Mason Toye already has 51 minutes with the Montreal Impact under his belt, but the US youth international forward expects far more from his new digs.
He was critical of his performance in last weekend’s 2-1 loss at the Philadelphia Union, and is already looking forward to another opportunity Wednesday night when hosting the New England Revolution at Red Bull Arena (7:30 pm ET | TV & streaming info).
“For me personally, I felt like I wasn't good enough, so that’s on me for the next game moving forward,” Toye said previewing the match. “Hopefully the manager picks me again or I’m able to get on the pitch and play better, because for me personally, for my standards, it wasn’t good enough. Luckily we have a quick turnaround. We play on Wednesday, so hopefully we can fix it as a unit and I can fix my play as well and we can hopefully get three points and continue to move up the table.”
Toye was traded from Minnesota United to Montreal back on Oct. 1 for $600,000 General Allocation Money and a 2021 MLS SuperDraft second-round pick. He had seven goals and four assists in two-plus seasons with the Loons, and is looking to reach another gear while playing under head coach Thierry Henry.
Getting to that point, at least stylistically, could require some adjustments. He took stock of a key difference with Montreal compared many other MLS teams.
“I think everyone around the league knows that they want to play out of the back,” Toye said. “Even when it seems like they shouldn’t, they’re going to do it and with confidence. We’re going to hold to that, regardless of scenarios. There’s very few times that you’ll see our keeper kicking the ball long or anything like that, so I think that’s a little bit of a difference. A lot of teams don’t really want to play out of the back, they’d rather kick it long and play for second balls. There’s nothing wrong with that because that works, but that’s just not the style of play that we play here.”
During Toye’s time in Montreal, there’s potential for huge growth while learning under Henry, a world-class striker during his playing days. Previously the head coach at Ligue 1 side AS Monaco, he’s looking to steer the Impact to the Audi 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs and end a three-year playoff drought.
The 21-year-old seems set to play a key role in those efforts alongside those like Bojan and Romell Quioto. Montreal's playing style could suit him, too.
“I’m already enjoying him thoroughly as a coach,” Toye said of Henry. “He holds everyone to a really high standard and that’s only to get you better, because you want to hold yourself to that standard as well. So that’s great and I feel like the style of play that they play, for me personally, I don’t really like to have to fight for balls in the air and do all that type of stuff.
“They like to play with the ball on the ground and they want to get in behind defenses and play attacking football and that’s the type of football that I want to play. So I'm excited to continue to learn under him and the whole coaching staff. They’re all great and just continue to get better."
