There’s a lot of buzz around Toronto FC ahead of a big MLS opener out in Seattle this weekend, and head coach Ryan Nelsen has plenty to be concerned about when it comes to players like Jermain Defoe, Michael Bradley, Gilberto, Julio Cesar and Alvaro Rey
It’s not just about whether his players are fully fit and healthy, it’s both of those factors travel to and conditions at the venue for Saturday’s opener. Here’s what Nelsen told reporters on Monday.
“You’ve gotta travel and it’s not just an artificial field, it’s a bad artificial field. It’s like playing 1 1/2, 1 3/4 games in terms of damage to your body. So again we’ve got guys who are healthy but don’t have the hardness of fitness under them, which is a concern.”
A foot issue kept Bradley out of USMNT camp, but Nelsen mused that the midfielder has been “overactive” in preparation for his club’s MLS opener, while Defoe’s transition from England and knocks to Gilberto, Cesar and Rey could be magnified by the artificial playing surface.
For his part, Defoe is ready to go, though he admits the artificial surface TFC trained on today was an unusual experience for the former Tottenham man.
“It’s not something I’m used to, to be honest. Even training today, it’s the first time in years where I’ve actually trained on this kind of surface. It’s something you’re going to have to get used to and you can’t really make excuses because it’s the same for both teams, same for all the players.
“I suppose it’s just part and parcel of traveling away and playing on these kinds of pitches.”
Monday was Defoe’s first training session with his teammates, so there’ll be plenty of adjustment this week, weekend and onward, but he said he’s 100 percent healthy and was before he arrived in Canada. Toronto FC visits Seattle at 4:30p.m. ET Saturday.
