TORONTO – Toronto FC head coach Greg Vanney isn’t feeling blue over his side’s 3-0 loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy; not that he’s chipper about the result, per se. But, for Vanney, this particular loss – one he conceded was no fun for his side – is just a minor speed bump in the final chapter of the season.
“I do think with the results we picked up in the last couple few games that we were able to turn this game into something that wasn’t a must-win,” Vanney told MLSsoccer.com over the phone after the match. “We had the game in hand and we looked at this game as that game in hand where we had to come out and play a Western Conference team that was clearly in form.”
“So there was a lot of things to build on,” Vanney added.
Part of that building process was the reintroduction of Jermain Defoe into the line up after a groin injury saw the English forward miss the club’s last nine matches. Defoe came on for the last half-hour of the match and Vanney says he showed just what they were looking for from him.
“It was exactly what he needed and what we needed,” Vanney said, of Defoe’s 30-minute showing. “Ultimately he needed to get back on the field, catch the speed of the game and get some touches with pressure in a match situation. There was really no expectation that he was going to come into the match and save the day or anything like that. I think he was able to do that.”
“He looked to hit some shots, which means he’s not timid at all to unleash shots with the groin injury that he had,” Vanney explained.
Toronto FC will certainly need Defoe in those final four games left in the season.
The Reds find themselves in a decent position in the Eastern standings, albeit one from outside the red playoff line looking in. The team is three points out of the fifth playoff spot with a game in hand on all five teams above them. Furthermore, Toronto holds the tiebreaker ahead of the Columbus Crew.
Vanney has a point target in mind to pip the Crew - and possible New York - from their perch above the red line.
“We’ve set a target for nine,” Vanney said. “I don’t know if we’ll need nine, that’s going to depend on what the other results look like but for us, we’re going to set a target, win our home games and go on the road and pick up a win. We’re a solid road team and everybody’s getting healthy so we think at nine, we assure ourselves in.”
“Our primary focus needs to be on getting our Eastern Conference victories,” Vanney concluded.
