Toronto FC Vs New York City FC: 3 things to watch for – Jozy Altidore’s return?

Toronto FC, Ayo Akinola (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Toronto FC, Ayo Akinola (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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REUNION, FLORIDA – JULY 20: Maxime Chanot #4 of New York City FC reacts after defeating the Inter Miami CF 1-0 in the MLS is Back Tournament at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex on July 20, 2020 in Reunion, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)
REUNION, FLORIDA – JULY 20: Maxime Chanot #4 of New York City FC reacts after defeating the Inter Miami CF 1-0 in the MLS is Back Tournament at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex on July 20, 2020 in Reunion, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images) /

2. Now that NYCFC have confidence…

It has been a tough 2020 season for New York City FC. After losing head coach Dome Torrent in the offseason, the early goings of the campaign were always going to present potential issues. However, losing all of their first four games and scoring just once was not expected whatsoever.

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Ronny Deila, though, has shown that he is a capable coach. NYCFC have performed better in almost every match than the results indicate and they challenged excellent teams in the CONCACAF Champions League, too. The goals have been missing, yes, but there is a foundation to build on.

They also have talent. NYCFC returned all of their key players from their Eastern Conference-topping 2019 campaign. Alexandru Mitrita would have a season’s worth of experience under his belt, while some would argue they have the deepest and most varied squad in all of MLS. They simply needed things to click.

NYCFC scraped through the group thanks to a late win against Inter Miami. They kept their first clean sheet of the season, while Ismael Tajouri-Shradi scored a lovely goal. Perhaps that has given them confidence. Maybe they will now start to click. After all, they started slowly in 2019, too, and that ended up being their best-ever regular season.