Toronto FC head coach Greg Vanney got all that he wanted out of Wednesday night's 2-1 loss against visiting English Premier League opponents Sunderland AFC, despite the defeat.
“It was a good day, we got a lot of guys time,” Vanney said, referring to valuable minutes he was able to give reserves like Bright Dike, Chris Mannella, and Alex Bono, as well as TFC II prospects Skylar Thomas and Mo Babouli, amongst others.
“We were able to, for the first time, get some of our young players into a match like this, against a high-level opponent. Some of the USL guys, some of the young players who quite aren't on MLS contracts yet, [you] can put them into a game like this and see how they do against an opponent.”
Still, he would have preferred a win: “I thought we did enough to win the game, but we didn't take our chances.”
Jermain Defoe, making his return to the club he departed last January after one season in MLS and scoring both goals for the visitors in the game, commented on the development of some of the faces he recalled from his time here.
“It was nice to see some of the younger players, who I saw a little bit of; to see them come on and play in front of the crowd, and to see them progressing and look good.”
Defoe added, “That'd be nice, to see some young players coming through, Homegrown players, which is always important at any football club.”
For Vanney, the night was not only about minutes, but also a chance to try some new things, including a 3-5-2 formation. “I thought it was fine,” said Vanney. “We were looking to keep ourselves in a little bit of a different shape.
“Is it something we use? Usually it's something that we've used to win games at the end, to lock down games, where we might be up 1-0 or 2-1, and we want to protect the lead and we go to something that looks like a 3-5-2, a 5-3-2.
“But in the grand scheme of things, this is a game where you try things, you practice some things, you take different looks, and you try to allow your team an ability to adapt to something we may need to use in the future."
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Will Toronto plan to roll out the formation in MLS play on a regular basis?
“It's not something we plan to use [as a starting formation] for the future,“ Vanney said.
Designated Player Jozy Altidore, who spent 18 months with Sunderland before joining TFC, was not included in the gameday roster for Wednesday's friendly, but Vanney said the US international will be available for the club's league match on Saturday against Columbus Crew SC (7:30 pm ET, Sportsnet 360 in Canada, MLS LIVE in US).
