Toronto FC: Jozy Altidore, in any form, a major boost

Jozy Altidore faces a late fitness race to be ready for Sunday’s MLS Cup. In whatever form the centre-forward arrives, his return would be a major boost for Toronto FC.

It is the final week of the 2019 Major League Soccer season. From the first weekend March, the whole campaign has been leading up to this point: An MLS Cup. And, perhaps surprisingly given the seedings entering the postseason, it is a repeat fixture from yesteryears.

For the third time in the last four years, Toronto FC will face the Seattle Sounders in MLS Cup. They have won one each thus far. This will be a tense and tenacious decider. And for Toronto, there is a crucial injury prospect that will utterly alter their tactical gameplan depending on the outcome of the last-gasp fitness race. Either way, this will change the game.

Designated Player Jozy Altidore, who has been a critical part of Toronto FC’s inordinate success over the past half-decade, has missed all of the playoffs thus far thanks to a quad strain that he suffered in a Decision Day victory over the Columbus Crew to close out the regular season. Not ideal timing.

But Altidore is back in training, although separate from the normal group as he focuses on rehabilitation and fitness, and ‘Jozy Watch’ is once again in full flight, as it has been throughout the playoffs.

It remains to be seen just how able Altidore is to play on Sunday, but this week, Toronto FC head coach Greg Vanney provided an encouraging and surprisingly detailed exposition on the timeframe of recovery:

"“We hope, within the next few days. We’ve got eight more days to get him going. The more fitness and high-speed running that we can get him, the more prepared he’ll be. We can push back striking for a few more days. Really it’s about his physical fitness, his health, and his ability to sprint <…> The better fitness we can give him, the more minutes he’ll be capable of playing. That’s what we’re focusing on right now. We hope by middle of the week – Tuesday, Wednesday – he will be back fully.”"

It is difficult to say with much clarity without inside knowledge, but reading between the lines, it seems to me that Altidore will be ready to feature in MLS Cup, at least in one way or another. Expecting him to play a full 90 minutes is probably a little naive, but he could well be in line for 30 minutes from off the bench.

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And for Toronto FC, that is massive. In whatever form Altidore arrives, his very presence completely changes the way Vanney will approach the game. So far in the playoffs, Vanney has used Alejandro Pozuelo as a false-nine in a 4-3-3 to accommodate Altidore’s absence. Pozuelo is an excellent player, tabling 12 goals and assists in the regular season, both team highs, but his natural role is not as a centre-forward.

The Spaniard is a creative, drifting midfielder who likes to have a backboard to play off. For much of the season, Altidore has been that very backboard, his superb play with his back to goal integral to the collective attacking approach. His return, then, not only provides Vanney with one of the best striker and goalscorers in MLS; it also frees up Pozuelo, who is unquestionably the dangerman in this Toronto team.

And the stats bare it out. Toronto won 13 out of 34 games this season. Altidore featured in nine of those victories, despite only playing in 22 games on the year. He started 18 games. In those 18 games, Toronto scored 34 goals, just short of two per game. That fell to just 1.4 goals per game without Altidore. This is not all that groundbreaking to say, but Toronto FC are a better team with Altidore than they are without him.

So in whatever manner he is capable of playing in MLS Cup, the USMNT star will make a huge difference to Toronto. Vanney, Pozuelo and thousands of supporters alike will be crossing everything they have, hoping that Altidore is available.