A year ago, CF Montreal was preparing to play the most important game of its season, the one where it would carve out a place in the playoffs or fall on vacation.
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We know the rest, the team lost 2 to 0 against Orlando in front of its supporters and finished the season in 10e position, two points away from a playoff spot.
This year, the team will instead play against Inter Miami knowing that they have a chance to get their hands on the first place in the Eastern Conference in the event of a victory coupled with a loss or a draw of the Union. of Philadelphia against Toronto FC.
“I would be lying if I said that I’m not happy not to have to fight this battle right now,” admitted Joel Waterman, referring to a match without a future like last year.
Double-edged blade
On the one hand, there’s the sense of accomplishment that would come with a first-place finish and the pass to the first playoff weekend that comes with it.
On the other, there’s the desire to stay in the game and keep the engine warm, so there’s not necessarily a good or bad scenario between first and second place.
“We would like to have the free pass and the rest that comes with it, but second place allows us to keep our rhythm and in the past we have sometimes seen the rust that had set in with the teams who had had this leave. “, recognized Waterman who is already satisfied to have proven that the team was better than what everyone anticipated.
“If you had asked anyone at the start of the season where we would be at this stage of the season, I don’t think anyone would have said second place.”
They knew it early
We can stop being surprised to see the Bleu-blanc-noir behaving well this season. After all, players have already known for quite some time what they are capable of.
“I think it was from the game against Atlanta that things settled down,” said Waterman, who was in training despite a foot injury suffered on Saturday.
This encounter marked a turning point although the team let slip a 3-1 lead to settle for a 3-3 draw even though Atlanta were playing one man short.
It was the first point of the season after three straight losses and it was the start of an eight-game unbeaten streak (6-0-2).
Thereafter, the team faltered a little with five losses in eight games, but since mid-July, this formation is unbeatable with only one loss in fourteen games (10-1-3).