Back-to-back trips to the US West Coast aren’t always easy to negotiate, but CF Montreal are used to doing well.
After a strong performance against the Seattle Sounders on Wednesday, Wilfried Nancy’s men will try to complete the double by taking on the Los Angeles Galaxy on Monday night.
Historically, the Montreal troops have struggled in Los Angeles, picking up just one point in four games — a 0-0 draw on September 12, 2015 — at the home of the Galaxy since arriving in MLS.
Nonetheless, CF Montreal are coming off a fine 2-1 victory in Seattle, which has allowed them to temporarily climb back to the top of the Eastern Conference standings and which could give them confidence against an opponent that is not working. not at full throttle lately.
“Yes, we beat the Sounders, but it was mostly the performance that was interesting. We can do it again against the Galaxy, said Nancy. Does it give players more confidence because we won in Seattle? I want to say it’s normal. But trust is fragile and it comes with humility. We beat a very good team and we know what the Sounders represent in MLS. We must have the humility to come back against the Galaxy. »
In 2013, CF Montreal, then called the Impact, began its campaign with two wins in seven days in the American West. In 2015, he drew two draws in four days, in Los Angeles and San Jose.
On the Galaxy side, things haven’t been going well for more than a month already. The California outfit have won just one of their last six games in MLS (1-3-2) and they suffered a tough loss against the Sacramento Republic of the USL — a league below MLS — during the quarter-finals of the United States Soccer Cup on June 21.
Nancy is still aware of the challenge that her team will have in front of her on Monday evening, and he is far from underestimating the Galaxy.
“They’re one of the best teams in MLS, even though they’ve been struggling lately. I can guarantee you that they will come out strong against us and they will do everything to have a big game. Especially since they face Los Angeles FC a few days later. It’s very difficult to play in this stadium because it’s very big,” explained the head coach of CF Montreal.
It’s true that the crowd can be loud at Dignity Health Sports Park, but the Blue-White-Black will show up there with newfound confidence overseas. In all of its history in MLS, the Montreal team has never finished a season with a positive record on opposing courts, but 2022 could finally mark the first.
CF Montreal is 4-3-2 on the road, and players and coaches know the importance of getting as many points as possible away from their fans to have a chance of returning to the playoffs.
“We recognized that we were not a good team abroad and these points are important in MLS. Even if it’s a draw, said defender Joel Waterman. Every time we go abroad, we want to collect at least one point. To have three points against the Sounders was huge. We will try to repeat the feat against the Galaxy. »
Besides, Canadian defender Kamal Miller should be available for the duel against the Galaxy, but it is not known if he will be used by Nancy. In the case of midfielder Djordje Mihailovic, he could miss a few more weeks of activity.
Last year, the Montrealers began to fall apart around mid-July. They started the season with a 6-3-4 record, but then won only one of their next eight outings (1-4-3) to drop in the standings.
“The team has grown a lot since then. We deserved to make the playoffs, but we lost games that we should have won down the stretch. It’s a new year and a new formation, we’ll see in the next matches. It’s a great challenge,” concluded Nancy.