By Canadian Press

Toronto FC coach says every remaining game critical for MLS champions

Jul 27, 2018 | 12:45 PM

TORONTO — Feeling the effects of a flu-like bug, Toronto FC coach Greg Vanney looked somewhat pale Friday.

And while well aware of his club’s poor run of form to date this season, Vanney wasn’t up to number-crunching what 10th-place TFC needs to climb back up the league ladder.

“I haven’t done specific math. I’m not very good at it,” he said with a weak smile when asked about the numbers. “Too many variables.

“For us we’ve got to take care of our business. We have enough games coming up with the teams between us (and the sixth and last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference) … Really I feel it just comes down to us, one game at a time, to accumulate as many points as we can between now and then.”

But with Toronto (5-11-4) nine points out of the playoffs with 14 games remaining, he acknowledged the margin of error for the defending MLS champions is “minimal” with every game critical.

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“I don’t think we want to be in a position where we’re trying to rely too heavily on the result of everyone else. We need to take care of our business and if we do so, then I think we’re OK. I think if we can come up with nine wins out of the 14, we’ll probably be in a pretty good position.”

It starts Saturday against the eighth-place Chicago Fire, whom Toronto beat 2-1 last weekend at Toyota Park. While that victory snapped a six-game league winless streak, TFC has still only collected five of the 21 points available over the last seven matches (1-4-2).

The Fire (6-11-5) aren’t doing much better. They have lost four straight and have won just once in their last eight league games (1-4-3), a stretch that has seen them pick up just six of the 24 points on offer.

Of Toronto’s 14 remaining games, nine are against East opposition. Four of those are against the top three teams in the conference: Atlanta, New York City FC and the New York Red Bulls.

Perhaps buoyed by their midweek Canadian Championship semifinal won over Ottawa Fury FC, TFC players appeared loose at training Friday. Vanney described the mood as “focused but maybe a little bit less stressful” than before.

The TFC coach said there was a “good possibility” that Victor Vazquez could play Saturday. The team has been managing his training time so as not to irritate a knee issue.

Brazil’s Auro was back on the training field, working his way back from a hamstring injury. He could be available next weekend in Atlanta. Veteran defender Drew Moor’s return from a longterm quad issue has been delayed slightly by a minor calf issue. He will not be ready for Atlanta.

———

CHICAGO (6-11-5) AT TORONTO (5-11-4)

Saturday, BMO Field

WELCOME BACK: Former TFC players Raheem Edwards, Nico Hasler, Alan Gordon and Tony Tchani are now wearing Chicago colours.

EVEN-STEVEN: Toronto has a narrow edge (10-9-9) in games against Chicago. But TFC holds the upper hand at BMO Field (7-4-4). Chicago’s last victory over Toronto came in April 2015, a 3-2 win at Toyota Park that capped a 12-game Fire undefeated streak in the series (6-0-6) dating back to 2010.

WHO’S HOT: Chicago’s Nemanja Nikolic has four goals in the last five games while Aleksandar Katai has a goal and/or an assist in 10 of the last 12. Toronto’s Jonathan Osorio has six goals over the last nine games in all competitions while Sebastian Giovinco has had a goal or assist in four straight games.

IN THE STANDS: The ban on supporter group privileges continues for Inebriatti, U-Sector and Original 109. It’s business as usual for the Red Patch Boys, Kings in the North and Tribal Rhythm Nation.

Follow @NeilMDavidson on Twitter

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press