Interim Toronto FC manager Terry Dunfield has been on the job for four days, but he told the media at his first prematch news conference that he’s working to not let the importance overwhelm him.
Dunfield was handed the head coaching position, albeit for four games to start, after TFC fired veteran head coach Bob Bradley on Monday.
His first on-field test will be Saturday against Real Salt Lake at BMO Field.
“The focus has just been on this weekend and on Salt Lake,” Dunfield said on Friday. “One of the things that brings our staff and the players together is that it’s new for many of us.”
He’s worked to block out any sense of nerves or worries, he added, even when he wakes up in the middle of the night.
The 41-year-old Dunfield was the head coach of Toronto FC Academy’s under-17 team and has worked in the team’s academy for seven years.
Dunfield has played midfield for Canada, Toronto FC and his hometown Vancouver Whitecaps as well as two seasons with Manchester City.
TFC are stuck near the bottom of the Eastern Conference with a 3-10-7 record.
“At the end of training, we brought the group together and I just thanked the boys for their hard work,” said Dunfield about the end of his first week of training.
“Afterwards, Victor Vazquez said some pretty powerful words. It was impactful: ‘We have 14 games to go and we’re going to go enjoy it. We’re clear but we’re going to get after it.’”
Dunfield’s attitude and training sessions have provided a lift to the team, Canadian midfielder Kosi Thompson said.
“I think everyone’s coming in with a positive mindset, a good mindset,” he said. “We want to prove something to the league and the fans and to ourselves.”
Bradley had faced criticism from players and fans following a string of poor results.
Italian star Federico Bernardeschi spoke out about the veteran coach’s tactics after a 1-0 loss at Austin FC on May 20.
“We don’t play,” Bernardeschi, the fourth-highest-paid player in the league at US$6.295-million this season, said in English. “We play long pass. We don’t have an idea to play.
“I think this city, the fans, everybody, don’t deserve this,” he added.
TFC president Bill Manning and new general manager Jason Hernandez say they have a shortlist of coaching candidates to replace the departed Bradley, with Dunfield guaranteed to have at least four games in charge.
Real Salt Lake are sixth in the Western Conference and are on a five-game unbeaten run in regular season play.
Real Salt Lake has one win and two draws in eight MLS visits to Toronto, and drew 2-2 in the two sides’ last meeting a year ago in Utah.