With Toronto FC left back Ashtone Morgan having enjoyed a breakthrough season in his first season as a professional, the 20 year old Toronto native is quick to admit that he is both excited for next season while at the same admitting that it would be just fine with him if the 2011 season did not end at all.
“I wish it didn't have to end now and for next season I am really excited to get it going and to again show everybody what I can do,” says Morgan.
When asked how he is feeling after a whirlwind season in which he has seemingly cemented a spot in the starting eleven, won his first senior cap with Canadian Men’s National Team and has been part of a strong run of team form with TFC that has culminated in his team earning a spot in the Knockout stage of the CONCACAF Champions League for the first time, Morgan also admits that he is in a good place both mentally and physically as the season has come to a close.
“It's been a great feeling. I have been getting a lot of experience throughout the season and it's been a positive end to the season, so it's been really exciting for me.”
Asked to pick a highlight from his first season as a professional, the talented defender strayed from the obvious aforementioned successes and highlighted a more personal match.
“I think it was the D.C. United game where we tied 3-3. I feel like that was a pivotal point when I actually felt like I deserved my position. I think that was the game that got me over the mountain and everything clicked for me.”
One of the nicest recent visuals for Canadian soccer fans has to be the scene in the TFC dressing room following their 3-0 victory over FC Dallas in the Champions League in which Morgan and fellow TFC Academy Graduate Doneil Henry held up the Canadian flag as part of their postgame celebration. And for the Canadian International, he sees every game in which he dons the TFC kit not only as an opportunity to represent his club and city with pride, but also his country.
“Every game that I play with TFC is a representation of being Canadian. I'm representing my city and my country and that's national pride and it felt really good.”
While Morgan has played regularly down the stretch and delivered another solid two way game against Dallas in last Tuesday’s season defining win, fellow TFC Academy Graduate Doneil Henry was also stellar in stepping into the lineup at right back and shutting down one of the top players in the league in Brek Shea. And according to Morgan, that performance was just another sign that the young players on the squad are talented and improving rapidly under the stewardship of the coaching staff.
“It was great (to see Henry play so well in such an important game). Doneil had a job to do and he did the job in an A+ plus fashion and shut down Brek Shea and rewarded the belief that the team showed in him. I give him a lot of credit for that.”
While Morgan has had probably the most successful season out of all of Toronto FC’s Academy Graduates this year, in many ways 2011 has been a season of growth for an entire class of former TFC youth players, including Matt Stinson, Doneil Henry, Oscar Cordon and Keith Makubuya. And according to the Toronto left back, it has been a year in which all of the team’s young players have fed off of and gained confidence from the successes that each other have had.
“It's good for the confidence of Matt, Doneil and I, the other guys that weren't selected (for the recent matches) and even the Academy players who are working to graduate up. It's a great feeling for everybody and it's really good for building our confidence as a group.”
According to Morgan, he sees only positive harbingers for the future of Toronto’s young players and the squad as a whole, and he is fully confident that the momentum the Reds built up in the latter part of 2011 will continue into an even more successful season for TFC in 2012.
“Especially with the way we played in the second half of the season. I feel that everybody is positive, everybody is gelling and we should all be good to go for next season.”
As for the team’s plans with respect to continuing his education and development over the offseason, Morgan admits that nothing concrete has been in put in place, but that he is also open to anything that will make him a better player.
“I'm definitely up for anything that will give me experience. I'm young - twenty years old - and I am trying to take advantage of every opportunity and to learn from every experience.”
|