CF Montreal is halfway through its season and sits atop the Eastern Conference and third overall in MLS. Everything to delight the team’s sports director Olivier Renard, who met the media on July 1.
Posted at 2:47 p.m.
Whether it’s the efficiency of the new players, the growth of the younger ones or the performance of the head coach, everything is going well for the Montreal eleven. Enough to leapfrog heavyweights like the New York Red Bulls, Philadelphia Union and New York City FC in the standings.
Olivier Renard gave a positive assessment of this mid-season, Friday afternoon, without getting carried away unnecessarily. There is still a lot of work to do, but he is sure he is delighted with the way things have settled since the start of the campaign.
The players acquired by Renard, such as Kei Kamara, Djordje Mihailovic, Alistair Johnson in particular, make the sporting director look good.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Djordje Mihailovic
He does not, however, want to take all the credit by saying that there are good and bad moves. He points out that some players are made to evolve in certain environments, like Maxime Crépeau for example, who was perhaps not made to play in Montreal, but who is today one of the good goalkeepers in MLS. On the other hand, he explains that building a winning team is not easy, but that his various bets have paid off so far.
“I’m paid to make the best possible team with the budget I have,” he said at a press conference.
It is also the intra-MLS exchanges that have been the most profitable to date. The majority of new players have arrived from other markets in the league and that may be why they are so successful so quickly.
“Most of the players who came didn’t cost much. These are much younger profiles, which we could possibly look at for resale. But it is in intra-league transfers that we have spent the most money, because when we are sure of an internal player, we are not afraid to put the money we need. .
Upcoming changes?
The transfer window will open on July 7 and it is not impossible to see some players leaving or arriving during this summer transfer window, even if the core is productive and balanced.
Renard explained that much like the stock market, sometimes you have to sell players while their value is at the peak.
However, he would like his team to keep the same identity. Which means that attracting a designated player is not necessarily in his priorities.
I don’t want to bring in a designated player just to fill the stadium. That’s not what we want. We want a designated player who molds well to the team and who does what the coach asks of all the other players. We don’t want a difference […] and it’s not always easy to find.
Olivier Renard, Sporting Director of CF Montreal
Renard is happy with the current squad and the players seem to agree. “No player is currently asking to leave. It means that there is a good understanding in the locker room and that the players are focused on the final objectives, ”he said.
It is this uniqueness, he believes, that allowed the group to recover from a more difficult start to the season when the team had not tasted victory in its first four games. “We stayed calm because we trust the group. »
This confidence does not seem to want to fade and the sporting director hopes that this year could be the right one for a place in the playoffs: “We are more confident in our game […] we manage the match better, so let’s knock on wood, ”he concluded.