TORONTO—You could hardly blame Josh Williams if feels like a bit of a forgotten man at Toronto FC these days.
A mid-season pick-up last year, Williams was a fairly useful player down the stretch, starting 12 games and adding a touch of reliability to what was then a very unreliable TFC defence. He didn’t look out of place in the middle of the back line, even when paired with different partners, and won plaudits from coach Greg Vanney for his consistent play.
This season, Williams finds himself on the outside looking in thanks to the addition of free agent Drew Moor. While Williams has been limited to three appearances (two as a starter), Moor and Damien Perquis have become Vanney’s preferred central defensive pairing.
Will there be chances for Williams, who turned 28 earlier this week, to regain his starting spot? He certainly hopes so. For the time being, though, the Ohio native is carrying on as per normal.
“I always come in prepared as though I’m a starter; nothing has changed for me in terms of my mentality. My job is go into training and make it as hard as possible [for Vanney] to pick a starting 11. If I’m in the 11, great. But if Damien and Drew are in the 11, you know they’ve earned it because I gave it my all,” Williams told Sportsnet in a one-on-one chat.
He later added: “At the end of the day, I don’t look it at like I’ve dropped down the depth chart.”
Williams had a chance to remind everybody what he can do when he started in TFC’s 1-0 win over D.C. United on the weekend. Vanney decided to rotate his squad with Perquis on the bench, but Williams had to be subbed out early in the second half due to cramping in both calves.
“It sucked. These guys put their trust in me by starting me, so I wanted to go 90 minutes. Damien came in and we held the shut out, so that was good,” Williams said.
Before coming out in the 68th minute, Williams did a good job of fitting in with Moor, who he’s never played with, as well as new right fullback Steven Beitashour. Sebastian Giovinco scored in the opening minute and the Reds successfully protected the lead.
“I thought [Josh] did very well. We weathered the storm a little bit there on the first half and then we started to settle down in the second half. [D.C.] threw a lot of numbers forward but they didn’t have too many clear chances on goal. The partnership between [Josh] and Drew and Steven and Justin [Morrow], I thought it was very solid,” goalkeeper Clint Irwin offered.
For Williams’ part, what impressed him the most about Toronto’s performance was the play of central midfielders Michael Bradley and Will Johnson, specifically the industry and relentlessness they showed in protecting the back four.
“I watched the game back and the amount of work their willing to do is incredible. At times I think they’re running too much; they’re almost doing too much. Together, they’re like a wall—always in the way, breaking up passes, so for [the defenders], it’s about maintaining our positioning and keeping everything in front of us,” Williams said.
It doesn’t seem likely, though, that Williams did enough to edge past Perquis for a starting role—last weekend’s game wasn’t about Vanney losing faith in the Frenchman; rather it was about giving Williams playing time in order to keep him sharp.
“I need to make sure that I give as many of our guys opportunities to pay and chances to show what they can do for our team during [this early stretch of the season] so we know what we have as we get down to the later part,” Vanney explained.
Next up for Williams and TFC is Saturday’s game against the Montreal Impact. Stade Saputo was the sight of the Reds’ embarrassing 3-0 playoff loss to the Impact last October. Like a lot of his teammates, Williams didn’t have a great game. With the Impact sitting on a 1-0 lead in the first half, Ahmed Kantari played a simple square ball across the top of the box for Williams who lost his footing. Ignacio Piatti swooped in on the mistake, sidestepping Williams before scoring from close range.
“It was a killer goal,” Vanney said at the time of that particular self-inflicted wound.
Saturday will mark Toronto’s return to Stade Saputo since that debacle. With TFC off to a solid 2-2-2 start to the current campaign, Williams maintains the team isn’t dwelling on that humbling playoff loss.
“That’s last year… We’re not too worried about last year; that’s in the past now. We have a solid squad this season, and through six games on the road we’re happy with the results,” Williams stated.
Sportsnet’s Soccer Central podcast, hosted by James Sharman, takes an in-depth look at the beautiful game and offers timely and thoughtful analysis on the sport’s biggest issues.
