Making do without a DP

It’s all been said and ... not done.

After months of crying wolf, February has arrived and the European leagues’ January transfer window are now closed, which means the Montreal Impact will most likely not be getting the creative attacking designated player (DP) that they have long sought.

While the Bulgarian, Norwegian, Polish, Russian, Swedish, Swiss, Ukrainian, North and South American transfer windows are still open, finding a creative forward that would be willing to move to MLS from those leagues will be very difficult.

Impact fans may very well have to wait until the other European transfer windows reopen in July for that big name offensive player they’ve been asking for to arrive in Montreal. Unfortunately, by that time, half of the season will have already been played and things may already be over, just like it was already over for Toronto FC when it picked up Danny Koevermans and Torsten Frings last July.

But it’s not like Montreal is going to win the MLS Cup in its first season anyhow, so who are we kidding? However, Impact coach Jesse Marsch isn’t the type to exclude the possibility, no matter the odds. Not only believing in the players he has at his disposal, Marsch also believes in himself.

His mantra of being a winner and of wanting to do things the right way isn’t just a manner of speaking -- it pervades his very being. Even with a somewhat incomplete attack force, Marsch still believes that this team can be successful and he’s not exactly crazy for thinking so.

As much as the Impact will likely have problems scoring goals this coming season, it doesn’t automatically mean that they’ll have problems winning games. The strength of this team will be in the defensive end and if they can stop opponents, they won’t have to score many goals.

For example, back in 2006, when sporting director Nick De Santis was coaching the Impact, the team finished first in the USL First Division having only scored 31 goals in 28 games because they managed to concede an incredibly low 15 goals.

So while having a creative DP up front would surely help the Impact’s cause, it’s not necessarily necessary. Yet winning ugly won’t bode well for attracting new fans. The crop of Impact supporters that have been around through the North American second division days won’t care how they win just as long as they win. They’re used to low scoring games, especially in the last six years when the Impact scored an average of 1.1 goals per game during the regular season.

Low scoring games won’t convince the undecided Montrealers to get on board the Impact bandwagon, and it will only amplify the convictions of those who support European soccer and who think, mistakenly, that MLS has very little quality and thus is not worth tuning into.

But it’s not as if the Impact hasn’t been pursuing a high calibre creative attacking player. They’ve spoken with dozens of players and, for example, have been close to signing the likes of Vancouver’s Sebastien Le Toux and ex-Chelsea forward Nicholas Anelka. To be fair, they’ve done everything they could --- within reason -- and there’s only so much room to manoeuvre in the January transfer window.

For now, the Impact will have to make do with what they have; getting the attacking DP that they want may well take time. But Montreal will also have to make sure that those who come by to check them out are fully aware that what’s in front of them, as successful as it may or may not be, isn’t a finished product.

Because at the end of the day, even winning won’t be enough: people have to like what they see.

Nick Sabetti is a Montreal-based writer who covers the Montreal Impact for Goal.com. Follow Nick on Twitter.