To follow the Montreal Impact, or any other Montreal sports team, for that matter (it’s an issue which seems to permeate them all), is almost like getting a glimpse of how it is to live with bipolar disorder.
Last week, with the Impact on the heels of a six-game unbeaten streak, the prevailing sentiment was, “We’re invincible!!” Now, after Wednesday’s 2-1 loss to the New York Red Bulls, the Impact’s second defeat in five days, among the moaning and groaning, you hear things like, “We’re atrocious!!”
Well, neither of these attitudes reflects anything close to reality. Although it does seem unlikely that the Impact will hoist MLS Cup this year, it’s too early to start panicking about them not making the playoffs. There are still three games remaining and their fate is still very much in their hands. As Frank Klopas liked to say, it’s important to remain “on an even keel.”
Concerning the loss to the Red Bulls, the Impact weren’t all that bad on the whole, especially considering that they had to play for 75 minutes down a man against the top team in the league after Ambroise Oyongo was shown a red card for denying a clear goal scoring opportunity. They didn’t start the game well, a fact that coach Mauro Biello admitted to after the game, but the reaction in the second half was encouraging. It’s probably safe to say that with a galvanizing player such as Didier Drogba in the ranks, the Impact aren’t going to fall in the same emphatic manner as they did in 2013 under Marco Schällibaum.
If there is one thing that Biello can be reproached for, it’s his decision to not start Drogba against Orlando in Saturday’s 2-1 loss. Of the three games in this seven-day span (the Impact have one more in Colorado on Saturday), the Orlando fixture was arguably the easiest and also the most important. A win would have sealed a playoff spot and a draw would have almost ensured one. Even if the game was on turf, Drogba still should have started and maybe Montreal could have come away with something. Now Orlando is one point back and still in the race.
The game in Colorado will be complicated, as Montreal will have to play at altitude and with little rest between games. However, the good news is that Ignacio Piatti will be available for selection, and the Rapids will be missing four players to international duty: Kevin Doyle (Ireland), Maynor Figueroa (Honduras), Gabriel Torres (Panama) and Dillon Serna (U.S. Under-23). A draw or even a win away to the worst team in the Western Conference, who have only scored 30 goals this seasons, isn’t beyond Montreal by any means.
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What also helps the Impact is that Orlando will be without key players Kaka and Brek Shea in their next, penultimate game on Oct. 16 against New York City at home, as both will be serving suspensions. Moreover, New York has been playing its best soccer of the season in recent weeks, with the team finally starting to gel and Frank Lampard and Andrea Pirlo coming to form. So that’s a game that Orlando could very well lose or, at the very least, not win. The last game for the Florida outfit is away to Philadelphia on Oct. 25.
Four points in their last three games will likely be enough for the Impact to secure a playoff position, but it’s not to say that they can’t get more.
After the Colorado game, the Impact will travel to the New England Revolution on Oct. 17, and although the Impact don’t have a great record at Gillette Stadium they can go there with plenty of confidence after last month’s 3-0 dismantling of the Revs at Stade Saputo.
Given the Impact’s terrific home form, the last game of the season against visitors Toronto FC is definitely a winnable won, especially with Toronto’s porous defence having to deal with Drogba for the first time.
So, all things considered, although there’s reason to be concerned, now’s not the time to go overboard.
Nick Sabetti is a Montreal-based writer. Follow him on Twitter