Toronto FC Media Conference

Saturday, July 16, 2022

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Alex Bono

Media Conference


Montréal 1, Toronto FC 0

Q. Tough result tonight in a tough place against your bitter rivals, a game that I know you guys really needed to win. What's the mood like amongst the boys after that performance?

ALEX BONO: Yeah, it's quiet. We're disappointed. You know, whenever you have a match against your rival, you always want to show up and make a statement and let them know that you've still got one up on them.

Tonight it just didn't quite happen for us. Yeah, everyone's extremely disappointed and it's back to the drawing board for us.

Q. How important was it given some of the soft goals that the team has given up in recent weeks to navigate that first half and stay in this one as long as you guys did?

ALEX BONO: Yeah, it was huge. You know, it's something that is said in every locker room and every game; that the start is so important in these games. Obviously as of late for us, we've struggled at times.

So it was really important for us to get through the first five, ten minutes. Be smart, not shoot ourselves in the foot like we've done in the past, and you know, we're defending for a lot of the first half. It was tough to get the ball. But credit to the guys, I thought everyone kind of dug in and when we were up against it for a long stretch of that first half, we defended pretty well.

Q. You made those two great saves, especially that first one on Kamara inside the first five minutes. I don't think it's a stretch to say that the damage could have been worse had it not been for those timely saves. Do you take any solace from your performance, or is it just the result at the end of the day that matters?

ALEX BONO: I would have rather had the other guy's night and come out with a 1-0 win to be honest with you. I told you before, personal performances mean next to nothing to me if we don't get it done as a group. Like I said back to the drawing board for all of us.

Q. How much do you hate hearing that bell ring on the other side, and how much was fun was it to support -- we saw images of them giving you applause after the game?

ALEX BONO: I saw a lot of red all around the stadium. Obviously the support here is always rocking and we can always hear them. We appreciate the unwavering support especially as we are going through a tough time as a group trying to get ourselves out of it. It's most important for all of us to stay together as a group right now, players, locker room, fans. We can't lose belief. It's like if we start to lose belief, we're doing everyone a disservice. Obviously.

The unwavering support, it does not go unnoticed for sure and I speak for everyone when I say we appreciate the traveling support. Red was all over the stadium and to see that was a nice lift for us that people still came to support us today.

Q. I appreciate what you said about not giving up belief. But there's only 13 games left in the season. You would concede that the team is in a pretty tight spot now, or no?

ALEX BONO: I mean, yeah, obviously. We know it's not some big secret. Just seems like one game after another, we are getting closer and closer to the end of the season and we talk about how we take a positive and we turn it around and we can keep going, and again, we still have to belief that.

Even on a tough night like this, it's important for us to learn from what didn't happen for us, and to take a few of the positives and try and keep it going. You know, we have to take it one game at a time right now. That's the most important thing. So we have to take this one, put back the video, take our lessons and move on to the next one.

Q. It's been over a year since your guys last away win.

ALEX BONO: We're battling as a group. I don't think anyone in there is aware of those stats. We don't focus on that. No one really cares about those stats. For us, it has to be a next game mentality and move on to the next one.

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