Toronto FC captain Michael Bradley leading by example in MLS playoffs

On Sunday, the 29-year-old Bradley looks to help TFC finish off New York City FC in the return leg of the Eastern Conference semifinal. Toronto goes into the game at Yankee Stadium holding a 2-0 lead.

“This is what we talked about being about from the first day of pre-season this year — a team that on the toughest days could stand up. And, on the toughest days, could hold up to every challenge,” said Bradley.

Bradley, who says he has felt “very good” about this team for some time now, deflects praise about his play to his teammates. But he has shown in recent weeks that the playoffs are like mother’s milk to him.

“It’s a fun time of year,” he said. “You play all year to get to this point where the games are big — not everybody is left playing at this point — and they’re only going to get bigger.”

Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Toronto GM Tim Bezbatchenko says Bradley has the ability to evaluate the moment, size up the challenge and do what is called for.

“That’s when I think Michael shines the best,” said Bezbatchenko.

Bradley, who doubles as U.S. national team captain with 122 caps for his country, has not disappointed.

Heaven help you if you do. Bradley wears his heart on a sandpaper-like sleeve. Among reporters covering the TFC beat, the skipper’s stare is legendary.

It grabs you like a pair of pliers, bores into you like a science-fiction death ray and holds you until he is finished. Like a solar eclipse, it happens only periodically but people talk about it.

Teammates also know that steely glare, more perhaps for failing to live up to standards than delivering a subpar question.

“That’s his job as captain,” said goalkeeper Clint Irwin. “He does it here with the players and I think its a good thing. It’s one where you know he cares about the result. It’s his way of making you better and showing that he cares about you as a player.

“It’s more so how you take it. I hope the reporters don’t take it too harshly, because I don’t. It’s just a professional thing and it brings the right intensity to our locker-room. Ultimately it’s a positive for us.”

Bradley joined Toronto in January 2014, an intense counterpoint to England striker Jermain Defoe’s laid-back demeanour when the two were unveiled before chanting, singing fans looking down from the balcony of the hangar-sized Real Sports Bar & Grill.

“I can tell you all I have never been more excited, more determined and more motivated for any challenge in my entire career,” Bradley said at the time.

Defoe lasted one season. Bradley is still here, leading a resurgent Toronto deep into the playoffs.

Bradley, the son of renowned coach Bob Bradley, grew up early in soccer. He spent 2002 to 2004 in the U.S. under-17 team residency program before turning pro at 16 when he taken 36th overall in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft by the MetroStars.

After one season in MLS, he moved to SC Heerenveen in the Netherlands, with stints at Borussia Moenchengladbach, Aston Villa, Chievo Verona and Roma before signing with Toronto.

There were growing pains. TFC stumbled to an 11-15-8 record in 2014 to finish seventh in the Eastern Conference. The fact that that was an improvement — Toronto was ninth in 2013 and 10th in 2012 — shows just how low the franchise had fallen.

Bradley was clearly the captain in waiting, a transition the club fumbled as incumbent skipper Steven Caldwell twisted in the wind until the change was finally made in February 2015.

It has proved to be a marriage well made, however. Toronto deepened its roster, unloading Defoe in a deal that saw Jozy Altidore come the other way, and hit the jackpot in signing Sebastian Giovinco.

In addition to his on-field talents, Bradley has worked on creating a winning culture — no small feat for a franchise that was once the league doormat.

“Michael, more than any player on our roster today, has put more into this project,” said Johnson, who has known Bradley since childhood and is one of the captain’s closest friends.

Bradley leads by example. Toronto coach Greg Vanney says Bradley’s professionalism in ensuring he is always ready physically and mentally is exemplary.

“He has a very high standard both of himself and of everybody else,” Vanney added.

And in recent years, Bradley has got much better in helping others excel, according to the coach.

“He’s really learned how to take those standards, hold them high and bring people with him to the standards, and really use a positive message to lift guys and find the strengths in guys and to really bring those out in everybody.

“I think he’s learned it along the way, I think he’s got better at it along the way and I think he’s been phenomenal the last three, four weeks in terms of really instilling that within the group.”

TFC is feeling good about itself, says Vanney, with Bradley and Giovinco leading the way. He also points to Altidore in helping the group’s confidence.

Having learned Italian during his time overseas, Bradley has his own pipeline to Giovinco.

“Michael’s role as a captain is the perfect role,” the Atomic Ant said through an interpreter. “He’s a captain in the team as well (as) in life and as an overall person.”

The translation may be open to interpretation. The Italian forward appeared to be saying his captain is a natural leader.

In a city with a proud tradition of hockey captains — although no one wears the C for the Leafs at present — Bradley said he knew what it meant when he became skipper.

“I had already figured out that being captain or a big player on a team in this city carries extra weight and responsibility. And I’ve loved every second of that,” he said.

“Not to say that every second of my time here has been exactly what I or the fans would have hoped but I’ve enjoyed every second of playing in this city, playing for this city and being captain.”

In his early days in Toronto, Bradley suffered from trying to do too much in too many places.

But under Vanney, Bradley’s on-field role has largely been as a deep-lying midfielder who breaks up attacks and shields the backline. Listed at six foot two and 185 pounds, Bradley is deceptively strong and has a turn of speed that can help him break up plays.

“He’s been unbelievable the last two games … He’s the engine of this team right now,” said veteran defender Drew Moor.

Bradley has a good eye for a pass and can also use his engine to drive into the box, although his forays forward have been limited.

While Bradley is front and centre as captain, Toronto has other leaders. Vanney also regularly consults Moor and Johnson, who captained Colorado and Portland respectively prior to coming to Toronto, in addition to Giovinco, Altidore and Benoit Cheyrou.

“Everybody’s all bought into what we’re trying to do but there’s definitely different levels of accountability,” said Johnson. “There’s no one guy who can see everything.”

For Vanney, the idea is to make sure everyone is on the same page and ensure the same message gets delivered to every corner of the locker-room.

“The more guys feel like they are involved in something bigger than just themselves, the more you get out of each guy,” said Vanney.

Three seasons into his tenure in Toronto, Bradley remains a complex character outside the protective walls of the locker-room.

Away from the team, the father of two can be warm and engaging with a reporter. “He’s easy-going when the moment is easy-going,” said Bezbatchenko.

At TFC’s well-appointed training centre, the skipper is more pharaoh than pal to those outside the inner circle.

“What we have in the locker-room, it’s a sacred place,” Johnson explained. “It’s our place. We banter in there and we build bonds that last for lifetimes on successful teams. And that’s just how it goes. And obviously outside of that comfort zone, you have to have your walls up and protect against all outside forces that are trying to penetrate — even in a positive or negative ways.”

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Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Toronto FC captain Michael Bradley leading by example in MLS playoffs

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