Onto the next one: TFC hangover brief as focus turns to Champions League
There were croaky voices and reddened eyes as Toronto FC players addressed the media for the final time in the 2017 MLS campaign. You can't blame them. The Reds overwhelmed the Seattle Sounders to win the Philip F. Anschutz trophy for the first time Saturday, and celebrated with fans during Monday's parade.
The beer and champagne was flowing on the open-top bus that inched through downtown Toronto, and the beaten-up expressions at Tuesday's gathering suggested the bash continued long after the season's final viking clap at Nathan Phillips Square.
"I've seen a lot of things in the past few days," Jonathan Osorio, who was hidden behind sunglasses during the address, told theScore.
Alex Bono claimed he could count the number of hours he'd slept on two hands since the MLS Cup was captured, but Drew Moor said he hoped "players and fans alike" were nursing heavy heads after an achievement that was a long time coming. A hangover isn't the only thing weighing on the players' minds though.
"A lot of guys talked about winning Champions League," full-back Justin Morrow shared about their return to the training base. "That's one of our priorities, that's heavy on our minds, so we're already talking about that and obviously doing well in the league next year."
There's a feeling among the camp that this is only the start of a dominant period for Toronto FC. Moor describes the desire in the camp as like nothing he's experienced in his 13-year MLS career - longer than TFC has been a franchise - and it's an aspect that's encouraging Sebastian Giovinco to see out the remaining two years of his contract rather than be tempted by the looming January transfer madness.
"I want to win more," Giovinco stated, and he wasn't alone in his desire to procure more silverware.
"You want to do it again," captain Michael Bradley agreed. "You want to prove to every single person that we can sustain what we did for a longer period of time. The ability to do that, that's what makes the best teams and the best clubs. So that's our challenge right now."
Victor Vazquez - a treble winner for the second time after his bit-part role in Barcelona's 2008-09 heroics, and the recipient of a personal congratulations from his former manager Pep Guardiola - warned that teams will now be more motivated to beat Toronto FC after its exploits. The greatest clubs in history have always been open to renewal even after great success and, although TFC had little say in the matter, change has already begun after Raheem Edwards found his way to the Montreal Impact via Los Angeles FC on Tuesday.
It won't just be outgoings during the offseason at TFC's Downsview Park headquarters, with general manager Tim Bezbatchenko mulling over a drawn-up list of transfer targets in his office. He will be supported by president Bill Manning, who welcomed the league's influx of targeted allocation money as February's CONCACAF Champions League round of 16 draws nearer.
It's a state of affairs that will suit the 2017 MLS Coach of the Year.
"It's my nature to move onto the next thing pretty quickly," Greg Vanney told theScore. "That's where my head's headed already."
The calls for TFC to be Major League Soccer's greatest team are not only down to the Ontarian outfit's treble-winning antics, but also the depth at Vanney's disposal. It currently seems likely that out-of-contract pair Moor and Steven Beitashour will be among the group undergoing preseason drills in Los Angeles ahead of the Champions League conquest, and Jozy Altidore, the match-winner in Saturday's memorable accomplishment, believes TFC's pool will only get deeper.
"I think we have players that technically are very able to adjust in those type of environments. And I'm sure the club is looking to identify even more guys to help us 'cause like everything else we can't rest on our laurels," the strapping striker told theScore. "We have to get stronger, and we know that the rest of the pack is coming not only for Champions League but for MLS."
Related - Altidore's atonement: Jozy shone brightest when TFC needed him most
Altidore added: "You've got to keep going. That's where we want to be. That's what we want Toronto FC to be - to be a club that's always looking forward and a club that everybody's looking at."
(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)