Orlando City 4, Toronto 0
Q. Terry, pretty rough night tonight. I think there's a lot of anger from TFC fans over this. Maybe you could stay something to sort of calm their fears. There seems to be a lot of bad feelings about, this feelings that the club is just completely off the rails. What do you have to say about a performance like that?
TERRY DUNFIELD: Yeah, I think the score line tonight, the late goal we conceded against Salt Lake just opens up some scars. Some scars of just three wins in 20 this season prior to last week, and just simmering under the surface, there's a lot of frustration, and rightly so.
Q. It looked like Orlando was finding joy up the left in the first half. What did you see in the first two goals?
Yeah, look, we know Orlando is a good side. Their back four shifts right. They get into a nice back three structure and Oscar has done a good job with them. As to the goals, if I'm being objective and I haven't had the opportunity to watch them back yet, they are frustrating. I thought for the first 15 minutes, we started well, and especially in possession at times, got into a nice rhythm, created a couple of nice overloads, and there was a nice feeling of confidence starting to grow within the group. One moment that we knew would be key was our structure in our defensive half. We have 11 interceptions in the first half. Previously we were averaging eight, so it was up a little bit, and then we knew that moment of connecting two passes and being a threat in transition or getting into a rhythm was going to be really important. So when we won it, unfortunately we turned it over. They come down the left-hand side and we knew the next one was going to be important, and that was protecting the goal. Some of the detail wasn't quite right and it's in the back of the net, and it was in short, two moments that weren't right, get compounded and you're 1-0 down. Then the second goal I thought we were a little bit unlucky. I think it takes a deflection and it's in the back of the net. You're 2-0 down and at times we continue to play to halftime. I thought we regrouped well at halftime. We are a little bit more on the front foot. Created a couple half-chances, and then it's difficult after the sending off for sure and the third goal is preventible, as well.
Q. Just your thoughts on Federico's sending off, and what was his mentality like afterwards? Did he feel remorseful about it?
I haven't seen it yet. I think a player of his experience on a yellow card should know better. So it's a frustrating one for sure. Afterwards in the changing room, I shared my message with the group and Fede raised his hand and said, "Coach, can I have a moment?" And he owned it, which isn't easy to do. Said that he can do better. So yes, he was remorseful.
Q. You made a few adjustments at halftime, bringing in Antonoglou, Petratta and Stefanovic, what was the reasoning for the changes and how did you see things, turning it around in the second half by bringing them on?
We felt like just flattening out our midfield a little bit would give our fullbacks a little bit of protection in wide areas, and then with a little bit more of an out and out front two, we felt like we would be able to get a little bit more pressure on their back line.
Q. How do you move on from this? 4-0, that's a pretty heavy defeat. It's a performance that was lacking in a lot of ways. Where does the team go from here after, frankly, such an embarrassing outing?
I think it's important to hold ourselves accountable for sure, and there is going to be no pass but also to be objective and to look at the goals and the game got away from us real quickly. First goal, it's two errors that are compounded. The second goal, it's a deflection. I think we are a little bit unlucky and now we are playing with ten men. That's the story line after a good start to the second half. The third goal is an error. And the fourth goal is some tired legs for sure, and look, Orlando brought some quality off the bench.
Q. There were a lot of young guys on that pitch tonight. You're going to have experiences like this in your career. What do you want them to take away from a night like this?
No. 1 is belief and just building a little bit of credit with themselves that they can play at this level and be impactful. And two, I would say for sure is the experience of playing at the next level, as well, and there will be tons of little learnings in there for sure, and we will freeze those learnings when we review the game. I think each time these young players see that picture, they will continue to get better and better. There's so much potential with our young players at this club.
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