Mason Toye knows his hobbyhorse for the 2023 season: consistency. Both in his game and in terms of confidence.
After a 2021 season marked by successes, where Toye scored seven goals in just ten starts, 2022 has been a year of disappointments. A brace against the Seattle Sounders sums up his production, but this campaign was mainly undermined, again, by injuries.
CF Montreal head coach Hernán Losada said it just two weeks ago: “Last year Mason didn’t do much.” The American himself admitted that his 2022 season was “bad”.
Left on the bench in the first two games of the season in favor of fellow players Romell Quioto, Sunusi Ibrahim and Chinonso Offor, the 24-year-old striker got his first minutes in game three of the campaign. A meager total of nine minutes against Nashville SC.
Then in CFM’s win over the Philadelphia Union, he played 80 minutes as a starter. Unlike many, the main interested party was not surprised by his selection in the starting lineup.
“It went well, but I have to keep finding my rhythm. I haven’t even played 90 minutes this season yet,” Toye said after club training on Monday.
And that’s the main focus for Toye this season. He wants to find consistency in his game, in his number of minutes and in his level of confidence.
The player, entering his sixth season in MLS, admits goals can help restore confidence, but he needs to put on a good show even if he can’t find the back of the net.
“I am not old, but I am no longer young. I am at the age where I have to be consistent in my game. The goals will come if I keep working hard. Last year was a bad year for me. I had a lot of chances, but I was not able to take advantage of them. But the good news is that I had chances and this season I will be able to take advantage of them,” he said.
Toye actually had a bit of bad luck last year. According to his expected goals, he should have rattled the ropes more often – 1.3 goals were missing from his tally according to FBref. He has created 0.4 expected goals per 90 minutes in 2022, a fair number for a top striker.
To keep this consistency and maintain an interesting pace, Toye will have to take on a challenge that was not able to accomplish in 2021 or 2022. He must avoid joining the clan of cripples.
While he admits to being “100% healthy” right now, Toye struggled with two injuries in training camp that kept him from finding his stride.
In 2021, Toye missed more than four months of action due to a shoulder injury that caused him to miss more than half of the season. Same scenario 2022, but taking into account a nasty groin injury.
He also allowed himself to reveal this open secret: “To be successful like in 2021, I have to stay healthy,” he laughed.
Until then, his mission is to “just be in the field” and “whatever the role.”
Samuel Piette will return to action on Saturday night against the Vancouver Whitecaps. He confirmed everything on Monday morning during training. The Repentignois was also delighted to have the chance to play his first full game as a midfielder this season. All centre-backs – besides Ousman Jabang – took part in the full training. “The chapter [of playing in central defence] is closed and hopefully it will stay that way, because I want the other guys to stay healthy. And I’m a little more effective in the middle. […] I think I did well. I did my best. I know it wasn’t perfect, but it was to help out. »
