NY Red Bulls - 4, Toronto - 1
Q. Bob, in the first half to start with, it looked like things are going pretty well on offense. Petrasso was doing some great things down the flank. Was this just a case of the Red Bulls punishing you on mistakes?
BOB BRADLEY: Yeah, there were good things in the first half, but it's impossible to then say we're playing well when we're down 4-1 at half. They punished us twice with just a ball that comes loose on our left side, and then a cut back towards the edge of the box to Morgan. I thought we did well to get back to 2-1.
I still felt like we were finding good spaces in the game, controlling some of the midfield. The third goal off of our attacking corner is a real killer, and then we top it off with the goal on the lateral free kick.
So a really tough day. We can't speak about positives because, at the end of it all, it's just not good enough in the balance. You look hard at it and you work through it and be ready for next week.
Q. Just wanted to get your evaluation of Luca Petrasso on the day. Especially he started up front in the first half, and then you moved him back in the fullback position. What did you see from him today?
BOB BRADLEY: In the first half, he was really bright. That's what we've seen of him lately. I think he took the opportunity to start. A lot of our attack in the first half came down our left side through him. So a really positive day.
When he went to left back, yeah, there's a few moments now defensively where in certain moments he got caught on the wrong side of a guy, and we got to work through some details, but happy for him. I thought especially the first half was very good.
Q. When you have two young players like Jacob and Jahkeele learning a new position, what kind of lessons do you hope they take out of a difficult day like today?
BOB BRADLEY: Specific details, I need to go back through. But certainly it's -- games against Red Bull are different because you feel like you've got, in some moments, control of the game. But then the ball gets knocked forward, and then very quickly off of a second ball they've got guys running. And there's also moments where the game becomes pretty physical.
So I think that in both situations, just the ability to deal with plays quickly, make good decisions, physically be ready to -- do you go in to win the ball? Do you go in to control the man? So those are the kinds of things I'm thinking about right now.
Q. Bob, I just wanted to sort of get your view on Jayden and Jahkeele, who obviously started in Dallas. This was only their second start of the season. What did you see from them?
BOB BRADLEY: In both games, I think Jayden has shown energy, has had an ability in some moments to get away from people. Haven't yet gotten the final moments right in terms of whether he can shift down, make the right pass, whether he's going to be able to create a chance for himself. So some of those little things -- well, they're not little. The end of the plays, I think, are still where we've got to continue to push Jayden.
Jahkeele, has done really well as a young player on the right side. He finds good ways to join in the attack. If he gets pressed, he can dribble by the man. He can dribble inside. He can make passes.
There's some moments defensively in this game in terms of positioning, and I mention again the physical part. Is it a ball that you can win? Can you see it a little faster? Or is it a moment where you're not going to get there and you've got to have a better way to control the man?
Q. What's your message to the guys after a day like this? We saw you having a little bit of a chat with Jahkeele as he came off.
BOB BRADLEY: My message to Jahkeele is that I think he's going to be a really good player. I have complete confidence in him and that we're going to learn from little things that happen on days like today and we're going to keep pushing him forward. But he's doing a lot of great things, and I want him to stay strong. Together we can keep pushing him.
For the group, I said, look, we'll come in on Monday. We'll have a better idea of certain things that we want to talk about. But I have confidence that we're going to become a really good team. But a good team still on certain days where maybe something goes against you, your response. We really hurt ourselves by the two -- the third and the fourth goals. That's where we really killed ourselves.
If we go in 2-1 is at halftime having responded well with a real chance to look at a few things, I think the second half gives us a real opportunity. But to give up the three and four before half and put ourselves down 4-1, that is the biggest thing that happens today, that we completely let ourselves down and let the game get away from us.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports