TFC coach John Carver is urging his side to keep building the momentum when they face KC Wizards at BMO Field on Saturday (kick off 3:30 p.m. live on CBC). After beating LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake, TFC could record three wins in a row for the first time in the club's short history.
"There's certainly an air of confidence," said Carver. "I'm a big fan of keeping people's feet on the ground, but our preparation has been very good again. If you get on a run it's very difficult to stop you. When you start gathering momentum it's the best feeling ever. I've been in positions before where the team has had momentum and even when you're playing poorly, you still pick up results."
But Carver knows his side faces a stiff test against the Wizards who have taken 10 points from their first five games. "They've got a good record, they're a good side. They've had 4 home games which does help. We played them in preseason but they're a different side to that now. We know the problems they are going to cause us. They play quite narrow and are difficult to break down but I can see little gaps there that we might be able to exploit."
Claudio Lopez has a goal and an assist from the first five games after signing as the Wizards designated player last month. The striker brings a wealth of experience to the Wizards team having represented Argentina twice at the World Cup and played for some of the world's leading club's Valencia (Spain), Lazio (Italy) and Club America (Mexico).
"Lopez has come in and he's a great player who will give us problems," warned Carver. "We have to be aware of him. He's got a great left foot, good awareness, he comes deep and looks to get the ball and play. He gets quickly into the box and will be a danger at set plays. He's similar to Gallardo in DC and we had a special plan for that and it didn't work, so I'm going to concentrate on my own team and what we do."
Carver has been pleased with the standard in training this week. "We have to be focused. We have prepared well and the attitudes of the players have been good in training. I think we realize now that we can do something and when you start believing, it starts happening, It's another opportunity, another home game and hopefully we can come away with a similar result."
When asked if there was any reason to change a winning side, Carver responded: "I wouldn't have thought so. The fans will have to be patient because Kansas are going to be difficult to break down. We have to be able to deal with it and cope with it. They virtually drop Lopez back into midfield and it's almost a 4-5-1 formation. I can imagine us having plenty of the ball, so my message to the fans is, keep supporting us, don't get on our backs and be patient because the game is about 90 minutes."
Carver is looking for another strong defensive performance from his side after recording the first clean sheet of the season in last week's win over Real Salt Lake. "It's not just about the back four defending, it's the whole team. I thought from Danny Dichio all the way through the side we got together, we were well organized and difficult to break down. It was nice for Greg Sutton to have a quieter game and it was so pleasing that we improved because we spent a lot of time working on it. I need that to continue."
Laurent Robert and Amado Guevara have been getting most of the attention in recent weeks for the way they have transformed the team offensively, but Carver says there have been key contributions from the two central defenders Maurice Edu and Carl Robinson. "Mo Edu and Carl Robinson have been unsung heroes. They're crucial to what we've done. They have to work and protect the defenders but they also have to join in and supply the boys out wide with the ball. I think they've don't that ever so well. Robbo is very good at switching the play. Mo's got a good engine to get in the box, and I'd like to see him get on the end of something."
TFC against KC Wizards kicks off at 3:30 p.m. at BMO Field on Saturday. Watch the game live on CBC.
