Montreal 2, Toronto FC 0
Q. We'll just start out with your thoughts on that match tonight.
BOB BRADLEY: Tight first half. I thought we were very solid in a lot of ways, and felt that we could build on that in the second half. Didn't start the second half very well. Let Campbell get by a bunch of guys, and then that led to the first goal. And then obviously going down a man, now you've got to try to push in different ways. I thought the effort for the group to stick together was strong. But it's a tough loss in a derby.
Q. You mentioned the difference between the two halves. Obviously as you mentioned, it was a slow start to the second half. Was there something else that Montréal did that allowed them to get such a foothold on the game?
BOB BRADLEY: Tactically, they changed a little bit when Yano was now playing deeper just by himself. They were having some more numbers centrally. I thought that we still had a way that we could deal with it but that pushed us a little bit deeper for the first seven or eight minutes of the second half.
Q. Just wondering if you could take us to the end of the game and just what you saw and how all that have just transpired, like what actually happened?
BOB BRADLEY: I just think there was frustration at the way the second yellow for Jahkeele came about. He was trying to avoid the coach, he was trying to keep the game moving. But I don't think that's the correct move by the coach, and I thought the referre could have come over and just sort of dissolved the situation without giving Jahk a second yellow.
So there was just a feel feeling then in that kind of match that that situation could have been handled better, and that the coach's way of reacting towards Jahk was wrong.
Q. The first half, give ten was a makeshift 11, I thought the speed of play, something we talked about was a lot better. What did you see from the guys and what was working in that first half for you?
BOB BRADLEY: Yeah, obviously tonight we played different tactically, in large part because it also, I think, gave us a better chance to engage the way they play and get tighter to their wingbacks faster. Create some different ways that we can find passes inside, and I thought that went well. I thought the way we played from the back with Themi and Mark and Richie, some of the ways that Richie can from the right side either still move forward outside or slip inside. He had a good understanding in the first half what Kobe saw, and I thought we did a lot of good things. As we've said at different times during the year, the only thing that was missing was still some final moment -- some play in the final third. But I liked the way we went about the first half, and as I said earlier, we were trying to build that at halftime when we talked about a few things.
Q. How did you settle on selecting Mark to drop into the back line, as opposed to someone else, and how do you think he did in that role?
BOB BRADLEY: Yeah, I thought Mark played really well.
Yeah, that's a role that Mark can handle. He showed in a few minutes the other night that he can play as a center back when things are in front of him. He read plays very well. In those situations, his ability to pass from the back was also good. That, and the fact that his mentality, Richie's mentality, they felt that that could be a way that we could play and that they could handle those responsibilities. Both of them stepped up in a big way for the team in those ways.
Q. We obviously have talked extensively about this team's injuries, and tonight, maybe a couple key calls have not gone your way. Does it feel like the team can't catch a break right now?
BOB BRADLEY: We are going through a tough stretch, and the work every day is to keep everybody going and with a belief that there are things that we're doing that are still positive, we haven't had much to show for it.
But the important thing is that if we can fight through this stretch, get some more guys healthy, keep improving, there's a positive light at the end of all this.
Q. Did you get an explanation for whether that early yellow card from Campbell, whether it should have been a red, and what did you say to Jahkeele after getting sent off tonight?
BOB BRADLEY: The fourth official said that when they looked at it, he was too far away from goal. So I'm not sure I understand that answer, but that was what I was told at that moment.
All of the players afterwards were -- Jahkeele was obviously upset, emotional. All the players were showing really good support, and as a coach, we just said, look, Jahkeele, you're going in the right direction. Playing in big matches, the experience, you learn, and everybody believes in you as a player and as a person.
Q. Just in reverence to Michael's question a couple minutes ago, you referenced the positives that the club is doing well. What are the positives? What do you see that the club is doing well and that you think can help this team during what's a difficult stretch now?
BOB BRADLEY: When I make that comment, I'm still referring to the fact that there are good football moments in every game. We're not yet able to sometimes sustain them, and we're not able in different moments to make them add up to more big chances and more goals at this time.
But I have mentioned on a few different occasions that some of the goals we scored, you know, the goal that we scored the other day to get to 2-1 before halftime, just the way we stepped up; the way when we won the ball, we were able to play from outside in. Fede had a chance to play a threw ball to Lorenzo. They cut it out. We had moved up quickly. Jahk was able to jump on top of a loose ball and slip a little ball to Richie, and that's a good team goal. That's a product of good work that gets put in day-in and day-out.
I want the players to still see that some of the football things, the way we still play from the back, through the midfield to get up front; the way in moments we are able to still control games, yeah, it doesn't -- it doesn't yet feel good because without the results, you know, it's easy to just be looking at the negative side of things but I want them to still see that there's things that they are doing that are positive, and if we can improve in some other ways, get some guys healthy, that's where we can still turn things around and find a good way to finish.
Q. Anthony Curic made his debut tonight. Your thoughts on him? I know he didn't play a lot tonight but seeing him up close.
BOB BRADLEY: Yeah, he's been an important guy with the second team. A guy that in that group is a leader, and when we were shorthanded -- he's been playing a lot in the midfield for TII this year and we were shorthanded in the midfield and we felt that he was a good choice to bring with us in case we needed another option. So he's earned it, and like I said, he's been an important part of the work that goes on with TII.
Q. If you can take us a little bit behind the scenes, especially with good moments but of course the results not being there, who are the leaders in the room? Who are the voices that are stepping up and rallying the troops right now?
BOB BRADLEY: I mentioned the way Richie Laryea and Mark-Anthony Kaye stepped up going into this game. Always important. Obviously the experience of Lorenzo and Fede, always important. With the injury -- again, with injuries, you need different guys to step up. Sean, always a strong voice and always a solid presence in the way things get done.
I think that with the guys that have been out, I would quickly mention Sean and Mark and Richie and Fede and Lorenzo.
DraftScripts by ASAP Sports
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports