being creative
The only criticism Preki had of his side after the 1-0 win over Colorado was its lack of creativity.
The upside is Maicon looked sharp in his debut 45 minutes and Mista should be ready for selection against Philadelphia on July 17.