No need to talk in numbers to understand that this edition of CF Montreal has something unique.
Posted at 7:58 p.m.
We only had to see his players dancing and singing at the top of their lungs to the tune of sweet carolinaSunday evening in their locker room at BMO Field in Toronto, to discover this little je-ne-sais-quoi.
Une célébration devenue une tradition – instaurée par le vétéran Kei Kamara – après les victoires de la troupe de Wilfried Nancy en 2022.
Dimanche soir, le CFM avait acquis la 16e de son calendrier, un record du club en MLS.
Ce qui lui permettait aussi d’atteindre son plus haut total de points en une saison, soit 52, et de consolider sa deuxième place au classement de l’Association de l’Est.
Ses 4 buts contre le Toronto FC augmentaient sa récolte à 53, la meilleure de son histoire dans le circuit Garber. C’est un de plus qu’en 2017.
Il n’avait jamais remporté plus de quatre victoires sur la route en une saison. Celle de dimanche portait son total à neuf cette année.
Et tout cela alors qu’il reste encore cinq matchs à la saison.
Bon. Peut-être qu’il était nécessaire de parler en chiffres, finalement.
Parce qu’à la lumière de ceux-ci, et de ce qui est évident à l’œil nu, il n’y a qu’une seule conclusion possible : nous avons devant nous la meilleure équipe de l’histoire du club.
Il reste à voir ce qu’elle parviendra à accomplir en séries éliminatoires pour confirmer sa place dans l’imaginaire collectif. Et, peut-être, ravir ce titre à celle de 2016, qui avait atteint les demi-finales.
« Combat de boxe »
Ces records et ces résultats ne tombent pas du ciel. Le CFM va les chercher au terme d’efforts, d’adresse et, surtout, de résilience.
La remontée de dimanche – ce qui portait à 23 son total de points obtenus malgré des situations perdantes – en est un exemple probant. De 0-2 après 7 minutes à 3-2 après 45, Montréal a complètement déclassé son rival malgré un début de match cahoteux.
« Ils avaient à cœur de montrer que c’est une équipe sur le projet, a souligné Nancy après la rencontre. Qui a envie de s’éclater. Qui a envie de prendre du plaisir dans le jeu, mais aussi dans la bataille.
« [Dimanche], they did both. I saw a boxing match and a game of chess from my players. »
“It felt good when we suffered”
Wilfried Nancy is the first architect of this rock-solid mindset. He is an outstanding trainer for young players, according to Djordje Mihailovic. He is a unifying teacher who brings together his entire group under the same cause, faith… of all the players to whom the question is asked.
His flock adhere to his philosophy, which he implemented in 2021, his first season as head coach. He hasn’t changed since. In ups and downs. At home and abroad. Pulling from behind or leading to the scoreboard. The foot on the accelerator, always.
“We needed to experience certain things,” he explained on Sunday. Last year, it felt good when we suffered. Early this year too. We made the Champions League. We traveled 13 hours to arrive safely. »
It also recalls the three consecutive defeats at the start of the 2022 calendar.
“Thanks to these games, the players are able to play with intensity and do what they do. Without them, we wouldn’t have been able to do this. We all like to win, but we have to learn from defeat. You have to savor it to come back even better. »
earn respect
This success is now leading to claims of a paradigm shift among gamers. Starting with Kamal Miller.
“We felt a lack of respect by all the questions from the media,” said the star defenseman after Sunday’s game against Toronto. “All their questions were about how to contain the TFC. They should have asked us how they were going to have to contain us. »
His point was borne out by his performance, by the way. The Canadian international provided the spark needed for his team to start the comeback by scoring 1-2 on the fly (19e). But also by the fact that Montreal is now 18 points behind Toronto in the standings.
“We just proved that no matter what they did in the transfer market, we’re still a powerful team. We wanted to fight to earn that respect. [Dimanche soir], we did it. »
We started the season wondering about the merits of transforming CF Montreal into a training club. We end it by considering him a favorite for the MLS Cup. Intangible proof, if any, of the importance of playing matches.