A spectacular victory like that of Wednesday evening confirms several hypotheses for CF Montreal.
Posted at 2:02 p.m.
First, that this team has had a real growth spurt in the last few weeks.
Two, that she has the means to beat anyone, regardless of ranking, form, geographical context or even weather problems.
Thirdly — why not — that his head coach Wilfried Nancy is not afraid to make unpopular decisions, which generally end up bearing fruit.
Fourth – got there – that she has the mental strength worthy of good MLS teams.
Admittedly, the two Montreal goals were long overdue in Columbus. Kei Kamara (87)e) and Joel Waterman (94e) have indeed played the heroes, but Montreal still has a few offensive shortcomings to settle before it aspires to an interesting playoff run.
Djordje Mihailovic hasn’t found his touch since returning from injury. Mason Toye is also looking for himself, despite his double in Seattle more than a month ago. At least during this time, Romell Quioto continues to pull the team forward. We saw it on Wednesday: its entry into play at the 63e completely tipped the match in favor of the visitors.
But all of that can still be corrected in the final 11 games of the regular season. Montreal has only to draw inspiration from its palpable evolution in recent weeks.
“Last year we showed it, commented Wilfried Nancy after the meeting. This year, we continue. The progression is that this time, we score the winning goal. »
A tight-knit group
Nancy then goes on to talk about the mentality of her men when thunderstorms forced a stoppage of play of around 90 minutes in Columbus.
“I didn’t speak, it was them who motivated themselves. That’s what we put in place. »
They put on music. Practiced on a stationary bike. And “talked to each other”, according to Nancy.
“We kept telling ourselves that we believed in it,” said Joel Waterman after the match. We knew that once we scored one, we could win. I didn’t think we would do it so spectacularly. »
We are therefore talking here about a close-knit group, which has confidence in its abilities despite adversity. The credit here goes to his coaching staff. With a Nancy at its head who did not hide her satisfaction afterwards.
“We said we were going to win that game, advances Nancy. In all humility, but that’s what I felt with the staff and the players. Excuse me for the term, but damn it’s good. »
Waterman takes the lead
PHOTO JAY LAPRETE, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Joel Waterman (in black) during yesterday’s game
Even without his winning goal, the name of Joel Waterman stood out from this meeting.
The Canadian central defender continues to grow this season – and since his arrival from the Canadian Premier League (PLC) in 2020. He may even be becoming the best in his position among Montrealers.
He has the best passing percentage of the whole group this year, with 88%. He has the highest clearance total (56) on his record, a mark he co-owns with Rudy Camacho. A statistic that indicates in particular a good positioning, but also the aggressiveness necessary to go and put your nose in traffic. To the naked eye, you can feel him confident and solid on his crampons.
He even found his marker touch. Wednesday was his third goal of the campaign, and eighth for a Montreal defender.
But don’t see him taking the place of a striker anytime soon.
“I’m going to leave that job to Romell, Mason and Kei,” he laughed.
Moreover, Montreal has pulled itself together defensively over the past month. He hasn’t allowed more than one goal per game since his thaw against the Los Angeles Galaxy in early July. This is why the decision to replace goalkeeper James Pantemis with Sebastian Breza was considered audacious on the part of Nancy. And she was. But it worked. Breza was decisive on several occasions in this game.
Confident jailers. An increasingly watertight defense. A foolproof insurance in the group. It only needs a little more boldness in the last third to really aspire to big.
Kamara, in legend
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Kei Kamara got his 134e goal in MLS.
Kei Kamara finally got his 134e goal in MLS, he who was looking for the back of the net since his goal against Nashville in mid-May.
This success therefore places him in third place among the best scorers in the history of the circuit, tied with Jeff Cunningham.
And what time to do it. In Columbus, against the team he made his league debut with in 2006. And to tie the game for his beloved new club.
“I’m pampered, man,” he replies when asked about it. It was quite a journey. But I haven’t finished yet. I still have a few years left in me. I want to keep playing. »