The Virginian aims to lead his side to MLS’s first ever Concacaf Champions League title on Wednesday night. And victory could lead to bigger things

Fifteen minutes. Try as he might, that’s as long as Greg Vanney’s obsessive nature allows him to separate from planning for Toronto FC’s next match.

“I shut off to go focus on the team,” says the 43-year-old Virginian, scratching his greying beard. “That’s as far as I can get.”

His work ethic, be it over tactics or formations, has put TFC on the brink of the unprecedented: becoming the first ever MLS team to win the Concacaf Champions League. The tournament has been won by a Mexican side every year since its current inception in 2008.

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Chivas hold a 2-1 lead entering the second leg of the final on Wednesday night, making TFC’s task somewhere between a hill and a mountain to climb. But Vanney has experienced this kind of thing before. Down 3-0 in the opening 53 minutes of the 2016 MLS Cup Eastern Conference finals, Vanney inspired a comeback to advance to MLS Cup. And in 2017, as TFC were hit with injuries and a cramped schedule, Vanney led them to the MLS title. It was enough for Vanney to win MLS Coach of the Year honours. Few argued with the choice of winner. And a victory in Guadalajara could well be enough to put Vanney’s name in the discussion for the new USA coach.

“I won’t think about it in that way,” says Vanney. “I’ll think about it terms of how our team can win this game. For me, it’s about giving our players the best tools to try to succeed and make the best decisions. I don’t necessarily get too caught up in outcomes. I get more focused in the preparation, making sure that when I go into the game that I have solutions for when things happen. If anybody out there is paying attention to anything beyond that, then whatever.”

The front-runner for the job is assumed to be Tab Ramos, given his experience with the program as both a player – he won 81 caps for the USMNT – and as coach of the US Under-20s team.

And yet, Vanney ticks both of those boxes as well. His USMNT career spanned 10 years and 31 caps, and before landing at Toronto FC, Vanney was director of Real Salt Lake-Arizona Youth Academy. He also helped create the first MLS residential academy in the United States. The development of young players is never out of sight for Vanney.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Greg Vanney tangles with England’s Glen Johnson during his USA playing career. Photograph: Phil Cole/Getty Images Sport

“The success of the national team isn’t necessarily my responsibility but I take very seriously my responsibility to develop our Canadian players [at Toronto FC] and push the game along where we can,” said Vanney, who adds that any national’s team success will be a result of a combination of players and the person leading them.

This year alone, Vanney has led TFC to wins over the best two teams in Mexico, Tigres in the quarter-finals and Club America in the semi-finals. Injuries hit his team in both series.

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So, is Vanney a long shot at this stage? Perhaps. But when he took over the TFC job late in 2014, he had no first-team coaching experience – now the team is one of the best in MLS history.

At a time when US soccer has been accused of having a dated approach, Vanney is a breath of fresh air: he stuck to his guns with a then unorthodox 3-5-2 formation throughout most of his time at TFC but wasn’t afraid to throw a curveball in what was then the biggest match of his career, rolling out a 4-4-2 diamond formation just before MLS Cup in 2017. And it worked, with a dominant 2-0 win over the Seattle Sounders.

It will be how he manages a club ravaged by injuries in Guadalajara on Wednesday night that goes a long way to determine his fate with the national team. Some of his preferred starters, including US international Justin Morrow and defender Chris Mavinga are all but ruled out of the final and creative midfielder Victor Vazquez is unlikely to log a full 90 minutes. Understanding how to maximize the talent of his players will be the difference against Chivas.

“We have a process that we work through,” Vanney says of his preparations. “It’s about details. Trying to make sure that guys are prepared. So not just having answer A. Because if answer A isn’t the right answer, we have to know what to adapt to next. If they have the confidence to move forward, they can put their best foot forward.”

Vanney’s three trips to Mexico during the Concacaf Champions League have revealed certain facets of the Mexican game. And whatever Vanney has learned about Mexico could eventually be utilized in World Cup qualifying campaigns.

“What’s interesting, in this process, I didn’t know a lot about the Mexican league. But now, playing three very good Mexican opponents, and watching more of them playing against their opponents, I’ve learned a lot about why teams do what they do,” said Vanney, noting how prevalent man-marking is in Mexico.

If Vanney gets the desired result in Mexico, his stock will only rise. The US men’s national team went winless in their five away games during the crucial fifth round of Concacaf World Cup qualifying.

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But rather than let the enormity of the moment overwhelm him and his team, Vanney has succeeded in staying grounded. As obsessed as Vanney is about planning for every outcome, he has established himself as a players’ coach. It’s not uncommon for him to involve his team in the decision-making process, which he believes can help them on the pitch.

“For me it’s a lot of clarity, to make sure they know what’s expected of them,” Vanney said last June. “Also, to listen. They’re on the field, they see things. When I was a player, I wanted coaches to ask ‘Hey, what did you see? Why did you make that decision?’”

As young players like Christian Pulisic and Tyler Adams begin to understand the weight of leading the US back to the World Cup, their input on the direction of the team, at least on the pitch, will become all the more valuable. And Vanney understands that. A win in Mexico will help further his case for the men’s national team, and perhaps allow his obsessive nature to be influenced by some of the country’s up and coming stars.

“From the outside, I could say, ‘You should’ve done this, this and this,’” said Vanney. “But on the field, you want to know their perspective. It’s a dialogue. So then you can have the right strategy to get across.”