CF Montreal’s early season often allows the team to accumulate a few “Air Miles” points, but the players will not complain about finally playing their opening match at home.
The least we can say is that the Bleu-blanc-noir didn’t take a vacation by suffering three shutout losses in Florida, Texas and Tennessee to start its 2023 season.
However, he could choose the right moment to sign his first win of the campaign by defeating the Philadelphia Union (2-1-0), which will be at Olympic Stadium on Saturday evening.
As is regularly the case since its arrival in MLS in 2012, CF Montreal plays the majority of its first games of the season abroad and the players are suffering the repercussions for the moment. The many trips and changes in temperature, surface and routine may partly explain the poor results after three games, and probably the impressive number of injuries.
The team, which is struggling to breathe, will certainly not say no to the energy that its supporters will provide on Saturday.
“We’ve traveled a lot over the last month and it’s going to be good to play in front of our fans and have their support. It will also be good not to have to take a flight after our game and arrive in Montreal in the wee hours of the morning,” said Montreal head coach Hernan Losada.
In a sign that it’s not an easy task, Houston Dynamo and Los Angeles Galaxy are the other two MLS teams not to have played at home this season and they are also in search of a first victory.
Hosting the Union, CF Montreal knows what to expect, not least because it spent much of last season chasing the Philadelphia squad for first place in the Eastern Conference.
After losing a heartbreaking penalty shootout in the MLS Cup Final, the Union picked up where they left off by winning two of their first three games this season. Jim Curtain’s men also come back from a convincing 4-0 victory against Alianza FC on Tuesday, which gave them access to the quarter-finals of the Concacaf Champions League.
According to Losada, the strength of the Union lies in their stability from season to season.
“Their formation is very good and the players play as a unit. For the last three or four years, they’ve fielded a pretty similar team. They replace a striker or a midfielder here and there, but otherwise it’s the same solid foundation. They are used to playing together and they have a very good head coach. We know they will be a very tough team to beat,” he said.
PHOTO CATHERINE LEFEBVRE, ARCHIVES SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Hernan Losada
Unlike Nashville SC’s defence, which has yet to allow a goal in three games this season, the Union’s defense is not infallible. If we add the support of the crowd, the ingredients may be in place for the Montreal team to score its first goal of the campaign.
Despite some good offensive moments in their first three games, CF Montreal didn’t really create clear chances near the enemy net. Moreover, the club is quietly approaching the Toronto FC record for the most minutes without a goal to start a season (383).
Losada however sees a progression in the game of its players and some of them are of the opinion that the results will come.
“I think we’re getting better as a team and I think the more games go on, the better we play. We have little automatisms that are coming. I think you just have to be a little more on the same page in the final third and the scoring opportunities will keep coming,” observed Quebecer Mathieu Choinière.
Striker Sunusi Ibrahim, for his part, believes he has found part of the problem.
“I think we lack communication and connection between forwards and midfielders. Last year we had a lot of chances to score. We didn’t always make them happen, but we scored a lot of goals because there was this communication when the ball was handed over,” he said.
Even though the Montrealers aren’t on their best streak right now, Curtain expects great opposition from them, in front of a hostile crowd.
“We want to build on the momentum of this great performance in the Champions League, but we will face our biggest challenge of the season. It will be their home opener and it will be tough. They’re going to be looking to impress their fans,” Curtain said during a media availability earlier this week.
Some would say he used an age-old trick to make sure his players kept their focus. It remains to be seen whether the strategy will work.