(Montreal) For someone who hadn’t stepped on an MLS soccer field in over six weeks, Jules-Anthony Vilsaint didn’t look too rusty last Saturday night. Even the CF Montreal striker came close to finding the back of the net in what is now the castle of the former head coach of the Montreal team.
Inserted into the match during the 55e minute of play in Columbus at the same time as Dominic Iankov, Vilsaint found himself in the heart of the penalty area, less than a quarter of an hour later, at the end of a sequence started by Bryce Duke.
Had it not been for a dive from Crew goalkeeper Patrick Schulte, Vilsaint could have broken the 0-0 tie and scored a second goal this season in less than 170 minutes of action.
The two clubs were ultimately unable to master or even make the strings vibrate.
After CF Montreal’s training session on Wednesday at the Nutrilait Center, Vilsaint briefly lamented the missed opportunity. But above all, he was happy to have been able to play for around thirty minutes and see that the knee that had forced him to miss matches had regained its full strength.
“Physically, I felt good, my knee did not cause me any doubts. It was good mentally to get on the field, to have minutes and to make a difference,” mentioned the slender 21-year-old Montrealer.
Once on the field, Vilsaint felt like he did a good job offensively.
“We brought energy, created chances and made the difference. I think we got back very well. It was really positive,” he said.
Vilsaint scored his only goal of the season on March 2, in the first half of the match in Dallas, which the Montreal team won 2-1.
Eight days later, in Miami, a tackle by an opponent in the center of the field in the first half caused his knee to be “like stuck on the field,” he described.
“When I had the injury, I didn’t think it was too serious. It was more the fact that I continued to train with (the injury) that made it worse,” added Vilsaint, who ultimately played 68 minutes against Miami.
Now that he says he is 100% recovered, Vilsaint could be granted other precious minutes of play. Especially since Laurent Courtois must manage without the services of Matias Coccaro and Josef Martinez, sidelined for indefinite periods.
Obviously unhappy to see teammates as valuable as Coccaro and Martinez being kept away from the team, Vilsaint believes he is in a position where he can progress within the Montreal team.
I have always had this mentality where I have no doubts about my qualities. I know that the group believes a lot in me, in my qualities and in what I can bring positively to the field.
Jules-Anthony Vilsaint
“I always want to improve in training and give 100% on the pitch,” he continued.
Laurent Courtois is part of the group of people inside the organization who believe in Vilsaint.
“Jules really has an interesting profile and qualities. It just needs to have continuity. Every time he shows interesting things, he didn’t have the chance to follow up or confirm because of injuries,” Courtois underlined after Saturday’s game.
“So he needs to find a little bit of continuity and consistency to be able to start building on that. But we know the qualities he has and I hope he will be able to be with us for several weeks in a row,” added Courtois.
In this regard, Vilsaint has objectives which corroborate the words of his head coach. But he adds an element which allows us to realize that the young man also has clear ambitions.
“I want to stay consistent with my playing minutes, not have any injuries and also score as many goals as possible. I said at the start of the year that I had a goal of having more than 10 goals during the season. »
CF Montreal will return to action on Saturday evening, when they visit Nashville SC.