All games are important in MLS, but some of them are sometimes more conducive to ratings.
CF Montreal head coach Hernan Losada has set the table for the next few weeks by taking advantage of the busy schedule to rotate his players. A few days before a final in the Canadian Championship, and against an almost unbeatable team at home, the opportunity was good to push the exercise a little further.
In his squad’s 3-0 loss to the Philadelphia Union on Saturday, Losada was busy on the sidelines. The Argentinian gave rest to the majority of his regulars, he used players who had not had the opportunity to assert themselves for a long time and he welcomed the return to the field of two of his men.
During his team’s 11 games in 36 days streak, which ends next Saturday against Minnesota United, Losada repeated that virtually all of his players would be needed and he wasn’t lying.
In Philadelphia, Sunusi Ibrahim and Lassi Lappalainen had some good scoring opportunities in the first half, but it was Mason Toye’s entry early in the second half that caught the attention up front. After missing two months of action due to a knee injury, the 24-year-old striker was happy to see some action again.
“I was just excited to get back on the pitch so I didn’t really rate my performance. I just wanted to give effort for the team. I didn’t feel any knee pain so that’s positive. I know I can help by scoring goals and being dangerous,” said Toye.
Final Wednesday
Losada clearly mentioned that he had his eye on him in order to know if Toye could give something to the Montrealers during the final of the Canadian Championship, which will take place on Wednesday in Vancouver.
It is somewhat in this same perspective that the head coach took out the notebook to assess the work of the attacking midfielders.
Upon his arrival, Bryce Duke had a positive impact on the Montreal attack, but in the last games, it seems that fatigue was felt. Sean Rea also delivered a bumpy performance and Matko Miljevic recently recovered from a knee injury. The opportunity was good for Ahmed Hamdi.
In his first start since April 15, Hamdi offered beautiful balls to Ibrahim and Lappalainen and he showed creativity. At the end of the meeting against the Union, the Egyptian received good words from Losada, who does not seem to have found this famous “number 10” yet.
“We are always looking for that attacking midfielder who can give us goals, assists and who can be decisive in the final third. That’s what we found in Hamdi in the first half,” observed Losada.
On the defensive side, Quebec midfielder Nathan Saliba offered an inspired performance against the Union, which has a menacing offensive line of Julia Carranza, Mikael Uhre and Daniel Gazdag.
The 19-year-old Saliba played a lot of minutes at the start of the season, but he quietly lost his job. In the loss to CF Montreal on Saturday, he impressed his head coach with his tenacity and effort.
“Nathan took steps forward in training. He got a lot of minutes and a lot of starts early in the season, but maybe he wasn’t ready for that, Losada admitted. We decided to work with him and he has a very good mentality. We need to be more aggressive and tough and Nathan was an example in the duels against the Union. »
At the back, Ousman Jabang entered the game at 81e minute and he made his career debut in MLS. George Campbell got a start for the seventh time in eight games in all competitions.
In goal, even though he seems to have been snatched the position of number one goalkeeper by Jonathan Sirois, James Pantemis has played his first game since February 25, when he injured his shoulder in the first game of the season.
According to Losada, the ball is now in the players’ court.
“We give the players chances, but it’s up to them to take them because we can’t give them every weekend. We didn’t just give several players 20 or 30 minutes, they started. I’ve said it many times, sometimes the opportunity comes once a year or once in your career. You must be ready. You try to do your best and you try to appreciate, ”he argued.