Toronto FC was back in training on Tuesday ahead of its home game against Real Salt Lake tomorrow.
Here are some news and notes from today’s practice at the club’s training facility in Downsview.
Cheyrou still out
Coach Greg Vanney confirmed that French midfielder Benoit Cheyrou is questionable for Wednesday’s contest against Real Salt Lake, as well as for Saturday’s home game vs. the New England Revolution.
Cheyrou sat out Sunday’s 3-0 win over the Columbus Crew at BMO Field with a slight hamstring strain.
“We won’t try to push him through tomorrow. We’ll see for the weekend, but it’s not going to be tomorrow,” Vanney stated.
The target for the Frenchman, who didn’t train with the team on Tuesday, is that he will be available for the Reds’ road game against the Houston Dynamo on Aug. 13. But Vanney didn’t rule out that the veteran could miss the trip to Texas, too.
“We’ll see. We’re not going to press him into a situation where we put him at risk,” Vanney said.
The loss of Cheyrou comes at an inopportune time for Toronto, who is already missing midfielders Michael Bradley, Will Johnson and Daniel Lovitz due to long-term injuries.
“We have midfielders that are running a little bit hot in terms of their minutes. Hopefully over the next few days to a week, we start getting some guys back and we can start to offload some of the guys and allow them to recover,” Vanney stated.
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Injury ‘silver lining’
With Cheyrou unavailable and the team already missing a number of players due to injuries, Vanney had to go with a young and somewhat inexperienced midfield vs. Columbus: Marky Delgado (21), Jonathan Osorio (24), Tsubasa Endoh (22) and Jay Chapman (22).
With limited options due to the current injury dilemma, don’t expect Vanney to rotate his squad too much over the course of the next two games.
That might not be a bad thing, either. One of the silver linings of this injury situation is that it’s allowed Vanney to give his young understudies a chance to play and gain some valuable MLS experience. The midfield foursome on Sunday more than held their own vs. the Crew, so giving them more playing time can only help to improve the team’s overall depth as Toronto tries to extend its two-game winning streak.
“The priority for us it to build off of the last two results and the last two performances, and see if we can keep this thing going. To me, it’s a league of momentum, and when you have momentum you want to keep it rolling,” Vanney offered.
Bradley on the mend
Bradley (knee sprain) hasn’t played for TFC since May due to international commitments and a knee injury he picked up while with the United States at the Copa America. The TFC captain has missed the last MLS nine games, but he is getting closer to returning to action.
Bradley worked out both on his own and with the team during Tuesday’s practice. He’ll be integrated more into training sessions over time, and the hope is that he’ll be available to play on Aug. 13 in Houston.
“Today he did a little bit more [in training], and we’ll see how he responds tomorrow. … As long as he keeps reacting positively then we’ll keep pushing him forward. We’re still looking at [Bradley being] very questionable for this weekend, and very likely for the following weekend [in Houston],” Vanney said.
More injury updates
Starting goalkeeper Clint Irwin (quadriceps strain) and Canadian midfielder Will Johnson (bone fracture) remain out with long-term injuries. Both are still a few weeks away from returning to full training. Irwin has been out since June 25; Johnson has been sidelined since June 30.
Midfielder Daniel Lovitz (knee) and Canadian defender Ashtone Morgan (toe) are improving, and could be available for the Houston game. Both Lovitz and Morgan last appeared in an MLS match on May 28.
“They’re doing very well. They both were involved in training today. [I’m] optimistic that over the latter part of this week and into next week we should see them fully integrated by [the Houston game], if not a little bit before,” Vanney revealed.
Looking ahead to Salt Lake
Real Salt Lake (9-6-7) sits fifth in the Western Conference, and is coming off a 2-1 road win over the Philadelphia Union on Sunday.
TFC is 4-8-2 all-time against RSL in MLS action. The previous meeting between Toronto and RSL was March 29, 2015 when the Reds lost 2-1 in Utah. This is the only game between the clubs this season.
Vanney identified Argentine playmaker Javier Morales as RSL’s chief threat, but the TFC coach has also been impressed with forward Juan Manuel Martinez, nicknamed Burrito (“Little Donkey”), who has scored six goals this season, his first full campaign in MLS.
“They’re a very good attacking team, with Javier Morales pulling the strings. He’s been doing it for years in this league. He’s very clever, very shifty in that you think he’s going to do one thing and he does something else,” Vanney warned.
“They have Burrito who has come into the league and started causing problems with his attacking prowess. He’s very good on the dribble, and can get you unbalanced.”
Toronto is coming off of a clean sheet win on the weekend, and has only conceded one goal in its last two games, both of them wins. RSL could prove a unique challenge for TFC’s defence, though.
“They’re active, they’re busy. They’re very fluid. They will show up in different areas of the field. Morales won’t just stay in the middle of the field, so it’s hard to necessarily keep one or two specific guys on him… What they do is not necessarily set and clear cut, but there are four guys in particular who are very fluid and very dangerous,” Vanney warned.
Wednesday’s game is the third in a four-match homestand for the Reds, who will also host New England on Saturday.
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