Signings, rumours, cross-country trips, wins and losses have come in a flurry since Toronto FC kicked off its pre-season training not three weeks ago.
But despite all the excitement, it still felt as though something was missing in the Reds camp.
The final piece to the puzzle arrived late last week, when captain Michael Bradley and striker Jozy Altidore, returned to TFC from international duty.
While neither is back in full training — Bradley’s trying to shake an illness and Altidore an inflamed fat pad in his knee — with their re-emergence comes a new feeling around the training ground, as if preparations are now in earnest.
The team is ready to move forward, coach Greg Vanney said.
“For me as a coach, I can start really emphasizing and focusing on things like the culture that we’re establishing, what does that look like and what is everybody’s role and responsibility as we move forward.”
The core group of veterans Toronto has maintained through this off-season will have a big role to play in that, and the most important preparations are still to come, Bradley said.
“We can start to really focus on how we want to play, what we want to be about, sharpening up certain things, tactically making sure we’re very clear with how we want to go about every little thing.”
TFC’s time in Orlando will also including bonding as a team off the field; the group’s tight-knit nature is something staff and players alike pointed to as a factor in last season’s success.
Much of the groundwork is already there, Bradley said, thanks to little turnover in the squad since December.
And while it’s not like he’s going to schedule 30-minute windows each day to bond with his teammates, the captain is confident that closeness will once again develop between Reds players, both old and new.
“Obviously with some new faces you try to make them feel a part of things right away, you try to get them to understand right from the beginning how we do things, how we train, the type of group that we have,” he said.
The type of group Bradley believes Toronto has cultivated is one where players are encouraged to speak, to have opinions and to let everybody see who they are.
That’s just what Bradley drew headlines for over the break, when he spoke out against President Donald Trump’s executive order banning people from some Muslim nations from entering the United States.
Bradley, who called the order “sad and embarrassing” on social media, initially made the comments to Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl and then, after feeling his initial answer was too soft, clarified his thoughts in an Instagram post.
“If people are going to ask my thoughts on things then I’m not afraid to give them but I wanted them to be my real thoughts and not anything less,” he said.
Coach Vanney was not surprised by Bradley’s forthcomingness; his captain will do the same in the dressing room this season as he did in the political realm in the off-season.
“When he comes here and he’s expected to lead this group it’ll be the same. He should be able to speak his mind and we work closely together in terms of leadership of our group and that goes along with several other guys.”
Vanney already knows he has a very good group of players who will fight for each other, compete for each other and enjoy each other. He believes it gives TFC an edge.
“I think that’s one of those things, in the league where you don’t have many factors to give you a boost, that’s one of them that’s important for our team.”
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