Team presentation at Olympic Stadium before the home opener

Tonight we had the chance to watch players presentation in a open house to the fans before the public training. We also had the chance to meet Montreal Olympic Stadium in "MLS mode" before the home opener. It's always impressive to be in such a historic infrastructure all dressed up prepared to receive more than 50,000 fans against Chicago on Saturday.

Training. Olympic Stadium

And of course, the training. I take trainings very seriously since it always reflects the way you see the game, and therefore I looked at this one with very critic eyes specially the 11 vs 11 and the attacking drills.

Nyassi and Wenger in attacking drills

It's always discouraging when substitutes play better than starters and that happened most of the game tonight. I didn't see much of a difference compared in performance with game against Vancouver. Justin Mapp not very bright with the ball, Nyassi erratic and Justin Braun's lack of finish in front of the net.

I liked Arnaud, always sharp and attentive, also Andrew Wenger who had the best flashes of football in the training. We had a chance to see most recent signing Bernardo Corradi. The Italian played with lots of motivation, showed good attack instinct on the box. The details of his international transfer rights remain unknown to me.

Bernardo Corradi

We also saw the injured players sidelined where Camara, Rivas, Ubiparipovic, Montaño, Garcia and also Sebrango only jogged a little.

So, are we prepared to stop the fastest forward in MLS, Dominic Oduro? Can we cancel Marco Pappa's creativity in the midfield? Being these the two stars to watch out closely I also predict Arnaud and Wenger will be involved in the first Montreal Impact's goal in MLS. 


Enjoy an interview, courtesy of impactmontreal.com with Corradi and his current impressions of the training and his availability.