As the players return from around the world, and with the fourth game of Season 5 fast approaching, Dome Torrent has some decisions to make.
With 10 internationals coming back from their travels, Torrent emphasized that his selection vs. Toronto on Friday night will be informed by the condition of the players, the opponent and performance levels in training on Thursday.
“It’s a mix - I say it every time I choose my players by their performance here, but it’s a strange week because they’re training in another country sometimes,” said Dome. "Normally it’s by the performance in the training session and the opponent, who’s the best player to play against the opponent and it’s about how they’re feeling.”
Also top of mind for Dome when choosing his XI is the quick turnaround from national team duty to club focus.
“You never know what will happen but you have to change the focus quickly, because their training in the national team is different and they’re training for two games in seven days,” he said, “When they come back here, you have to adapt quickly into our competition. It’s not easy.”
“I have to know the feeling, it’s strange in the FIFA days when you’re training and you’re missing ten players, we have to adapt quickly. But it’s about the feeling, that my players I want to play against Toronto, but I need to speak with these players,” continued Dome. “If these players say to me, I’m ready and I have a right idea to play, if they are ready and they are fit then why not? They can play.
“We have to adapt quickly. My job is to find the right solution to play every single match. We need to get the result after that, that’s my job.”
One player who will not be travelling to Toronto is new forward Héber, who is back in his native Brazil waiting for a visa.
Dome provided the following update to reporters:
"Right now he's in Brazil, waiting on his Visa - I hope they arrive here next week. I'm very grateful to the club for this signing. For me, he will be a very important player for us. I hope he will be here next week, but you never know with the Visa."
Now we leave it to Dome to regroup and figure out the best way to secure the win in Toronto and bring home those three points.
Tune in on Friday to see how your Boys in Blue do in the North. Let’s bring home the W boys, #ForTheCity!
