Toronto FC 3, Portland 1
Q. Your thoughts on the win tonight?
BOB BRADLEY: I thought after 15 minutes we picked the tempo up and started to move the ball quickly. We were able to move up the field as a team. So I really like that part. Good first goal.
Halftime, the talk is how to make sure that we don't drop back. Had to get the second goal. We do have two lapses in the second half but before it goes to 1-1 we have a number of really good chances to get to 2-0 and then the response is good and finish the game and the concentration take was quite good?
Q. Are the skills of the Italians coming through?
BOB BRADLEY: Yeah, look, these guys bring some special qualities and then you put that into the middle of some of the other things that we try to do as a team but I thought both Lorenzo, his goal was a special goal and then he finishes the game.
Q. Not a bad setup either.
BOB BRADLEY: Yeah, good.
Q. Are surprised how quickly Richie has adapted?
BOB BRADLEY: Who? No, I'm not surprised. Richie knows players here. Richie has the quality so that as soon as he gets here, guys like Lorenzo and Fede and others can see what he's all about right away. Easy to play with Richie. Gives the ball at the right time and knows what he wants to do. When you have good players it doesn't take long for other good players to size them up. They are good at that.
Look, Richie is comfortable here. He's saying to me inside that he's still getting to preseason, so there's a little bit there physically where we all know there's a higher level but the football part of what he brings makes a big difference on our team.
Q. Jonathan -- inaudible.
BOB BRADLEY: No, the only that we have been able to do, we started the season hoping that we could really get an infield three coordinated in a good way and didn't have to tweak that early.
So Oso in different games has slightly different roles in the midfield, sometimes a little bit deeper with Michael. Sometimes pushed up a little bit more. But I think when the midfield has an understanding, and look, I think Jayden is in that role, improving every game, then Oso's football qualities, once again, fit in when the team's football is better.
You know, he's a player that when the game makes sense, when the ball is moving faster, then his ability to think about being in the right place and trusting the fact that it will come to him and that he doesn't have to run around to look for the ball and those kind of things. So the role has not changed. It's just that the more the team can play good football, the more you see how smart he is and what a good player he is.
Q. What's been your impression of Jesus (ph) the last couple games?
BOB BRADLEY: Yeah, he's getting better every game. Tonight was good. More confident. I think adjustment to what these games are like, a little more comfortable just with the speed of things. Some of the things that we try to speak about all year where he has got the ability to size up more than one situation so he doesn't just lock into one thing and he can see more than one thing and be able to deal with different things; his confidence with the ball.
And look, I think the understanding with Chris has been good, and I think that in training Shane and Jahkeele (ph) have played well lately on that end, it's nice to see all those guys going in a good direction.
Q. When you see great combinations -- now you have Federico and now you have Magnifico, is that --
BOB BRADLEY: It's been the same all year --
Q. Now you have the luxury of changing Jimenez in the second half, how does it feel to have even better play?
BOB BRADLEY: Look, with the addition of the players in the summer, and look, obviously Marc Anthony is still not ready to be back on the field but it gives us more depth. Some of the young guys that got experience in the first half of the year don't play as much right now but you see in training those guys pushing very hard and the level of training has been higher lately, so those are all good things.
Q. Hearing the locker room celebration before you came in, how important is that boost in morale heading into the end of the season?
BOB BRADLEY: Sure, end of the year, you want to be at your best. Held it together all year, you get a sense that guys feel good about what's gone on. They feel like the football is getting better. It's a good feeling when you come in and win and not only feel like things are improving and feel like the ball moves faster, and feel like we are defending as a unit better.
So they can see some of those things, and that makes a big difference.
Q. We saw Marc Anthony having a fitness test before the game.
BOB BRADLEY: Yeah, it wasn't a fitness test, per se. Based on where things stood yesterday, he was not going to play today. So would he didn't test him to see if we could still get him on the field. We are still trying to move him along. It's been a little bit, one day he feels better and the next day down a little bit, so we have to get through that part. So if you asked me when, I don't know yet but fingers crossed.
Q. Perhaps overshadowed -- how important has he been?
BOB BRADLEY: Yeah, look, Mimmo is very good on the ball, everyone trusts him on the ball. He can get out to that side and his ability and decisions to play with Lorenzo and ability to pass to the side, all those things add a lot and then if you combine that obviously with what Richie brings on the right side, it gives our team that extra little bit of balance in moments when we are playing in the back, we have solutions and ability to play inside, ability to find guys in some of the spaces forward so that we can go and we can be -- quicker to play the ball forward, so those guys help us with all of those.
Q. What happened on the --
BOB BRADLEY: Yeah, I think that Chris got beat and without him in the back line, Mimmo had to full in far maybe with a sprint and then left a little bit of room so that they could just go outside. I think Mimmo had no choice but to tuck in, given that Chris got beat, so that's the way it developed. I've not seen it yet but that's my recollection.
Q. Any comments on the referee tonight?
BOB BRADLEY: No.
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