“Yeah, it served as a little wake-up call. » Laurent Courtois makes no secret of it. The pressure that Gabriel Gervais put on his group a few weeks ago had the desired effect.
On September 9, after the bloody defeats of 5-0 and 4-1, the president of CF Montreal ruled that “the coaches” and “the players” had to “find solutions”.
They responded by winning four out of five matches and putting themselves back in the playoff picture.
“It’s always good discussions to question how we act in order to be more relevant,” agreed Courtois, Thursday noon, at the Nutrilait Center. His men had just come out of a preparation session before the decisive match on October 19 at the Saputo stadium.
A few moments later, it was Gabriel Gervais himself who appeared in front of the microphones.
Yes, the staff found solutions. We see it from the point of view of player choices. The intensity in training, the tactical side. Now we see that all the players are on the same wavelength. And the results were there.
Gabriel Gervais, president of CF Montreal
It is not for nothing that Gervais mentions the choice of players as the first element in his list. This is what has long been missing from the 2024 edition of CF Montreal. Who were its main actors? Who were going to play the next match? What was this team’s style of play?
During the winning streak, Courtois – finally – found his typical team. The defensive trio has consolidated, as has the offensive trident. And everyone raised their level of play.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
CF Montreal head coach, Laurent Courtois
“When you have a starting eleven, you have stability,” believes Gervais. We saw that it helped greatly. We’re not going to hide it: the arrival of new players has really brought a new dimension to our game, whether we like it or not. It’s a new spark. »
What he likes about Caden Clark, Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty and even Tom Pearce and Dawid Bugaj is that these new acquisitions are “predictable”. Not for their opponents, but for CF Montreal.
“We expect certain things from them, and they deliver. And they helped other veterans, like [Josef] Martinez. When you understand how to give him the ball, he can become an absolutely formidable weapon in the league. »
The Venezuelan carried the team with 5 goals in 3 matches. Is this enough to make the president want to activate the option of an additional year to his contract, for whom the agreement ends, if things remain like this, at the end of this campaign?
“We are going to finish the season and we will take stock of the situation,” replies Gervais, without going any further.
A different momentum from 2023
It would be easy to draw parallels between the end of the 2023 and 2024 CFM seasons. Last year, Hernán Losada, a coach in his first year in Montreal, went all out in the last game of the season, with participation in the playoff qualifying play-off match at stake.
“The context is different from last year,” submits Gervais. He recalls that his club was going to play in Columbus, against the eventual reigning champions, while on October 19, it was he who hosted New York City FC. Adding that the last stage of the 2023 season was particularly complicated.
“We were eighth and we almost protected our eighth place. Whereas now, the last month, it wasn’t like that at all. We had to go for victories. […] It’s a completely different momentum, the confidence is different with the team. »
The failure of 2023 ultimately sounded the death knell for Losada’s reign in Montreal. But, during the assessment, senior management stipulated that even with the series, the Argentinian was not leading the club in the desired trajectory. This is not what we hear from Gervais in the case of Courtois, under contract for another season.
“I said it last time, the penultimate time, and I repeat it today: I have 100% confidence in our coach. »
A new “standard” for Canada Soccer
It was a big week of football in Montreal, even if the CFM did not play a match. The Roses, a new professional women’s team, unveiled their brand image on Tuesday evening. Canada Soccer is also in town and has been traveling its men’s team players throughout the greater metropolitan area.
Gervais was at the unveiling of the Roses, which he described as “superb”. The question burns on our lips: have you been in discussions with the Super League of the North (SLN) club for use of the Saputo stadium?
“Yes, I have been in discussions with them for quite some time now. Our fundamental mission is to help the development of soccer. […] Yes, if there can be a few matches in our stadium, of course we would be ready to host them. »
Canada Soccer players are in Montreal until Saturday, before flying to Toronto to face Panama next Tuesday. This Friday, they will face CF Montreal in a friendly match behind closed doors, at the Nutrilait Center.
Which will essentially put an end to a “very successful” week in the Quebec metropolis, the Canadian federation informed us.
“Our players met thousands of fans from the region,” says Canada Soccer. We gave them unprecedented access in the history of our program. This will now serve as the standard for providing similar opportunities across the country between now and the 2026 World Cup.”
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- CF Montreal profile with one match to play this season