|
|
First Thoughts
Fresh off another bye week and having accumulated as much as four games in hand on fellow conference opposition, the Montreal Impact host the Philadelphia Union at Stade Saputo. This is a key match at this point in the season with both teams are separated by only two points in the tight Eastern Conference.
Having had so much time off recently will see the Impact squad be put to the test with so many fixtures to be played later in the season, but in the short terms it has been good for coach Marco Schällibaum with respect to squad rotation and fixture congestion. To date the Swiss manager has gotten his rotation policy correct and it will be fascinating to see how he approaches this match with the return leg of the Canadian Championship also left to play.
Keep Thinking
These two teams are almost mirror images of each other in terms of a style of play that is predicated on a robust approach to defending, physicality, energetic wide play and a clinical finisher up front. This match is highlighted by the match-up between Philadelphia’s young American forward Jack McInerney and Montreal’s Italian front man Marco Di Vaio. Both players are known as goal poachers and currently both are amongst the league leaders in goals scored. Both defensive units will need to be sharp and communicate when setting offside traps and on set pieces.
Montreal and Philadelphia each have strong spines and keep a compact shape so the wide areas will be prime real estate and it will be up to the wide midfielders to take advantage of any open space, creating angles for secondary runs, providing service into the box and widening the field so that it’s less of a fight in a phone booth.
Montreal will be looking to Justin Mapp and Andres Romero to use speed and creativity against Philadelphia fullback’s Raymon Gaddis and Sheanon Williams. The Union defenders are two of the lesser talked about players around the league but are known to be tough customers that give up little ground. A weapon that Philly like to use is the long throw in into the box courtesy of Williams; this proves to be an effective form of service that’s difficult for defenders to stop.
Philadelphia’s wide players aren’t typical wingers but both Michael Farfan and Danny Cruz have a responsibility to be much more of a creative presence and providing link play with Jack McInerney and his strike partner, either Sebastien Le Toux or Connor Casey, in lieu of traditional service. Depending on the health of the Impact defensive unit, the position of left fullback will be an area Philly will look to exploit. The play of home grown talent Maxim Tissot has been an upgrade to that of Dennis Iapichino from a positional sense, but at only 21 years of age he still has a lot to learn and going up against a side that is known to be physical will prove a tough challenge.
In the End
To a large degree this match will be determined by how Montreal respond to having had so much time off and how serious this match is taken with a Cup Final a few days later. This has all the makings of a low scoring affair with two teams that pride themselves on being difficult to break down. Each have a proven mean streak about them and possess two of the best goal scorers in MLS, so it should still prove to be entertaining.
Prediction
Montreal Impact 1-1 Philadelphia Union
|