Toronto FC captain Bradley: Complaining about referee decisions is a 'cop-out'

Michael Bradley isn't one for excuses.

The Toronto FC captain, speaking earlier this week to reporters ahead of his team's match against the Chicago Fire on Saturday, addressed the refereeing errors that have played a role in the club's two recent losses.

TFC were aggrieved three weeks ago, when a straight red card shown to Justin Morrow against the Columbus Crew forced them to play the entire second half with 10 men. Replays showed the defender actually executed a perfectly-timed tackle.

Questions emerged of the officiating again last week, when Nick Hagglund's goal in the second half against Real Salt Lake was called back for a foul which could, at best, be described as non-existent.

The Canadian club would go on to lose both matches, but Bradley maintains that there is no point looking back at what could have been without the blunders from the referees.

"You could sit here and talk about hypotheticals until you're blue in the face," the midfielder was quoted as saying.

"At the end of the day, it doesn't change anything and it doesn't do you a whole lot of good. You hope, over the course of the season, that things even themselves out.

"Without any complaining, we certainly have been on the wrong end of certain decisions this year but that's the reality. That's life and that's football."

He continued:

"After three games, it's too early to be feeling sorry for ourselves.

"It's a cop-out. We've got to still look at ourselves and understand what has been good and also realize there's still a lot of room for improvement.

"If we keep pushing along, we'll have a good team and a team that isn't subject to one bad call here or there – that in the end, our quality is going to mean we're going to be able to win games regardless."