Toronto FC: Injuries taking toll on team’s struggling offence
Toronto FC dropped their second straight game as their offence continues to struggle with the injuries to key parts of the roster.
It has been a rough couple of weeks for Toronto FC as they search for answers to the string of injuries.
After a rough 5-0 loss to the Philadelphia Union where TFC lost top spot in the Supporters Shield standings, the Reds struggled against New York City FC. The 1-0 defeat underscored the toll the injuries are having on the team’s offence.
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Greg Vanney had to navigate a lineup that was missing forwards Ayo Akinola, Jozy Altidore and Pablo Piatti along with Auro, Chris Mavinga, Marky Delgado, and Jonathan Osorio. That’s a significant challenge for any team to overcome and with the playoffs a few weeks away, this is a looming challenge for this team.
After the loss to New York, Vanney wasn’t exactly in a great mood and decided to let out some frustration.
"“Honestly we’re scoreless in two games, we’re trying to manufacture opportunities. The core of our attacking group is not healthy. We’re working hard as a group,” Vanney told reporters.“We didn’t put out the effort and get the representation of ourselves that we wanted in Philadelphia. That was evident. We lift our hand, we say we weren’t there on that night. That happened. We’re allowed that over the course of 19 games and the crap that we’re going through. We’re allowed to have a bad night. We had a bad night. So end it.“Tonight the guys worked their asses off. They fought, they competed, they battled. It wasn’t perfect. It was never going to be perfect, OK? We had chances, we didn’t finish the chances. Our chances tonight, most of them went to our left back [Justin Morrow playing in a more advanced midfield role] … That’s where we are right now.”"
You can tell that Vanney is feeling the pressure of keeping his team from falling down the standings considering the blowup about the Supporters Shield situation which has been resolved. You can’t blame the manager considering how tough this season has been with COVID-19 forcing the team to be on the road.
This is a team capable of making noise in the playoffs if they can get healthy and anyone who doubts that should see how this team was playing before the injuries starting to pile up.
On top of that Alejandro Pozuelo has been playing at an MVP level and was nominated for the Landon Donovan MLS MVP award along with Chris Mavinga. If there is someone capable of helping this team get back on track, it’s the Spaniard striker.
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What do you think about TFCs recent tough stretch? Can they overcome it? Let us know in the comments below.