You can’t win if you don’t score.
That was the story of Toronto FC’s scoreless draw in Montreal on Thursday, where the Reds didn’t even manage a single shot on target. As attention turns to a midweek clash with the New England Revolution — who sit near the top of the Eastern Conference — TFC are looking to be more synchronized, and get the ball more to their star striker Josh Sargent, whose excellent defending was the biggest positive of a dull night at Stade Saputo.
“I felt like in Montreal we just didn’t play particularly well,” Fraser told reporters including Waking The Red on Sunday. “We didn’t construct a lot of really meaningful attacks. We had some transition moments, which are great, you’re always going to have transition moments, but if we play better and more cohesively and more constructively, I think we will put together attacks that will put Josh in good positions and get him service in good places.
“There’s not a magic bullet to say, ‘How are we just going to get a better service?’ I really think it’s about us playing better as a group, moving as a group, and as we get up the field, we will we will see more opportunities created for him.”
Courtesy: Sean Pollock/Waking The Red
One of the players tasked with getting him better service is Djordje Mihailovic, who returned to the pitch against Montreal after sitting out since April with a pelvic stress fracture.
Toronto FC fans saw what Djordje Mihailovic can do when he hit the ground running after signing last summer, and at the start of this season, but TFC were always missing having that elite striker for him to serve the ball to. Now they’ve got one, which Fraser believes can bring the best out of both of them.
“Djordje is such a good passer, and he sees windows so quickly and is quick to execute, get them in there,” Fraser said. “I think he’s going to benefit from Josh, and I think Josh will benefit from him. I think he will also benefit from Josh because spaces will open up, and Djordje is known so much as a very good passer, he’s also an excellent shooter, and I think opportunities will present themselves.
“Again, it just comes down to us moving as a team well, and I think we’ll have more bodies in the attack, and I think we can make better decisions, better execution in the attack when everyone’s in sync.”
With Daniel Salloi, Emilio Aristizábal and Theo Corbeanu among the other major pieces in the attacking mix, Toronto FC clearly have the talent to be a good attacking team, but getting everyone firing together on all cylinders is the next step.
It needs to happen sooner rather than later as well.
Courtesy: Sean Pollock/Waking The Red