FC CINCINNATI (2) – TORONTO FC (0) POSTGAME SUMMARY
FC CINCINNATI (2) – TORONTO FC (0) POSTGAME SUMMARY
SCORING SUMMARY
CIN – Kevin Denkey 73’ (penalty kick)
CIN – Yuya Kubo 88’ (Evander, Pavel Bucha)
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
TOR – Kosi Thompson 50’ (caution)
CIN – Evander 66’ (caution)
CIN – Alvas Powell 89’ (caution)
RECORDS (W-L-T)
FC Cincinnati 2-1-0 6 points
Toronto FC 0-2-1 1 point
LINEUPS
FC CINCINNATI – Roman Celentano; Alvas Powell, Miles Robinson (C), Teenage Hadebe (Gilberto Flores 60’), Lukas Engel (DeAndre Yedlin 60’); Tah Brian Anunga, Pavel Bucha, Luca Orellano (Evander 60’), Yuya Kubo, Corey Baird (Obinna Nwobodo 84’); Kevin Denkey (Sergio Santos 74’)
Substitutes Not Used: Evan Louro, Gerardo Valenzuela, Stiven Jimenez, Stefan Chirila
TORONTO FC – Sean Johnson; Zane Monlouis (Derrick Etienne Jr. 85’), Kevin Long, Nicksoen Gomis (Theo Corbeanu 73’); Kosi Thompson, Matty Longstaff, Deybi Flores (Alonso Coello 74’), Jonathan Osorio (C), Tyrese Spicer (Lazar Stefanovic 74’); Federico Bernardeschi, Ola Brynhildsen (Deandre Kerr 46’)
Substitutes Not Used: Luka Gavran, Kobe Franklin, Reid Fisher, Markus Cimermancic
MEDIA NOTES
Zane Monlouis and Ola Brynhildsen made their first starts for Toronto FC.
HEAD COACH, TORONTO FC
Q: Disappointing result, but what did you think about your team’s performance tonight?
It was somewhat to be expected in that we really talked about being defensively solid and I think early on we certainly avoided a few scares, but I thought we were pretty cohesive defensively. Where I thought we fell down early in the game was just our decisions with the ball, which led to a lot of defending turnovers and that sort of thing led to a lot of defending. But I thought they fought incredibly hard in the first half and then in the second half or at halftime we talked about a few different ideas with the ball and I thought in the second half we created a couple of decent chances, a couple of decent half chances. I’m thinking about the one that [Tyrese] Spicer put across the face of the goal as a really good attack and we had a few of those, but then disappointing to give up the goal on a penalty kick.
And then I think a little feeling of desperation left us a little bit open toward the end. So certainly disappointing, but there are positives I can take out of it. There are positives that the team can take out of it that I really thought that while we were trying to sort ourselves out, it was the first time we played against a back four or the back five and I thought we had to make some decisions on the run and the first half and I thought we, as the game went on, we grew into it defensively, but then the offensive side of it, I thought we saw some decent sparks in the second half, but it still feels like growing pains.
Q: Did you get a chance to watch a replay of the penalty decision?
I haven’t personally seen it.
Q: How much, if at all, did these sort of absences? Because there you had a lot of defensive guys, not available. How much did that, were you hurting in terms of that maybe playing a hand in the result?
I mean I think we, having as many players out as we did means that there are guys coming in that haven’t played as many minutes. And I just think a little bit of it was familiarity with each other and having not played a ton of minutes, we’re asking guys to really step up to league pace without playing a ton of minutes to this point. So I do think that had something to do with it and I feel like the exact same group would be better next week.
Q: It seemed a bit cruel that Tyrese [Spicer] got called on that penalty. He had been growing into the game and had made some good runs. What did you think of his performance?
I was pretty pleased. I thought that for someone who is really naturally an attacking player, I thought defensively he did a good job and had to deal with some tough players. [Luca] Orellano for me is an excellent player and at times he had to deal with him, he had to deal with a lot of players. So I thought defensively he did pretty well, really well for the most part. And then I agree with you, he grew into the game and in the second half we saw even a little bit in the first half, but as the game went on in second half, I thought he really produced some good moments for us. And I keep coming back to this ball that he played across for Deandre [Kerr]. Excellent ball. I thought overall he was solid given, yes, he played a few minutes against Orlando, but his first start this year, I thought he was pretty solid.
Q: With all the holes you had in the back line with the players not available, do you expect to get these injuries? Will some of them be back next week?
To be honest, I’m not a hundred percent sure. I think there was a possibility. I think there’s a possibility we could get a few guys back, but I think most of the situations are kind of day to day, so it’s not like there’s a clear timeline for them, but we have a chance to get a few guys back. Having said that, I thought Nick’s [Nicksoen Gomis] with virtually zero minutes under his belt this year was pretty solid for the most part. And he also grew into the game. Zane [Monlouis] for another week I thought was pretty solid, made some decent decisions with the balls. And his composure I think is pretty interesting for a young player in terms of his decisions defensively and decisions offensively, he shows a pretty good amount of composure for a young player, young centre-back.
Q: I thought Sean [Johnson] made a couple of big saves for you guys tonight. I just wanted to get your thoughts on him. Is that just what you expect from a veteran presence like him?
I think Sean’s [Johnson] been one of the best shot stoppers in the league for a number of years. Gosh, I don’t know many years Sean [Johnson] has played now. But I think that shot stopping has always been one of his strengths. And that’s the nice thing about having an experienced athletic goalkeeper is that he will make some of those saves. As a centre-back, I was always bummed if my goalkeeper had to make good saves. So certainly the more we talk about Sean [Johnson], the less excited I am about how we defended. But I did think we were pretty solid, but that’s why we have uncertain moments where there are lapses that he bails us out and he did quite a few times.
Q: You gave Ola Brynhildsen the start today. What did you think of his performance in the 45 minutes he had out there?
I thought he looked like an experienced player. He looked like an experienced player, knew how to use his body, relentless running behind, which we didn’t find him, nor did we use the space that was created when he made these runs in behind. But his running is extremely, extremely useful and I know we didn’t have much of the ball. It’s hard for a forward to show, but you can tell by his movement and his intensity offensively, defensively, he’s an experienced player and I think he’s going to be very good for us.
Q: You mentioned you liked [Tyrese] Spicer’s performance. What do you say to a young guy like that who had a pretty good performance kind of overshadowed by one moment?
I don’t think it’s actually that difficult. I think you talked to him about the things that he did. Well, I haven’t seen the penalty, so I can’t really comment on that. But I do think overall his performance was positive, his mentality was good, created some danger down the left side and defended hard against the number of good players. So I’ll certainly address him during the week and it’s one of these things that things happen. Things happen. It wasn’t like he made a stupid mistake and fouled someone out of just not thinking. It’s one of these things that just happens and you certainly play long enough, you know that you’re going to have these things happen. I mean, I’ve been involved in own goals, I’ve been involved in penalties and it’s all part of it. You certainly don’t like for it to happen, but it’s all part of it.
Q: It’s early days, three games in on the road. You’ve had injuries, players not fit and it’s a marathon, not a sprint, but what’s your sort of gut feeling so far?
I mean, I think the feeling is that you want to win every game and if you lose one somewhere in the 34, you’re still bummed. But I do realize that it’s a new group to me and new coaching system to them and that there are going to be growing pains. You throw that, you couple that with some of the injuries and absences we’ve had. It just makes it doubly difficult. What I do is the fact that this team works and they fight and I really do believe that it’ll come together because of their mentality. I think that’s one of the really important things with any teams that you have to have a mentality that you’re willing to work and willing to fight and willing to support and work for each other. And from that standpoint, I’m proud of them. They’ve been working, they’ve been trying to apply everything that’s being asked and I just know that it’ll come around or certainly that’s my feeling. So yes, we’re not happy with where we are at the moment, but it’s been a tough start, tough schedule. It is what it is and we have to deal with it. So no crying over spilled milk, to be quite honest, we’ve obviously not gotten results in two of the three games we’ve played so far. But again, difficult conditions playing on the road, new group. I do have a lot of faith in what I’m finding out as the character of the group and I think that will show up in the end.
Q: How glad are you be able to go home now after starting three games on the road? I mean, that’s kind of a big test.
Yeah, it’s tough. The years that I was here when we were doing construction on the stadium, we started similarly, quite a few games on the road and it’s tough. It’s a tough challenge. I know that I’m sure a lot of people think, well, it’s not that difficult to go on the road, but the whole energy and feel is very different. And even as I look at our group tonight and we weren’t fantastic with the ball, the work that we put in to be pretty solid defensively, it’s disappointing when they put in all that work and don’t quite get the result for it. So I think everyone will be happy to be home. It’s a different mindset, it’s a different mindset for us. We’re in front of our fans. It’s a different mindset for the opposing team. And the answer to your question is very much looking forward to going back home.
TYRESE SPICER – MIDFIELDER, TORONTO FC
Q: Disappointing result but maybe you could talk about what you thought about your team’s performance on the night?
I think personally, first half we performed really well. We were tight. I know we didn’t have much going forward, but defensively we had shape. We practiced this a lot in training and I think we were very disciplined and how we approached the game and unfortunately it was just some unfortunate calls in the second half out of our control, but for the most part I think we were very disciplined and just didn’t get a result today.
Q: You mentioned unfortunate calls. What did you think of the penalty decision that went against you?
Yeah, I think it was a tough one. I didn’t think personally it was a penalty, but that’s out of my control. I just focused on my performance. I think [my] performance today was pretty decent. I went on my guy, got some crosses in, had some link up plays with Oso [Jonathan Osorio], but entirely, I think we just need to keep pushing. We just need to keep focus. I know it’s not the results we want right now, but it is a long stretch. As Robin [Fraser] said, there’s 31 more games there and no, we could just keep going.
Q: What did you think of your performance on the night? It seems like you had some especially good attacking moments in the second half.
Yeah. Yeah, I think it was a bit promising today. Yeah, my first thought I just had my head focused on just doing the simple things good and then during the game just keep getting my confidence, building on my confidence and that’s what I did. I did my good crossing. I know that Oso was telling me just keep running at them. I know my strong point is to get down the line and cross, so that’s why I stick to, and that’s it.
Q: How have you felt this year in preseason and the early weeks of the season? Last year your start was slowed with the toe injury and you had injuries throughout the year. Are you feeling healthier, better going in and certainly you grew into the game and seem to do well today?
Yeah, preseason, it was a bit slow for me honestly, but I gradually started growing into it. It was a different approach from last year and I just had to adapt to that and eventually I just keep gaining more confidence, gaining more confidence and just keep working hard to get my spot on that team. And today I got that chance and I think I took it.
Q: After the team stood tall for the majority of the game, what does a call like that ultimately ending in the penalty do for the team’s mentality for the rest of the match?
I think it was a tough one. Any team going into that situation would be tough. I think personally it was just tough for me knowing that I had a good performance and then the call, the ref made that call, but entirely, I think the team mentality was just keep working, keep grinding, just keep discipline. And I think we did that, but we just had that slip up in the end with that goal. But next match, we just go to focus on the next match. Right now, we just want to make sure that we get everything right. We go back on the training ground, we do all the simple things and keep discipline, keep focus, and move on to the next match.
Q: You’re asked to do a lot defensively in that wingback position. You had a nice little battle with [Alvas] Powell today. Do you enjoy that two-way requirement in that position?
Yeah, I think it suits me honestly. I think I could cover a lot of ground, my pace in behind and then if you want to hit balls over, I could definitely have a foot race. But yeah, that challenge, I’m always up for the challenge. I remember last year against [Jacob] Shaffelburg was a good challenge and he definitely gave a good challenge today and he had me really thinking and guessing whether if he’s going to go in behind or go short. So he just had me thinking and guessing. I think I got to keep on my P’s and Qs. I think that only helped improve me. But yeah, the roles, it definitely suits me. I know it is tough to get up there in a attacking box and then get back in defensive shape, but I just got to keep evolving, keep getting my game up on and move on.
Q: You’re in your second year and on your second coach. What’s the difference been like playing under Robin [Fraser]? He’s a very calm man, knows what he wants. What’s the difference in playing for him?
Yeah, as you said, he’s very calm. He makes everything clear to us. Just wants us to be together. You really emphasize on just being together, being as a group, individually we don’t really do that. We just want to stay together through thick and thin. Right now, it’s not going our way, but he just keeps telling us to just stick together and it will soon come. Every team goes through this little hump, so then soon to come. I think we would get over this hurdle and we would start to flourish. But he’s a good coach. I really respect him and he respect the team. I respect every one of us, so yeah, he’s a good coach.
Q: It’s early days and everyone understands that this team is still sort of evolving, but when you look at the three games, has there been progress in your mind?
Yeah, I think there’s been progress. I think we are just starting to, as a team, understanding more of our role and function, this being in our spots, being disciplined in defense and attack. I just think we just need to express ourselves more and I think that would show on the field if we keep grinding and training.
Q: Having started the season with three row games, how kind of special is it going to be? Just getting back home finally playing at BMO Field?
Yeah, I think playing at BMO Field, I think it would give us some confidence. Being home, being with the fans, getting to experience that adrenaline rush again. I think just being on the road three games straight is very tough on any team, but I feel like we could build that momentum and get that win we need on the weekend back home.
