MONTREAL – Following a respectable first season in MLS, the Montreal Impact reached the first round of the playoffs last year, and now moving into their third campaign they are hoping to do one better by making a deep run in the post-season.
The most notable change for the Impact this winter came at the helm, where Swiss coach Marco Schällibaum was replaced by former Chicago Fire boss Frank Klopas. The 46-year-old is the Impact’s third coach in as many seasons, a trend which has raised concerns over a lack of stability at the club.
The roster, however, remains mostly unchanged. Of the 26 players signed on for 2014, 15 were with the Impact back in its inaugural MLS season in 2012. From last year, the only notable absentees are captain Davy Arnaud, who was traded to D.C United, and World Cup winning defender Alessandro Nesta, who finally retired after a long and successful playing career—he has recently rejoined the Impact as a technical consultant.
But the Impact haven’t made many new acquisitions. Defender Eric Miller, a first round draft pick, and Uruguayan forward Santiago Gonzalez are the team’s only new signings so far. And by the way in which the Impact ended last season—finishing with a dire 1-6-1 record before being pushed aside 3-0 by Houston in the playoffs—it was clear that they weren’t yet equipped to challenge for MLS Cup and were going to need significant reinforcements in order to do so.
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A lack of new faces does not bode well for Montreal. Having only barely made the playoffs last year and with the teams below them in the Eastern Conference standings all significantly bolstering their squads, the Impact’s lack of movement in the winter transfer window means that they now run the risk of not only coming up short of making the playoffs, but also potentially falling several places near the bottom of the table.
The hope is that some of their younger players will have breakout campaign and that those who underperformed last year will be able to raise their game.
Since it is unlikely that 37-year-old All-Star striker Marco Di Vaio will manage to replicate his stellar 20-goal tally from 2013, Andrew Wenger will need to be able to contribute a lot more offensively than he was able to do last season. The jury is still out as to whether or not Wenger should be playing forward in the first place, but by now, in his third season in MLS, it’s probably too late for him to change.
Still, Wenger, the first overall pick from the 2012 draft, does have a way of getting himself into excellent scoring positions and with a bit of luck and some renewed confidence under a new coach, perhaps he can start putting his chances away this season. The Impact also have high hopes for new forward signing Gonzalez, though he may need some time to acclimate.
Justin Mapp was one of Montreal’s standout players last season on the right-hand side of midfield, but on the left, Andres Romero struggled to have much of an impact. The 23-year-old Argentine did show some flashes of his quality at the beginning of last season, but looked out of sorts for most of the second half of the campaign, culminating in an embarrassing sending-off against Houston in the playoffs. He will need to show a lot more consistency this time around or else the Impact’s attack could very well become as one dimensional as it was by the end of 2013, with Mapp being the only outlet in transition.
With the 4-2-3-1 remaining the Impact’s primary formation—Klopas used the 4-2-3-1 for all five of the Impact’s pre-season games—23-year-old Brazilian playmaker Felipe will have a fundamental role to play in the number ten position behind the loan striker. Last year, Felipe wasn’t as influential as he was in the Impact’s expansion season. That he often had to play out of his preferred advanced position in central midfield didn’t help, but even when he did play behind Di Vaio he looked a shadow of his former self. Felipe has, however, looked very sharp in pre-season, and that’s an encouraging sign for the Impact, who will need their crafty Brazilian at his best for the offence to really click.
With Montreal having one of the worst defensive records in MLS a year ago, conceding 49 goals in 34 games, Klopas wasted no time in working on his team’s defensive organization during training camp. Under Schällibaum, the Impact were a side that tended to sit deep and try to catch teams on the counter attack, whereas Klopas wants the Impact to be a lot more proactive and aggressive.
A major concern for Montreal, however, is their shortage of options in central defence.
The Impact’s re-signing of Nelson Rivas for another season raised a few eyebrows given his long history of injuries and, sure enough, the Colombian defender hurt his right hamstring in the team’s first pre-season game against Orlando City. No timetable has been set for his return.
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Nesta’s absence can’t be underestimated either as the Italian had a hand in each of the Impact’s eight shutouts last season. Adrian Lopez, who was signed from Wigan Athletic last August, was supposed to replace Nesta in central defence but tore his ACL last August and won’t be ready for another month, which leaves Matteo Ferrari and Wandrille Lefèvre as the only two options.
Lefèvre received his first taste of professional action towards the end of 2013 and did a commendable job when called upon. The Impact are hoping that the 25-year-old academy product can provide a steady hand at the back, especially since Ferrari, who turned 34 in December, probably won’t be able to play every game this season.
The Impact recently completed talks with former U.S. international defender Heath Pearce, who had been on trial with the Impact the last two weeks, and signed him to a deal.
Pearce, 29, is primarily a left fullback but can also play in central defence or at right fullback, which would be very useful for the Impact, although his best days are probably past him. His overall health is also a concern since he missed most of last season after undergoing hip surgery to repair a torn labrum which had been nagging him for almost two years.
But the real Achilles heel for the Impact is their overall lack of depth, a problem which became evident last year as the season wore on and that hasn’t really been addressed this winter in the form of new signings. Klopas might be able to field a strong first eleven, but his secondary options are limited. If one of Hernan Bernardello or Patrice Bernier is missing in central midfield, the Impact aren’t the same. If Ferrari isn’t at 100 percent, the Impact are fragile in defence. If Di Vaio isn’t at his best, the goal scoring will likely dry up.
Of course, Montreal could still bring in new players over the course of the season and they are looking to add another quality attacking player, but that might have to wait until the summer.
The Impact’s third season will likely be a step back from the second.
Nick Sabetti is a Montreal-based writer. Follow him on Twitter.
