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While it often seems like the fortunes of young Canadian players in Major League Soccer can change significantly in the blink of an eye, the North American top flight does possess a handful of young Canadian players who are enjoying something akin to breakthrough seasons during the current league campaign.
In that vein, one of those positive stories regarding young Canadians in MLS has to center around that of 23 year old defender Karl Ouimette. After parting ways with his hometown club the Montreal Impact in February via one of many questionable management decisions by now former Impact Head Coach Frank Klopas, the Montreal Impact Academy graduate earned a spot with the New York Red Bulls after an extended trial with the club in preseason.
Asked about the move to the Red Bulls after having previously spent the entirety of his career as a youth player and as a professional in Quebec, the Repentigny, Quebec admitted that the change of scenery has ended up being a positive one for him.
“I’ve started seven games and played in ten, so it has been going well for me,” Ouimette told RedNation. “The team has done very well with the new coach Jesse Marsch, who I knew from Montreal. He is a very good coach and he makes sure that everything is very organized.”
“It has been good change for me,” the Canadian International added. “It just changes the perspective that you have on everything. When you are always with the same club you tend to think that everything is the same everywhere. But when you go to another club you see that they do things differently and it is pretty good what they do. That is what happened with the move from Montreal to New York. The Red Bulls club is very organized and set up so we can deliver good performances. It has also been good to get away and go to another city and live on my own.”
In addition to giving him a new perspective on the professional game, the move to the Red Bulls has also reunited Ouimette with a manager that he had played for previously in the form of aforementioned former Impact Head Coach Jesse Marsch.
“For sure, it made the transition easier (to go to team with Marsch), but for any coach that would have been there I would have worked just as hard and tried to earn my spot,” Ouimette stated. “As a coach, Jesse has been incredible and he has helped me a lot to be able to step up my game up a level.”
Another coach who has been a boon to Ouimette’s development as a young defender is Canadian Men’s National Team Head Coach Benito Floro. The 10 times capped Canadian International was quick to speak highly of the Spanish gaffer who has made him a regular call-up to national team over the last couple of years.
“Benito is very intelligent,” Ouimette explained. “He sees the game like nobody before. It just changes the perspective you have on the game and opens your eyes to different possibilities regarding how to make space and apply good pressure. It’s good for me and it helps me.”
Of course, with his ascension to being a regular player with the Red Bulls, Ouimette has recently had to deal with the Major League Soccer variable that centers on the fact that the league does not stop playing matches during International breaks. That fact has often placed players in the middle of a tug of war between national sides and club teams with both wanting to field players at the same time.
According to Ouimette, he has been lucky that has not been a major issue for him with the Red Bulls.
“They are very supportive (of me playing for Canada),”the 6 foot defender said. “The Red Bulls Technical Director has been on board and has been doing all he can for me to be here (with Canada). They are supporting me and it is good for them as well because it is good for me as a player. They really focus on finding solutions so I can play for Canada and so the club is not left shorthanded as well.”
In terms of his growth as a player, Ouimette see his recent participation in high pressure games for Canada in World Cup qualifying and the recently completed CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament as something that will benefit him as a player for both Canada and the Red Bulls, as well as for Canada as a national team aiming to qualify for a World Cup for the first time since 1986.
“Every time you competitive games it is good for you and good for the team,” Ouimette said. “Just to be able to compete against those teams (in the Gold Cup) will only make us better. I felt like we had a pretty good tournament but unfortunately we weren’t able to get out of the group stage, but the experience will help us for the World Cup qualifiers.”
“I played against Costa Rica, which was the final game in which we could have progressed,” he added. “To play in that game and learn to deal with that type of situation is always good for you. It helps to play well under pressure, so I think it was good for the entire team.”
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