TORONTO – It was a tackle that not only had long-term ramifications for Will Johnson but also, as it turned out, for Mark Bloom.
Sept. 27, 2014. Toronto FC was hosting the Portland Timbers at BMO Field and was in desperate need of a win to keep its faint playoff hopes alive. A mere eight seconds into the game, Johnson’s heavy touch led to a loose ball in the centre of the field. He and Bloom raced and slid for it, with neither pulling out of the 50/50 challenge.
Johnson ended up with a broken leg and had to undergo surgery. The Canadian international is still recovering, and is expected to miss the first month or two of the current MLS campaign.
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Bloom walked away from the collision and played the rest of the game. He made three more appearances before the end of the season and then signed a contract extension with TFC, even though his old deal had not expired. It appeared as though Bloom was firmly ensconced as the Reds’ starting right fullback.
But it turns out Bloom suffered a knee injury on the play with Johnson. He sat out a few games towards the end of the 2014 campaign, his place in the starting 11 taken by Warren Creavalle. He also had to have off-season surgery on his knee.
All of which leads us to the present day where Bloom, whose comeback was further complicated when he suffered a quad strain a few weeks ago, has been displaced by Creavalle as TFC’s go-to right fullback and has yet to play a single minute this season. Creavalle has started all three games, while Bloom didn’t even travel to Vancouver for the team’s season opener against the Whitecaps.
Bloom’s demotion to the bench by coach Greg Vanney has been met with a fair bit of criticism from fans and journalist who regularly cover the team. But Bloom admits he wasn’t entirely surprised.
“There were signs last year that they wanted to move Warren to the right-back spot. When I got hurt he played a few times in place of me,” Bloom told Sportsnet in a one-on-one chat. “He was getting reps, so I had a feeling they were looking at him as a right-back option.”
Vanney confirmed Bloom’s hunch that he wouldn’t be guaranteed a starting spot at the start of pre-season camp, even though he’s been one of the Reds’ most consistent players since signing with the club in 2013.
“It was made well known to us that both Warren and I were going to be in competition for the starting spot from the beginning,” Bloom explained.
The Georgia native was disappointed, but he understood the decision.
“From my point of view I was coming back from an injury so it was difficult. I wasn’t in full training—I was only putting in 20–30 minutes and then getting pulled out of training. So I wasn’t getting into any kind of rhythm and to be fair my knee wasn’t completely healthy. It took a while to feel like myself and I’m still dealing with a few residual issues on it.”
Bloom hasn’t dressed for any of TFC’s game this year, forced to watch Crevalle play in his place.
“Warren’s done well, so credit to him. He wasn’t a right fullback—they kind of turned him into one. He’s really wanted to learn the position and he’s tried hard,” Bloom said.
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None of this has been easy for Bloom. But instead of pouting, he’s determined to use the situation to his advantage and try to win back his place in the starting line-up.
“I want to play. I’m not happy being on the bench,” Bloom admitted. “No player should be happy being on the bench, so I’m going to push myself and push Warren to be better. In the end if I’m not playing, then that means Warren is playing better because I’ll be pushing him to a higher level. I’m working as hard as I can to get my starting spot back and hopefully I get an opportunity at some point and keep it form there.”
He later added: “To me, you can either destroy yourself and doubt yourself or you can take the approach that ‘Hey, I know I can play in this league and I know that I’m a starter.’ Ultimately, that’s what gets you back on the field. Before I hurt my quad I thought I was getting to that point.”
Bloom is still recovering from his quad strain, but said he might be available for selection when Toronto plays the Chicago Fire on Saturday.
“I think there’s a good chance. With anything muscular it’s hard to say for sure… It’ll start feeling better and then you start feeling like Superman, as though you can do anything—and then you make one wrong move and you’re back to square one,” Bloom said.
“I’m not going to push it and play at 80 percent—that wouldn’t be fair to the team.”
