In fact, Montreal has qualified 11 only once since 2017, in 2020. Once again, the adventure lasted past the season’s schedule of just 90 minutes.
The Impact had lost to the New England Revolution in a game in which the winner entered the real playoff category.
Since then a lot of water has flowed under the many bridges connecting Montreal with its northern and southern beaches. As of Friday, CF Montreal could confirm its place in the playoffs with four matches still to play.
This is the first time this has happened, you have to congratulate Wilfried and the technical team for putting all this in place, Rudi Camacho said Thursday at a press conference. Players, we have adapted well and made good progress over the past two years and everyone’s work is paying off.
Camacho continued: It is nice to be respected. When we go on the field, when we see our opponents defending the whole match, it’s fun for us and we’ll try to move on and scare everyone.
Respect is earned the hard way.
After Montreal’s stunning win at Queen City, Kemal Miller criticized his team’s occasional disrespect, having to spend the week answering questions about the strength of the Toronto strike, spurred on by the arrival of assault rifles that attracted at great cost.
Perhaps the most important respect is what comes from opponents. After a club record season with, so far, 16 wins, 52 points and 53 goals scored, other teams must do their homework.
Montrealers feel it.
“We feel that because the way we play attracts a lot of respect from others,” Matthew Chouiner said. It is not easy what we do and how we carry the ball behind us. The other teams arrive tactically ready against us. They prepare for their game and they respect us.
Camacho added: We do not necessarily feel that we have a goal behind us, but our opponents adapt to us, which we have not seen in the past. When we see New York coming to defend us the whole game, with the low mass, it’s because they have no choice but to adapt to our system. Anyway, when they don’t adapt much, as in Chicago, they quickly take up the water [NDLR, une victoire de 2-0]. We see the difference and feel the respect and fear of other teams.
Visitors on Fridays at Stade Saputo won’t take Montreal seriously. At the beginning of August in Columbus, the Montreal club scored two goals in the last minutes of the match, after a long break forced by stormy weather conditions.
This emotional victory served as the catalyst for the rest of the season. Since then, the team has set a 4-1-1 record. However, Columbus has not lost since then.
Also last Sunday, Montreal won an emotional victory over its rivals in Toronto. Should we fear a cruel return to Earth?
Camacho replied: I don’t think it’s difficult. We’ve been doing this since the start of the season. Above all, this win has given us more confidence in our last five matches. It’s good, it gives us more power.
The group’s experience spoke in Toronto, according to Matthew Chouener.
Wilfried Nancy, a Swiss military knife, said: ‘I have never seen a man afraid of him. We didn’t talk to each other, but we all felt the same connection, which is, well, we keep our cool, know our qualities and know we can go back and do it.
Quebec added: “We have evolved a lot as a group and everything has become clearer in our philosophy and our cohesion. It shows we have great chemistry and everyone is just fine. We trust each other.
However, not everything is perfect or easy this season for Montreal. The team may have won nine games on the road, and they are still vulnerable at home at times, winning just 7 of their 14 games.
There are also goals against the column which is a bit sad. It’s not a disaster, but Montreal shot 45 nets against only 21 for Philadelphia Union, the only team ahead of Wilfried Nancy’s forces in the East.
Of course we are not happy to concede a lot of goals, but we have a special style that focuses on attacking, Camacho defended. It’s our way of playing and that’s how we put our opponents in trouble. I’d rather have a season like this, even if it means giving up goals, than seasons like the ones before last year. We were ten times behind, we scored fewer goals, but we didn’t win games. We cannot have everything.
In fact. Montreal does not have superstars who are paid in gold or in a lavish stadium.
But this club is having a great season. By winning his share of matches and doing it his way, in the spirit of showmanship.
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