August 14, 2018 USL Toronto FC II--Toronto FC II vs Bethlehem Steel FC game preview (from bethlehemsteelfc.com)

   
Quote Sheet: Previewing Toronto
By Bethlehem Steel FC Communications, 08/14/18, 3:30PM EDT 

Bethlehem Steel FC Head Coach Brendan Burke

Looking back on the match against Pittsburgh
“We were really disappointed, I was disappointed even looking back at my own comments. I think 
we expected a lot of ourselves and we knew it was a big opportunity but we just didn’t have 
the juice in our legs that were needed to play the way we wanted to play and accomplish what 
we were hoping to accomplish on that day. Really proud of the fact that we dug in and got 
ourselves back into the game and sorry that it broke down the way it did. Ultimately, we still 
are where we need to be. These next couple games become critical for us because teams around 
us have a couple games in hand and we have to keep them in a position where they are chasing 
us and putting more pressure on them with each week that passes. Overall, we’ve won three 
of our last four games and we’ve put ourselves in the hunt and in the driver’s seat 
in a lot of ways but now we need to put our foot down.”

On being one of the most potent offenses in the USL
“I think a lot of our offense comes from our defending higher up the field and then we have 
some talented guys mixed in and we’re an unselfish team so I think that’s the recipe 
for success. It’s a huge accomplishment to and happy to be in the company we are in but 
the reality is these games do get a little tighter and are more hotly contested, we do need 
to keep a couple more clean sheets if we want to get ourselves in.”

On preparing for Toronto FC II
“They’ve won two of their last three games and one of them was against Nashville. They only 
narrowly lost 1-0 to Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh in between there. They definitely are 
a dangerous team, a team that has turned the corner in terms of their mentality and in terms 
of their ability to keep games tight. We are well aware that we are up for a massive battle. 
Any road game is but especially a team with a belief, they present an entirely different 
challenge than how they were five or six weeks ago.”

On avoiding the team overlooking an opponent low on the table
“I great, honest, young group of players so they understand fully what’s at stake and what 
we are walking into. They aren’t looking past anything at this point.”

On playing at a neutral site and the challenges it presents
“We’re looking at it as their home game. We have to travel five and a half hours to get 
there, I don’t think it’s quite as bad for them. It’s on turf which they play on a lot more 
frequently than we do. In a lot of ways, this is still their home game.”

On Jake McGuire earning the 10th USL Team of the Week honor for Steel FC
“He’s well deserving of that, his performance at Richmond and again at Charlotte, those 
are good performances from the team and he’s big when he was called upon in those couple 
instances. We’re always talking about team success leading to individual success down 
the line and whatever form that may take. Cory Burke is probably the best example of it for 
us at this point but that can come in many different forms. We’re really happy for the guys 
to be recognized league-wide. They work hard for us so I’m glad they are able to get 
the recognition.”

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