TORONTO – Ryan Nelsen is not one to wallow in self pity.
In fact, Toronto FC’s coach wants to desperately break away from the past.
On Wednesday, the Reds suffered one of their most embarrassing defeats in franchise history, losing 6-0 to the hometown Montreal Impact in the second leg of their Canadian club championship semifinal. The Impact thoroughly outplayed their opponents to overturn a two-goal deficit from the first leg, thus ending Toronto’s four-year reign as Canadian champions.
Saturday programming alert: Watch the Colorado Rapids vs. Toronto FC live on The Score at 9pm ET/6pm PT.
According to Nelsen, that was not the same TFC side that has shown some progress during his brief tenure as coach. Instead, it reminded him of the tactically naïve and disorganized side that stumbled to last place in 2012 before he arrived in Toronto.
And he’s looking forward to seeing his TFC return to normal on Saturday when they visit the Colorado Rapids.
"I’m very happy there’s a game (three) days later. I think all the guys are. They all know the standards were dropped (in Montreal)," Nelsen admitted.
"I don’t think it was because of an attitude or that they didn’t try hard enough. I just think it was completely misguided and they fell into all of the patterns that we inherited: ill-discipline, no communication and everybody just playing individually. It reminded me of an old Toronto team."
Forward Robert Earnshaw, TFC’s top scorer in league play this season with five goals, warned that he and his teammates "have to be focused, and right and ready for Colorado."
"There were a lot of mistakes made (in Montreal) and these are the things we have to learn from. Otherwise, we’re not going to move forward. The only way you move forward is learning from all the mistakes, all the different little things and getting better at them," Earnshaw said.
Nelsen feels the 6-0 loss was a "random anomaly or freak occurrence" and not a harbinger of things to come. He also believes disastrous results and performances like the one in Montreal can be a launching point for Toronto.
"For me there are certain turning points in seasons. Sometimes it can be a big win out of nowhere and it can be a big loss out of nowhere. It can literally just start something and I hope this is because I think we’ve shown in every (MLS) game we’ve played in that we’ve been (competitive)," Nelsen offered.
One thing that Nelsen feels the Montreal game underscored was TFC’s youth. But he also stressed his players can’t use that as excuse and that they have to find a way to overcome the experience gap.
"It’s a deep learning curve for these guys. They’ll grow up quick from it. They better," Nelsen warned.
The New Zealand coach also hinted that TFC management continues to target a number of players and reinforcements could be on the way.
"The right players that we’ve been targeting, they will be coming. It’s hard with the salary cap restrictions we’re on, and the situation we were in when we first arrived — we had to clean it up before we could investigate potential options," Nelsen stated.
"These options are getting closer and clearer, but they’re not over the (finish) line yet."
NOTES: After Saturday’s game, TFC travels to San Jose to take on the Earthquakes next Wednesday. The Reds then have a bye week before returning to action on May 18 when they host the Columbus Crew… Nelsen confirmed that Matias Laba’s transfer paperwork has been completed, making the Argentine midfielder available for Saturday’s contest… Defenders Darrel Russell (hamstring) and Logan Emory (ankle), and winger Hogan Ephraim and forward Justin Braun (both ankle) have missed action recently but appear fit again and will travel with the team on this West Coast road trip. Midfielder Terry Dunfield (knee injury) and defender Richard Eckersley (hamstring) will remain in Toronto… Dutch forward Danny Koevermans, who had off-season knee surgery, will also travel with the team to continue his rehabilitation program but will not play in any games.
Tweeps. I’ll be scaling back my coverage of #TFC over the next few months as I tend to a personal matter. Thanks for your understanding. :)
— John Molinaro (@JohnMolinaro) May 3, 2013
