In the final instalment of the series, IFD’s Alf De Blasis looks back at Sebastian Giovinco’s unprecedented first MLS season with Toronto FC. He breaks down the numbers and statistics that contributed to Giovinco’s sensational debut season. He also collected closing remarks from Seba’s coach and teammates on the influential Italian. But it was the The Atomic Ant himself who challenged the club in his year-end statements. Giovinco was critical of the team’s defensive shortcomings this season and implored the club to make significant changes in the off-season.
He arrived nine months ago to a rousing reception at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport. Toronto FC’s Sebastian Giovinco was welcomed to MLS in relative anonymity, given his part-time playing status at Juventus, but also arrived, in stark contrast to that, as one of the most highly-paid players in the league. Last month, he completed the regular season as the most prolific player in MLS history, setting three separate league scoring records along the way.
Very early on in the 2015 season, Giovinco established himself as a MLS star in the making, with his highlight-reel goals and the quality of his attacking play.
Now, after recording an unprecedented 38-point regular season (22 goals, 16 assists in 34 games) and setting a number of league and club marks, Giovinco is considered a unanimous choice for MLS MVP and is also one of the three finalists for the 2015 Newcomer of the Year Award.
However, at a season-ending media gathering at the team’s training site earlier this month, Giovinco was visibly upset. Understandably so, as the team had exited the MLS playoffs only days earlier, after being thrashed 3-0 by Canadian rivals the Montreal Impact. Giovinco acknowledged the accolades for his remarkable individual season, but the bitter taste of that stinging defeat was evident in his remarks.
“For myself, it was a positive season,” Giovinco said, “but as we’re in a team sport, in the end, it was negative. We were knocked out of the playoffs and it wasn’t the way we wanted to go out.”
Giovinco was asked what the team lacked in that knockout playoff game and he didn’t mince words.
“We lacked a bit of everything,” Giovinco admitted. “We may not have lacked grit, but to win you need much more. Our approach to the game was wrong. We conceded three goals in the first half and after 30 minutes it was over. We didn’t even have the chance to play the game.
“This team hadn’t reached the playoffs in nine years so it was awful to lose like that,” continued Giovinco. “When you play a game like that, everything is wrong because it’s inconceivable that you concede three goals in 30 minutes, so when you make those kinds of errors, you’ve got everything wrong.”
At a time when many players would be reflecting positively on a record-setting season, Giovinco’s mood was quite the opposite. He was angry and upset over the team’s abrupt exit from the playoffs and was insistent that the club address its shortcomings in the off-season.
“We have to change a lot,” remarked Giovinco. “We’re not yet a team that can win a championship. We’re inferior to many other teams. The facts and statistics show that. There’s a lot to change but I’m not the person to say how, where or when. But in order to win, we need much more.”
Giovinco did, however, acknowledge his personal achievements during the season and the affection he earned from TFC fans but insisted that there is always something more to strive for.
“If I have to find a positive highlight,” Giovinco said, “I’d say it was the scoring award but I hope I can win another. I’m very happy with the affection the fans showed me but I want to do even better so the city can become even more excited.”
Besides earning the Golden Boot as the league’s top scorer, Giovinco also broke a 15-year-old MLS single-season mark for shots on goal (181) and became the first player in MLS history to record at least 20 goals and 10 assists in a single season. Seba was such a consistent performer all year that his goals and assists totals for the first half of the season (17 GP, 11 G, 8 A) matched his numbers for the second half of the campaign.
As expected, Giovinco’s teammates gave him glowing reviews for his record-setting season.
“He had a very, very good season,” said captain Michael Bradley. “He helped in terms of what he gave to our team in the attacking part of the field. It was tremendous, very special. Obviously, he had a great season in every way and certainly, the fact he was able to win Golden Boot and has a real chance to win MVP is something that he should be proud of.”
Strike partner Jozy Altidore went even further in his praise for the Atomic Ant. “I’m playing with the best player in the league,” admitted Altidore. “He’s the catalyst for our team. We look for Seba to lead us. I think my job this year and most likely going forward is to try and be the second guy and chip in as much as I can. He’s going to be a guy that’s going to look for his opportunities, and we’re going to be looking for him. I understand what my role is within the team and I have to try and execute that as best I can.”
That role Altidore refers to is one of the key aspects the team hopes to address in the off-season. New club President Bill Manning, who won a MLS championship with Real Salt Lake, hinted at a possible adjustment to the Giovinco-Altidore partnership.
“(Head coach) Greg (Vanney) laid out a plan for me,” Manning said. “He felt that Jozy and Seba did not connect enough and it was more Jozy being more comfortable with who he is. With Seba, just give him the freedom to do what he does and he’s going to be spectacular at times.
“He reminds me of Javi Morales at RSL,” continued Manning. “Seba likes to drift to the outside and the other players know where to slot in. Greg is going to work with Jozy on being a box striker, a classic Number 9, because he’s going to get the ball. If you look at the goal he scored in the last game of the season (vs Montreal) it was a classic goal. Seba crossed it and Jozy headed in. He’s a big strong kid, only 26 years old. What Greg wants to do is make him comfortable with where he’s playing and maximize his assets and I think let Seba do what he does and the team works around that.“
Vanney himself elaborated on the theory behind that plan. “I think Jozy started to play in reaction to Sebastian,” said Vanney, “because Seba was having such a good season that Jozy didn’t want to get in his way so he became very reactive. At the start of the season, they were competing in a healthy, positive way for the scoring title and I thought it was great for the way we wanted to get going.
“I think the two of them need to be competitive with each other in a positive way,” Vanney continued, “because if Jozy is playing big and strong and getting himself in front of goal and being a scoring threat, defenders are going to have to make adjustments and he’s difficult to defend in 1v1 situations. If he’s proactive, teams will have to adjust to him, which will create more space for Seba and vice versa.”
Canadian international midfielder Jonathan Osorio is one player who credits much of his improvement this season to his Italian teammate.
“He had a big influence on my game,” Osorio admitted. “I think towards the second half of the season, he started to trust in me a little more to combine with him to make plays. I started to understand how he likes to play and what spots he likes to get in and I worked off him. That helped me as a young player to learn different ways of breaking down defenses.”
Giovinco acknowledged Osorio’s attributes but cautioned that the two have only just begun to understand one another and have some distance to go before they develop a rapport like he had with former Juventus teammate Claudio Marchisio.
“(Jon & I) have only known each other a short time,” admitted Giovinco, “but in the locker room we have a good relationship. With Marchisio, we had known each other since we were 7, 8 years old so it’s difficult to make a comparison.”
Giovinco quashed any rumors that he would be joining a European club on loan this off-season, saying there was virtually “no chance” of that happening. He indicated he would stay in Toronto for a few weeks before heading back to Italy in December for a brief vacation.
Giovinco looked back on his first MLS season as a high point in his career but stopped short of saying it changed him as a player.
“I don’t know if it changed me or the fact I’m a year older,” Seba said, “and so with more experience it’s somewhat easier, but I’m happy to have made this decision (to come to MLS) and I hope to continue on.”
Giovinco’s MLS achievements:
• 2015 Golden Boot award winner: 22 G, 16 A (38 pts.*MLS record)
• 1st player in MLS history to score 20 goals & 10 assists
• Set new MLS single-season shots record (181)
• 2015 MLS All-Star
• 2-time MLS Player of the Month
• MLS Goal of the Week selection
• 3-time MLS Player of the Week selection
• 10-time MLS Team of the Week selection
Giovinco’s TFC achievements:
• All-time TFC single season goal leader
• 1st TFC player to record two hattricks in MLS league play
• 1st TFC player to win Player of the Month award
Giovinco’s 2015 Award Nominations:
• MLS Newcomer of the Year Finalist (announced Nov. 23)
• Landon Donovan MLS MVP Finalist (announced Dec. 2)
The post The Giovinco Watch: Season Review appeared first on IFD.
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