Montreal keeping the playoff dreams alive.

Don't underestimate your enemy. I hope is something Merrit Paulsen learned last Saturday.
He decided to rest important players like De Rosario, Pontius and Boskovic that night because, I guess, substitutes are enough to beat an expansion team.

Well, obviously things didn't turn up as expected.

Bernier and Warner. Courtesy of impactmontreal.com 

Impact played another strong game at home. Montreal controlled the midfield while defenders were sharp all 90 min.

Again the Warner-Bernier duo was close to perfect, this allowed to have more presence in the midfield and create more chances overall.

We didn't start the game well.  Sometimes we seemed to be more concerned about not losing the game keeping a harmless, low paced possession. This reminded me when we played against TFC in the Canadian Championship -bad memories-. Later on, around minute 22, Bernier made a great accurate pass in the box to Di Vaio and goal!!

Great classy finishing by the Italian and yes, first shot of the game first goal. Deserved? Hard to tell because DC United didn't do much before that either. 

Montreal, again in the situation of do or die, didn't risk much in the attack focusing a lot on having a flawless defense and tying to preserve the lead at all cost. This style has benefited Montreal lately because our all-around midfielders can pretty much attack and defend at any time -thanks Jesse- and all of the sudden in the second half Collen Warner had a clear run for the ball in the box, after another top class pass from Bernier, but received a clear contact from the central defender getting the penalty shot called from the referee. This was probably a non-existent call in Serie A, but MLS has been consistent on this particular type of play and Hassun Camara or Matteo Ferrari know something about it. 

The rest of the game was an open 2-0 typical scenario where Montreal counter attacked a low paced DC United in several occasions and after three or four attempts the third goal arrived. Patrice Bernier, who outclassed the opponents all game, made a 70 meters run to kill Hamid with a shot to the near post. Thanks Patrice!, thanks.

These are some enjoyable times in Montreal, specially while the playoffs hopes are alive.

Now, the next opponent is the red hot Columbus Crew and Federico Higuain. I've been saying this before the game with San Jose and here I go again. If we win this match we have a great chance to make the playoffs.

Here are the highlights from the game.


 

401 Derby - Montreal vs Toronto - Impact needs small tweaks

It is frustrating to still wait for our first win in the league. It is something we have to deal with and a chapter we have to close as soon as possible. 

As I said in previous posts, Montreal is not playing bad football, unfortunately highlights don't show it, but Impact's midfield really looks good many times during a game and that is something I enjoy. 

Salt Lake is one of the most feared team in the league, especially at home and I expected my team, after losing two road games in a row, to play the counter attack and defend most of the game. This did not happen and this is why my first tweet after the game was: "wow my team has a hell of a character". Montreal played all game like a veteran team in the league with enough potential to play face to face the 2009 MLS Cup winners and 2011 Concacaf champions league finalists, sharing possession of the ball in half (51% vs 49%) allowing only 1 goal (penalty kick). 

It is all about the attitude and this is where I give lots of credit to Jessee Marsch. Good evidence of this is pulling one defender to add one forward in the last 15min, by the way I loved that. 

The problem comes when the team have the ball and don't have the means to score a goal. The first to blame is Justin Braun and the second is the blind faith the coach has on him. This kid, because his conditions, could be useful in a counter attack strategy but not if Montreal attacks as a block like they usually have done. Braun, unable to hold the ball in his feet, basically stopped every move going forward.

I also have doubts about the defensive positioning of our left back Josh Gardner. Two games in a row he's been caught giving opponent forwards lots of space to create and also being vulnerable to the first fake. This is something I would pay attention since having Tyson Wahl as option giving Shaver Thomas the chance to repeat in the lineup to start gaining confidence as well. 

Against Toronto, a team that has good offensive pace but currently not the best defense this would be my starting lineup. 

Ricketts - Brovsky - Ferrari - Thomas - Wahl - Arnaud - Bernier - Felipe - Warner - Mapp - Wegner.

This way Felipe can contribute more in the attack and double pivot Bernier-Warner would free up Mapp and Arnaud from defensive chores. 

I really like this rivalry, just the fact this red jersey guys are walking around in St-Catherine street with they attitude piss me off. Lets beat the reds and send them home!

See you guys tomorrow!