Three games without a loss is not the kind of streak that will earn a place in the record books of an established professional team, let alone a league. But for a team like CF Montreal, such a run of success, however modest, seems to do a lot of good for morale. Especially since it comes at the best of times.
The energy among head coach Laurent Courtois’ men was palpable on the Nutrilait Centre training ground Wednesday, three days before a matchup against the San Jose Earthquakes — by far the worst team in MLS — this weekend at Stade Saputo.
Goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois is seeing positive vibes within CF Montreal (8-12-10 – 34 points), which remains in the thick of the fight for a playoff spot in the MLS Eastern Conference.
“I think right now, we can say that success comes with camaraderie. We’ve had tougher times where the joy wasn’t always there, in training. Now that we’re having a little success, we have to appreciate it, but we have to try to stay rational and grounded and not get carried away. We know we still have a lot of work to do,” Sirois noted after the team’s practice session.
After stinging defeats against the New England Revolution and then against Cincinnati FC at the end of August, defeats which seemed to destine the team towards another early end to the season, CF Montreal has since recorded two home victories and, in between, snatched a draw against New England after falling behind by two goals.
“I think defensively we’re more pragmatic. We’re less about overdoing things. When we need to clear the ball, whether it’s in corner or in touch, I think there is no more hesitation,” the Montreal goalkeeper first described.
“From a general point of view, there is more cohesion, more communication too. The attackers with our two midfielders, our two midfielders with the defenders, then me with the defenders, we talk a lot on the field. Also, the big difference in these three games is that we had a solid game plan, which we applied. Even if we were down 2-0 in New England, we still stuck to our game plan. The changes came, they energized everything and then we came back into the game. We didn’t panic.”
Precarious position
While morale is good within the team, its position in the standings remains precarious. With its 34-point harvest, CF Montreal occupies 10th placee rank – therefore out of the playoff picture – two points behind the Philadelphia Union and Toronto FC, which has however played one more match than these two teams.
Also, CF Montreal must keep an eye in the rearview mirror, as Atlanta United FC, Nashville SC and DC United have a total of 33 points.
In fact, CF Montreal is already playing as if it were in the playoffs, Sirois acknowledges.
“We’ve been playing ‘finals’ for more than four games. I think this weekend, against Chicago, was already a final. Even against New England, because it was a game we couldn’t lose. Our mentality is to tell ourselves that we’ve been playing ‘finals’ for a few games now, and until the end of the year.”
Saturday’s match against the Earthquakes (5-22-3 – 18 points) could therefore place the Montreal team in a slightly more comfortable position before tackling the last three matches of its schedule, two of which will take place abroad.
But it will still be necessary for the CF Montreal players not to take the Earthquakes lightly, or to look ahead to the duel that will come four days later, in Atlanta, and which risks taking on capital importance.
Sirois looked back on his own experiences to illustrate the importance of maintaining one’s concentration at the highest level next Saturday against the Earthquakes.
“It’s going to be in the way each player approaches the game. This is a team that has nothing to lose, that is already mathematically eliminated. Sometimes, teams like that are the most dangerous. When I was in the CPL (Canadian Premier League), I had games where we met Edmonton, who was already eliminated, and we had to win. Those were big games,” Sirois said.
“On match day, it will be about making sure that, individually, we arrive with the right mentality and that, collectively, that is transmitted on the pitch, that the effort is there and that we dictate the tempo and not the other way around. If we arrive on Saturday, that we dictate the tempo of the match, that we are combative, that we want to win and score at the start, I think we will be in a better frame of mind.”