After almost three weeks without a match, Lions head coach Adrian Heath is beginning to sound a bit like a broken record.
“I honestly don’t think the break could’ve come at a better time for us,” he said again Friday.
At the time, the Lions were dealing with the many knocks earned on the MLS grind through the toughest portion of the schedule to date when they finally began their Copa América break.
“People forget that we had three games against the top three teams in the East and we came through unscathed,” Heath said.” We need to build on that now. We know we’ve got the Open Cup [Wednesday], which we’re taking important, but the next two league games for us are going to be huge.”
It wasn’t long ago that the Lions were struggling to keep pace with the East. But City rattled off five points in eight days against Montreal, Philadelphia and New York City – two of which were at the top of the conference when they met the Lions – and the pressure was eased.
For a few weeks, at least.
It can be difficult to keep up the intensity in training when there’s no game on the horizon. The players can lose that sense of urgency and their quality can dip.
But for the Lions, that hasn’t been a problem.
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“I’ll have to say, they’ve worked really, really hard this week,” Heath said. “Sometimes it’s difficult to come out in 90-degree heat. Sometimes you can lose the intensity in training. You can tell by the mood in the camp, the lads have been in great knick this week so I’ve been really pleased with them.”
Time off, injuries subsiding – doesn’t get much better than that.
There is no smooth sailing, though – there never is in MLS – but where there once was the pressure of their goals slipping away, there now is an opportunity to seize firm control of their destiny.
And for as timely as their hiatus was, it could also be that the return – and the tournament they’re playing in – is coming at the perfect time, too.
“We’ve always placed an importance on the [U.S.] Open Cup because what’s at the end of the tournament,” Heath said. “We can play in the Champions League.”
What better way to get back to match-intensity than a win-or-go-home Open Cup match against an in-state rival that defeated them in the preseason. There are a few routes to the Champions League, and this one is the most direct.
Three days after the game in Jacksonville, the Lions host the San Jose Earthquakes at Camping World Stadium before another huge game against Toronto FC.
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“It’s pivotal that we perform well in the next couple of games,” defender Seb Hines said. “That’s how we started the season, that was the goal, to be in the playoff places.”
The Lions showed their fighting spirit when they clawed their way back from two goals down yet again in New York. Now, after the break, that spirit is only getting stronger.
“I can sense in the camp that there’s a great deal of enthusiasm,” Heath said. “Looking forward to the next few weeks.”
