Columbus 2, Toronto 1
BOB BRADLEY: Yeah, there's two parts that hurt us, a couple careless moments, and the other part is just when it came down to the final moments in and around the box.
Obviously they play a lot of the game in a low block and then our ability to right pass, right kind of finish, those kind of things. So create a lot of moments where we have opportunity to do better and I thought we could get -- even when we go down, I think there's chances to go to 2-1 in the first half and we get to 2-1, and obviously there's chances after that.
Yeah, quality in and around the box was not what we need in a game like that, especially when you're behind.
Q. The substitution took a little bit of a turn, bringing out Osorio and Deandre Kerr, were those tactical substitutions?
BOB BRADLEY: We're playing a lot of games in a short amount of time, so you just have to do everything you can to size up where guys are physically. Ralph is working his way back to being fit. Ralph as a young player, especially being out, that is still an area where we're trying to help him improve and I think we've seen progress.
And Ayo out as well, so when you think about coming back from an ACL, coming back from the surgery that Ralph had, even when they have been back for a while, at times when the games come fast, those are factors.
Q. Do you think Bono's mistake cost us the first goal?
BOB BRADLEY: I think we were too deep defensively. I think we dropped into the box and when we had a chance to move our line out and get to the 18 and be a little bit higher, I think we were too slow. So now a ball comes loose. I haven't seen a good replay. It's a good shot, whether Alex sees it, but the main thing for me was, you know, they had just a little bit of possession that led up to the goal and defensively, we had an opportunity to move up three, four yards and at least get up to the 18 and I thought we were too deep.
Q. Any updates on Quentin? What was the reason you made some changes in the defense?
BOB BRADLEY: Carlos has a personal situation that he's taking care of, a family situation, and he has our full support. Q took a bad knock on the leg the other day, leg was swollen and wasn't ready to play today.
Q. After a fourth game in 12 days, what can you say about the team's strength of character with the focus on Saturday?
BOB BRADLEY: The reminder is that, look, we are improving. Are we all the way there? No. So we can't let -- like we have got to be strong, because we are not yet at a point that we improve a little bit, it takes off. It's got to be that we continue to take -- to improve in all categories.
You know, here I am tonight talking about just our sharpness in and around the box, not what it needs to be in a game like that. A couple of plays, you know, it's I think they had three shots on goal, two goals. You know, the way they chose to play tactically, they defended deeper, and of course, when they had the lead, that plays into what they were thinking, and then we needed to be better when we got in and around the final third and in the box. So those are things that just have to be developed and worked on.
Q. Earlier today, the team traded away Jacen Russell-Rowe, and he goes on to make a start today against TFC and gets two assists within the first 30 minutes of that. Can you explain what went on there? Because he was a former TFC home grown player. How does he end up playing for Columbus?
BOB BRADLEY: Yeah, when you have a bunch of guys, Ayo, Deandre, people that assessed all these guys -- you don't have them for everybody and Columbus took them for their second team with the idea that if he did well, they could move him up. It wasn't like we agreed on the deal today. You know, give it time, and if he turns out to be better than Deandre, better than Ayo, better than other players, even in training every day, if you try to develop guys as No. 9s, you can't have five No. 9s in training.
You know, we made the decision to sign Deandre to a home grown. I think the feeling was that Jacen would be perhaps offered a second contract but didn't want to do it here. So led a discussion, and if a player has gone out, you want to make sure that if things work out for him, you get something in return.
Q. After you signed Mimmo, any getting updates him on the field?
BOB BRADLEY: Yeah, the first game that these guys can play is July 9. So the window doesn't open until the 7th, and we need to see them in training and see where they are physically. So we're hopeful that we can get them up and running. They both have good mentalities about getting on field as quickly as possible.
Q. I guess on that same note, how excited are you to have a player of his status, quality, experience, join such a young group here in Toronto?
BOB BRADLEY: Yeah, I think that Mimmo can be another guy that helps push the level every day. You know, in his career, his experience, he's a very good professional. He's a smart player. And so when you have some experienced guys like that, we have some already, and I think he'll add to that and hopefully help raise the bar for all the rest of the players.
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