Wednesday evening did not bring all good news to CF Montreal players. Yes, they got their ticket to the Canadian Championship final, but at the same time, several MLS teams joined forces to drag them a notch lower in the Eastern Conference standings.
After a day when the 13 other Eastern clubs were in action, CF Montreal players saw four of these teams – Nashville, Philadelphia, New York City FC and Atlanta United – pull away, and a another – DC United – get ahead thanks to a 1-0 victory over the New York Red Bulls.
Thus, with 43 points and three games to play, CF Montreal (11-10-10) is tied for eighth, tied with the Red Bulls (12-12-7). The latter hold the advantage due to their greater number of victories.
Suddenly, Wilfried Nancy’s men are temporarily out of the playoff portrait – just like the Red Bulls for that matter – since they will only be reserved for the top-7.
However, as if the leaders of the MLS had foreseen the situation when conceiving the calendar, the two formations have an appointment Saturday afternoon, in Harrison, New Jersey, in a game of capital importance.
Before losing in the American capital on Wednesday, the Red Bulls were one of the teams of the hour in MLS. They had won their four previous games and had not suffered defeat in eight games (6-0-2).
During that streak, the Red Bulls’ defense proved to be nearly impenetrable, with five shutout wins and no game conceding two or more goals.
And even in Wednesday’s loss, the Red Bulls were dominant with more than 60 percent possession time and 18 shots attempted, including five on target.
“They’re on a good streak,” defenseman Joel Waterman said on video conference Thursday afternoon.
“We know they are going to play Red Bulls style, with high pressing. They will rush towards us, harass us. ”
As if the good streak of the Red Bulls was not enough, Saturday’s game will take place in a sports arena, the Red Bull Arena, where the Montreal team have never been very successful.
In 11 regular season games against the Red Bulls in the visiting role, the Impact / CF Montreal has a miserable 1-10 record, with 11 goals scored and 33 conceded.
“I know the guys told me that every time they go to play there it’s always tough games, one for the atmosphere and two also because it’s a very strong team. “Said defender Zorhan Bassong, who will experience a first confrontation between the two teams at Red Bull Arena.
In Bassong’s eyes, the psychological aspect will play a decisive role in the outcome of the playoff race in the East.
“It will not be played on the tactical concept, the quality of the workforce, I think it will mainly be on a mental aspect. That is to say that the teams which will want to show the most desire on the field will be those which will succeed in qualifying for the ‘playoffs’. And I think we have the necessary weapons to qualify, ”Bassong said.
Made aware of this analysis – exceptionally, on Thursday, journalists spoke to the players before questioning the head coach – Nancy wanted to add nuances.
“He was not wrong, my little Zorhan, but I cannot separate the mental aspect, the tactical aspect, the physical aspect and the technical aspect. We will need all the ingredients to have a good result.
“As I often say, a dry cleaning is a collective action. We need to be good mentally, we need to be good tactically to coordinate the pressing, we need to be good technically to get the ball back. So we will need all the ingredients, tactical, physical, mental and technical to have good results in the last three games. ”
In this fierce battle for the five places still available in the East – New England and Nashville have qualified – a defeat by CF Montreal on Saturday will not cause its elimination. It might not be catastrophic, too, depending on the results of games involving the seven other teams still in the running.
Moreover, Nancy and her staff believe that a harvest of six points in the last three games could secure CF Montreal a place in the playoffs.
“We think it can be enough. Now you never know in this league because there can be some kinda weird results, in quotes. We only have to look at Cincinnati, which led by three goals yesterday (Wednesday against Nashville) and which loses 6-3, observed Nancy.
“We say to ourselves that yes, six points out of nine, that can do it, already that we do something good against the Red Bulls and then we will see. It’s really the phrase a little boat, game after game, but it really is. ”