Former CF Montreal defender Bacary Sagna believes that the club is on the wrong track by focusing its strategy on the development of young players.
“I don’t think it’s the right strategy,” he told English site Sportingpost.com. It’s good to focus on young players, but you can’t field all these youngsters at the same time. It doesn’t work like that.
“You can have quality youngsters, but you can’t buy experience, just like knowing how to play and how to behave in key moments.”
The one who played 35 games in a Montreal uniform during the 2018 and 2019 seasons is nevertheless a supporter of youth development. He had taken Zachary Brault-Guillard under his wing during his stay in Montreal.
Stability
In the eyes of Sagna, who has also worn the colors of Arsenal and Manchester City in the Premier League, the way the Montreal club does harms its stability.
“I want to see the youngsters having a chance to play to possibly sell them in the future, but if that’s the strategy, there has to be stability first.
“To do this, we must integrate young people gradually. You can’t just throw them into the starting XI like they seem to be doing right now.”
We can only agree with him since during the first seven games of the season (1 W, 6 D), the team always had at least two players aged 21 or under in its starting squad and sometimes there were three. . The last meeting, a 2-0 victory over the New York Red Bulls, was an exception to this rule.
Rising caliber
According to Sagna, the ever-increasing level of play in MLS requires the presence of more experience on the field.
“MLS is getting better and better. There are good players who could play in the top leagues in Europe. What can prevent them from taking the plunge can sometimes come down to their passport, but the level is very good.
“So you end up playing kids against players at that level. It’s impossible to win enough games using this strategy.