TORONTO – While Toronto FC interim coach Nick Dasovic on Thursday reiterated the idea that some players may have quit on the team down the stretch, he also said that management is already working to address those issues and Toronto FC’s other on-field needs.
In a wide-ranging in-studio interview on The Fan 590’s radio show The Soccer Show, the Reds' interim coach discussed the team’s performance over the final third of the season and the work underway to improve the club for next season.
“For me, the first characteristic would be character, do you have character and whether you know it or not,” Dasovic told the Toronto station. "The last 10 games or so, there are lot of players that have showed character deficiencies."
[inlinenode:319257]TFC were eliminated from postseason contention last Saturday after losing 3-0 to Chivas USA at the Home Depot Center, ensuring that the Reds will not be playing in the MLS Cup final at BMO Field next month.
“It’s not a lot of players, but there’s a few in there you think, ‘OK, maybe he’s chucked in the towel,’" Dasovic said. "You don’t know, but you question it, and once you start questioning character, that to me is the biggest thing."
Dasovic was also critical of his team after a 3-2 loss to the Seattle Sounders at Qwest Field on Oct. 2, when he said that he only wants "guys who are going to fight for the football club."
“If you don't want to be here and fight, then you can make your way out,” Dasovic said after the loss. “No problem. We'll let you go and pursue other ventures."
After the Chivas USA loss last Saturday, Dasovic told GOLTV Canada that, "It comes down to individuals, and if they can’t do the task, then someone will be able to do it later on.”
The Reds are still looking for their first-ever postseason berth.
“Our balance is still not great, I mean in terms of the way we want to play with wide men,” Dasovic said during Thursday's radio interview. “We’ve got wide men, but we really don’t have a lot of wide men. We need to do our homework and we already started to do that, to bring some wide men to add some balance.”
“We’ve got a wish list, we’ve got a shopping list.”
Whether they’ll get a chance to follow through, however, is another question.
Toronto FC parent company Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment is in the early stages of its worldwide search for a new director of soccer. MLSE executive vice president and COO Tom Anselmi has said the new director will hire his own coach, putting Dasovic’s future at the club in doubt.
“The biggest thing is, we as a staff are going forward,” Dasovic said. “As we look at it we have a job next year now. If somebody comes in, whether its tomorrow or in two or three months time, and says, ‘You’re relieved of that duty; you’re going to be doing something else,’ then so be it. But up to now we’re going to work and we want to try to get it right.”
[inlinenode:318122]Dasovic also talked about his strategy for Designated Players, of which TFC have two: midfielder Julian De Guzman and striker Mista. Neither player has registered a goal this season in MLS play.
“The way I would do things ... I would get DPs down my backbone, my spine of my team, and build around it, not so much you’d have to get two or three strikers, but one solid striker," Dasovic said.
For now, Dasovic is trying to rally his players to finish the season on a strong note. TFC have three games left, starting with a regular-season fixture against the Columbus Crew at BMO Field on Saturday.
“You try to tell them it’s about playing for contracts and you got all the different sort of things, but what it just comes down to right now is make them enjoy it, make them happy to be here,” said Dasovic.
“We want to win every game, that’s the bottom line. You want to win, and not just win, but win with a little bit of style and show that we’re playing try to play the proper type of football we want to play.”
