Wilfried Nancy’s speech couldn’t have been simpler, clearer, Saturday afternoon, after CF Montreal lost 4-1 to New York City FC at Yankee Stadium. It boiled down to two words: work and perseverance.
Despite its success so far in the Concacaf Champions League, which could be extended if it manages to repeat against Cruz Azul, Wednesday evening, the feat achieved against Santos Laguna on February 23, CF Montreal is going through a tough streak.
Since March 5, the date of its local opening in MLS, the Montreal team has played three games in the space of a week: the first in an indoor stadium on a synthetic surface, the second at altitude in Mexico at 10 p.m. du Québec, and the third, at the beginning of the afternoon, Saturday, on a field that does not meet conventional soccer standards, and under hostile weather – which, it must be admitted, was the same for the club rival.
Three games, three environments; enough to confuse the best physically and psychologically trained athletes. A group to which soccer players usually belong.
Should we be surprised that CF Montreal hasn’t won any? Especially since its last two rivals in MLS, the Philadelphia Union and New York City FC, paid the price for the Eastern Conference final in 2021, after identical harvests of 14 victories during the season.
Especially, too, that Nancy has not yet benefited from a full deck of cards. He was deprived of key figures like Samuel Piette and Mason Toye, who have yet to play a single game this season. No more than Sunusi Ibrahim and Bjorn Johnsen, for that matter.
Romell Quioto missed two games, one in MLS, one in the Champions League, due to suspensions. Mathieu Choinière has also just missed two games.
CF Montreal has two more games to play over the next week, one in Montreal, the other in Atlanta before a 14-day break that could be beneficial in many ways.
“There are no deeper issues. It’s that at the moment, we are in the hard, a little, compared to everything that is happening in terms of matches and everything. We knew it. But again, I’m not going to complain about playing in the Champions League. It’s not my message at all, on the contrary,” Nancy first said when he was asked to explain the start of his troop’s season in MLS.
“We have to shut up and we have to work. We have two games left before the break. And after, work well to leave after the truce, ”he continued.
In English, Nancy clarified her thinking on the steps to take to find the way to victory.
“You have to finish the last two games well,” he replied, referring to those to come this week against Cruz Azul and Atlanta.
“Then we’ll be able to rest a bit and try to focus on work, because right now we don’t have the chance to work. We have to find a way to be resilient. We must be stronger. We have to be strong and we have to stick together and keep working. It’s a bad time. Today (Saturday) was really tough. We know it. We have to stick together and work. That’s all. »