BIG READ: Bob Bradley proving in his early days in Toronto that he is the real deal

Italian national team star Lorenzo Insigne stole all the headlines this offseason with his impending move to Toronto FC, but when all is said and done, it may just be Bob Bradley who goes down as the club’s most important acquisition.

Following one of the worst years in franchise history, Toronto FC President Bill Manning identified that the club lost its culture, identity, and that it needed a reset.

Enter Bradley, who early on, has shown that he is the real deal.

“It’s been amazing,” said defender Kadin Chung on life under Bradley. “As a coach and for this team it’s huge because it is a new group, but I feel like everyone’s buying into the ideas he’s putting out … I feel like over time that this team is going to be something special to watch.”

One of Major League Soccer’s most winningest coaches, Bradley arrived in Toronto with high expectations, and he’s followed that up by being bold in his first season in charge, overseeing the departure of 19 players from last season’s roster, including some that played a crucial role in the past like Auro Jr. and Mark Delgado.

He and Manning, working in tandem, have chosen to invest heavily in domestic talent, signing three homegrown youngsters – Deandre Kerr, Luca Petrasso, and Kosi Thompson – and two former Canadian Premier League standouts – Chung and Lukas MacNaughton – to first-team deals.

And early on, it’s become abundantly clear that Bradley is as tapped into the Canadian market as any other coach around the league.

“It’s great when you have talented domestic players that are now ready to step into the first team,” said Bradley at the BMO Training Ground last week. “Our ability to build the best team possible and to continue to evolve has to take into account what’s going on in Canada.”

Last season, Toronto FC’s Canadian players were on the pitch for 8,393 out of a possible 33,503 minutes – or 25 per cent – under managers Chris Armas and Javier Perez in a season that many perceived to be a developmental year.

Under Bradley early on, Canadians have played 2299 out of a possible 4950 minutes – or 46.4 per cent.

There’s a clear shift in ideology. In the past, Toronto FC haven’t been shy to include homegrown talent on their 30-man roster, however, this year, the TFC Head Coach and Sporting Director is not only including them, but giving them an opportunity that we haven’t seen before in Toronto.

“We're at that point where you're going to play if you're performing well,” said 19-year-old homegrown midfielder Kosi Thompson, who made his first-career MLS start on Saturday against New York City FC. “Bob doesn't really care if you're young, if you're 18, 19, if you're 45. He doesn't care. If you're playing well, you're going to play.”

Thompson is just the latest example of Bradley’s bold belief in his young domestic talent and unconventional philosophy when it comes to coaching.

Against the defending MLS Cup Champions, the North York, Ont., native was not only asked to make his first career MLS start, he was also tasked with playing in an unnatural position and containing one of the more dangerous wingers in the league in Talles Magno.

The end result was a success. Thompson played the full 90 minutes in the 2-1 win, adjusting well to his new role largely because there was clarity in what he was being asked to do.

“We always have an idea of how we want to play and what roles everybody has on the team,” said MacNaughton when asked about life under Bradley. “It’s very game-like and pushes you to really know what role you have in the game situation.”

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Trusting his young players in a high-stakes environment has become a trend with Bradley, who early on, identified a pair of wingers – Jacob Shaffelburg and Jahkeele-Marshall-Rutty – as candidates who could be converted to starting fullbacks.

Most coaches in MLS wouldn’t take that risk, but Bradley identified traits in each of Shaffelburg, Marshall-Rutty, and Thompson, that made him feel confident they would succeed in his system.

“I think all of them, to begin with, are smart, good footballers,” said Bradley on Wednesday at BMO Training Ground when asked about his newfound fullbacks. “I think the qualities that those guys have fit the demands that sort of football these days has.”

Bradley has created an environment within the first team where young players can now succeed in ways Toronto hasn’t in the past. He’s challenging players to step out of their comfort zones yet ensuring that their transition is as seamless as possible.

The wingers-turned-fullbacks are one example, but then you factor in the inclusions of first-year MLS pros Luca Petrasso, Chung, and MacNaughton into the team’s starting XI – inexperienced players who have taken their opportunities and ran with it – and it’s honestly eye-opening that the team has won two and drawn one of their first five matches.

With their most recent win against New York City FC, Toronto FC have now won back-to-back league matches for the first time since October 2020. They sit middle of the table with seven points from five matches. For context, it took the Reds until July 7 last season (12 games and two managers) to reach the seven-point mark.

And while the results are great – especially at this point of the year with the roster still a work in progress – it’s the team’s overall identity that looks the most promising, as it’s not just in the roster-building aspect and willingness to include young players where Bradley has been bold.

The manager hasn’t been afraid to make harsh in-game decisions if he believes it’s for the better of the team, like substituting 2020 MLS Defender of the Year nominee Chris Mavinga off at halftime in the first game of the season. He has asked Mavinga, who has yet to feature in a match since the first game of the year, to be more consistent overall – demanding more out of his players when he feels that the standard has dropped too low.

Veteran defender Shane O’Neill, who has enjoyed stints in his 10-year professional career with Seattle Sounders FC, Orlando City SC, Colorado Rapids SC, as well as overseas in Netherlands, England, Belgium, and Cyprus, says that Bradley’s high expectations are what players should want out of their manager.

“There are high expectations, which I think as a player is awesome,” said O’Neill when asked about life under Bradley at the BMO Training Ground on Tuesday. “I think there’s a lot asked out of all of us, and I think you can see that a lot of guys are growing as players, which is pretty exciting.”

According to many within the club, Bradley – who one player described as a guy who they could have discussions about football with for hours – is always watching video.

Oftentimes, the TFC manager will show his players film of stars in Europe, asking them to take bits and pieces of someone like Trent Alexander-Arnold or Mo Salah’s game and apply it to their own.

“He’s always nitpicking little things in a game – your body shape, your movement, even just one step. His attention to detail is really what stands out the most.”

The progress the team has made since the start of training camp springs reason for optimism for what the future holds. There’s a long runway now, and after a dreadful 2021 campaign, there’s a light – one that appears to be very bright – at the end of the tunnel.

And that’s the crazy part. It’s only been a few months since Bradley touched down in Toronto, however, you can already see the impact he has made on the squad. Training sessions are being taken more seriously, there’s a real sense of togetherness and comradery amongst the group, and there’s clarity in what they’re being asked to do.

“For me, you try to create an environment where every day when guys show up, they’re excited about training,” said Bradley on Wednesday. “They know that you’re trying to help them become a better player, that the things that you’re saying to them and showing them that there’s a connection.

“And then as a group, there’s a feeling now that here’s how we can become a good team. All of those things are what eventually make it into a good culture, and I think there’s a lot of that that is taking hold.”

The month of March was not kind to Toronto FC, in terms of the unpredictable weather affecting the club’s ability to get in consistent training reps; they’ve been forced to bounce around from field to field – in the bubble at BMO Training Ground and out of the bubble. So, Bradley is looking forward to getting into a consistent routine because he believes it’ll allow them to ‘just be that much sharper in all areas.’

There still may be rough patches to come, but in just a few months, the culture has already changed drastically in Toronto, and this is just the early stages of what could be an exciting 2022 season.

In the summer transfer window, Bradley and Manning expect to make a few more notable signings that’ll help inch them closer to their final vision. But at the same time, they want those players, including Insigne, to join a squad that’s already playing good football, and little by little, the team’s making strides towards that.

“I think little by little we're improving,” said Bradley after Saturday’s win. “The vision that I think we all have for this team is to be a team that's good with the ball, has moments of smart possessions, still finding different ways to go forward, finding moments to press, and then moments to make sure that we're very compact.

“So there's a lot of details there … but I see the confidence of the team, I see good performances by key players, I see young guys improving, so those are all things that are very positive.”