Orlando City 1, Toronto 0
BOB BRADLEY: You know, his job is still to be the first guy there. That call he's got to attack the header and Smith came through the box and you know, I think -- so I haven't spoken to Paul, understand maybe why he let him go.
But you know, one of our big priorities is to not let balls come through that front like that, so we paid the price.
Q. What did you make of your team's overall performance?
BOB BRADLEY: It's a big effort. It's guys giving everything they have. Helping each other on the field. Things that hopefully will help us down the road in the moment. As we grow and lately, can't really find a way to get ourselves a break, and man, right now, the feeling is everybody -- everybody feels is, every one of us -- just an effort on the day where you know by the guys that are on the field and the guys that come on as subs that we're in the moment with the number of different -- well, with the number of guys out and with the different factors, then just call and everybody be ready and give what they have.
Q. A second loss like this, how worried are you about how this might affect the young players psyche, or you?
BOB BRADLEY: This is part of the deal. Anybody that becomes a really good pro knows that in certain moments, man, you get kicked around and you get up and you're stronger and you learn. The job as coaches is to continue to find the right ways to keep them going, keep them alive, keep them engaged.
This is what it's like if you really want to move yourself forward as a player, as a pro.
Q. Any update on Pozuelo?
BOB BRADLEY: Just at the end of training felt a little something. Didn't seem to be very bad but it was enough to keep him out today.
Q. You know the statistics better than us but it seems at times defending set pieces have been a problem this year. Have you seen that?
BOB BRADLEY: I could take you through all of the moments. I believe, you know, that we've given up some second-phase stuff. We gave up the lateral free kick to Aaron Long.
I think, you know, that we've -- between the goals we've scored and the goals we've been up, we are somewhere in balance. I don't think it's out of whack. So you know, when I look at things, we know that the one against the Red Bull, and then we gave up the second phase one on the lateral free kick against Columbus. You know, I'd have to go -- if you -- if you listed the games, I could tell you. But you know, for the most part, I think we've competed on the first ball fine. We've had some moments on the second ball. That's the first one I think that was like that today.
Q. Two chances in the second half when he came on, is his timing still just a little bit off?
BOB BRADLEY: He needs games. You know, 45 minutes pushes him today. That's good to see him get to that number of minutes and then if we can keep repeating and repeating and adding some minutes, yes, he needs more game time. He needs to get back in the swing of things where, you know, your fitness, your sharpness in certain situations keep getting better.
Q. That change -- was it tactical?
BOB BRADLEY: Physically right now, Ralph, part way through the first half, had Ralph stay closer to Michael. Look, building him up again is part of how we need to help Ralph grow as a player. He does some good things, but the physical part of staying in the game both directions over and over, this is something we have to keep working on. Then when you consider the injury and time off and whatnot, yeah, right now we hoped to get to 45, and like I said we tweaked a few things somewhere around 30, maybe a little more, just to see if we could keep him going till halftime.
Q. First MLS -- how would you evaluate that?
BOB BRADLEY: Worked hard. He had some moments. Again, in a front three, tilted to the right might not be his No. 1 shot but he still has shown when he was in there in training he can come inside on his left foot.
He had some moments in the first half, the moments of when the dribble went to release the ball, that part of it. That's still, you know, the ability for some of our younger players to still get a balance of when is the time to try something, when do you dribble, when do you take risks. When do you realize, now is the time to get the ball off my feet. This is still something that, yeah, it get worked on every day in training, but this is till an important area, decision-making. Again, Deandre puts a big effort on the throw, and that lead to the corner at the end of the game when we throw it into him. That's not a good time for him to try to flick it by a defender, right. And then have the ball turnover and we have to run a long way at that point in the game to put out a fire and then it turns a corner and then ultimately, yeah, that's how they score. So look it doesn't take away from Deandre, what he's given us, how he's growing. It's a moment in the game, a decision, where that part of the field -- just through it to him quickly, and if he puts his body in in a strong way, turns ensued, maybe gets a foul, maybe it goes off of him but it's not going to turn over and result in a 9-1-1 going the other way.
So look, these are moments in the game that we're trying to continue to help young guys see and help them get better.
Q. That corner kick at the end, not to break it down too fine, is that sort of unnecessary corner that you guys conceded?
BOB BRADLEY: Yeah, so again, I just gave you the lead-up to that play, right. So yes, it was unnecessary. The final part of it is just, guys run and try to put out a fire, okay. But the decision up the field when we have the throw in and we throw it quickly and again, please, the last thing I do after games is I'm not pinning this on a player. These are moments in a game. But in that situation, we will try to help Deandre know that, look, that decision there to try to with your back to the defender, flick it, turn around and run it by him, that's what I mean.
That's the kind of play you might try in the box, where if it works, now you get a chance. But if you try it on the sideline in the 90th minute and now it turns into a ball down the line and our team having to run back to cover that, then yes, that makes it unnecessary.
Q. Decent atmosphere out there today and now five straight losses for the team. What's your message to the fan base?
BOB BRADLEY: Stick with us. You see young guys, players that have come through starting to get opportunities. We said at the beginning, the early part of the season that these guys were going to be on the field and look, I think we know the results. We are honest, but I also think people can see things there that are positive going forward, and we believe that now we just have to take the little pluses, keep working to improve areas that are not as good as they need to be and keep fighting for each point and hopefully our fans can see that and appreciate that and as we grow, they will be right there with us.
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