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The Montreal Impact head into 2013 with all the promise and potential that a second-year MLS franchise could possibly hope for, after an impressive first season of play in Major League Soccer!
During their first season in the big leagues, the Impact picked up major players like Marco Di Vaio and Alessandro Nesta, and tied Vancouver for points, though they missed out on the MLS playoffs.
So, as Montreal prepares for its sophomore season, there are a handful of key goals and objectives the club must follow to ensure similar success in MLS, surpass their first-season triumphs, and enhance the relationship with their loyal fans, as the club prepares to take on the league as well as Canada's best in 2013.
The first duty, is, of course, to find a head coach. Montreal is still without a proper manager after Jesse Marsch’s departure. While Jesse Marsch did a good job in his first year as a head coach in MLS, the club and the manager ultimately parted ways, leaving a void in the footballing structure at Montreal.
The current interim, Mauro Biello, is a former Impact player (most famous for being on the receiving end of a choke-hold in 2009 by his own teammate, Sandro Grande!), but doesn't have the necessary experience to manage the plethora of highly experienced internationals on the roster. The new head coach, like the players the team has invested in, should have ample experience managing at the top level and should be able to work within Montreal's unique team structure.
Finding this head coach is key: since Montreal have chosen their fate and become MLS' international-heavy outfit, it makes sense that their manager, too, comes from European stock.
After finding a competent head coach, one improvement in performance Montreal will need to make is in winning those easy games. The Impact have been better at home than they were away, but there were still crucial losses at Stade Saputo against weaker opponents that ended up costing them.
Montreal has actually stepped up against tougher opposition, recording some impressive wins against some of MLS' best sides, such as their 2-0 win over Sporting Kansas City, a 4-2 victory against The Houston Dynamo, and even a 4-1 trumping of the Seattle Sounders!
However, it is against easier opposition that Montreal have sometimes faltered, squandering crucial points that, had they gained, would have surely guaranteed them a spot in the MLS playoffs in their first season: a 2-1 loss to Chivas USA and a 3-0 loss to Toronto FC hurt the team.
It’s important to make these strides and continue to grow as a team, and one way of gaining a crucial footballing ingredient – consistency – is to win games you should win while surprising some of the bigger teams, until you, too, can be called a heavy-hitter in the league.
It all comes down to building a reputation of being a winner, and that reputation skyrockets with a piece of silverware. No other Canadian MLS club can claim they have picked up trophies like Toronto FC have, after they won four consecutive Amway Canadian Championships, but if Montreal are to flourish, they will need to take that trophy away from their neighbours on Highway 401.
Ideally, Montreal should aim to win the Amway Canadian Championship, but with the last few tournaments coming down to Toronto FC vs. the Vancouver Whitecaps, Montreal should first focus on getting past the initial stage and putting themselves in the running for the title by making the finals of the ACC.
Montreal need to put their efforts into besting their first round opponents, because once they make the finals, anything can happen. However, sitting out for the last two seasons means Montreal haven't had a real chance at the Voyageurs Cup since they won it five years ago.
Plus, what Montreal did with their first and only Canadian Championship prize was exceptional – the club took the trophy and ran with it all the way to quarterfinals to take on Santos Laguna, and this was before Montreal was even an MLS team! Surely, 55,000+ packed in the Olympic Stadium in Montreal in the 2009 CONCACAF Champions League is something club higher-ups dream of repeating.
The quality of Montreal’s players, however, must be improved. While the team boasts a healthy spine in Troy Perkins, Alessandro Nesta, Matteo Ferrari, Patrice Bernier, Felipe, and Marco Di Vaio, their wingers and fullbacks leave something to be desired. Apart from Davy Arnaud, the club looked uninspired in their wing play.
At rightback is a converted centerback in Hassoun Camara; leftback saw three equally talented players rotated in Jeb Brovsky, Zarek Valentin and Dennis Iapichino. Yet none of those defenders are up to par with, say Y.P. Lee and Alain Rochat in Vancouver or Richard Eckersley and Ashtone Morgan in Toronto.
Montreal needs a pair of high-quality fullbacks, but that's not the only deficiency in the squad. The right and left wings both have issues of depth; Davy Arnaud, Justin Mapp, and Sanna Nyassi were Montreal's only true wide midfielders - Lamar Neagle was used as a utility player, too. Montreal needs one, perhaps two quality wingers to help find the forwards, and Nyassi and Mapp have been too inconsistent to earn that role.
Width should be the focus of Montreal's offseason purchases, and new signing of Andrea Pisanu should help with that. With an upcoming round of drafts, and potential trades, Montreal should do okay here, but what the Impact need is a hero:
Montreal, perhaps more so than Toronto, is a city that loves and cherishes its heroes: the city's sporting identity is synonymous with legends such as Maurice "The Rocket" Richard and Guy Lefleur of the Montreal Canadiens, both native Quebecers. The Impact have some notable players on their roster, such as Quebec native Patrice Bernier, but they need that extra something special.
Just like Toronto FC picked up hometown hero Dwayne De Rosario and forged an identity around him, Montreal, too, should find a hallmark player to represent their club.
Ideally, Montreal would look for a French legend like Thierry Henry, but with his time in New York, it wouldn't feel quite as meaningful. Thus, Montreal's final objective should be this; find a French international and use a Designated Player slot on him.
Proud of the culture and in particular, the language, Montreal needs a player fluent in French who can become an icon for the club. Already, team management has stated that the new head coach must be fluent in both England and French, and a player fluent in French with a high pedigree would do wonders for the team’s image.
Who are the options? Florent Malouda is one possibility, Eric Abidal, another. Perhaps Didier Drogba, if Montreal could pull it off. Each has the experience and the quality to do well in Major League Soccer. However, if Montreal play their cards right, and make a more practical decision, rather than going after a headline-grabber, they might just have find the most success with one Christophe Jallet of Paris-Saint Germaine.
A natural right fullback with international experience, Jallet solves a need for Montreal while also fulfilling the role of hero; Jallet is a hard worker, consistent, and even earned the approval of one impressed Italian manager Carlo Ancelotti with his skills and work ethic.
It comes at an ideal time, too, when PSG is looking to add superstar studs throughout their starting XI, with millions to spend on name brand players. And, while the likes of Franck Ribery or Karim Benzema still surpass the quality of MLS, in Jallet, Montreal would get the right kind of leader – and hero – they deserve!
Though it may be an afterthought now, Montreal has all the tools required to attract top European talent. It looks like the Impact are set for another successful season in Major League Soccer, so long as they stay focused, healthy, and, most importantly, stay distinctly, uniquely, unquestionably Montreal-like in nature!
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