Every Thursday, sportsnet.ca will talk to a member of Sportsnet’s soccer broadcast team (Gerry Dobson, Paul Dolan or Lloyd Barker) specifically about one of Major League Soccer’s three Canadian clubs.
This week, sportsnet.ca chats with Lloyd Barker about the Montreal Impact, and what the long-term injury to designated player Hernan Bernardello means for the club.
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The Impact have struggled on the road this season, but are coming off a 4-2 win in New England last weekend. Might this be a sign of things to come from the Impact away from home?
Lloyd Barker: I wouldn’t look too much into that result. They were playing a man up for most of the match – you should win that game. I don’t care who you’re playing or where you’re playing, you should win that game. And they did. But I look back at the game in Philadelphia (a 0-0 road draw on Aug. 31), it’s probably a better indication of where they are in terms of their road form. It was a better road effort in New England compared to recent weeks when they’ve lost or drawn, but it’s tough to judge based on Sunday’s game.
It’s the road form that’s going to determine their season. They have such a veteran lineup that I find it hard to believe they won’t get it together on the road. There’s a few games left and they look like they’re going to finish at the top of the Eastern Conference. But I have a hard time believing that when they go on the road, if it’s a playoff game, that the effort and energy and level of concentration won’t be there. They’re such a veteran bunch that they’ll rise to the occasion.
I still don’t think they’re good enough on the road. The efforts are respectable but it has to be better.
Marco Di Vaio scored twice against New England and has a league-leading 17 goals on the season, accounting for 38 per cent of the club’s goals. Does Montreal rely too much on the Italian?
Barker: I don’t buy that. That’s what he’s there for. He’s there to score goals and they’re supposed to get him the ball so he can score goals. The right fullback isn’t there to score goals. When the right fullback gets the ball, he’s supposed to find the forwards. That’s the order of business on the field, so they’re not relying on Di Vaio too much.
I think the more legitimate argument would be is there enough depth in the side at the forward position that if Di Vaio gets injured, can they carry on the way they’ve been going. Can they carry on scoring a few goals a game? The answer to that, is no. They don’t have anyone who can carry the load like Di Vaio. We’ve seen when Di Vaio is not there that they’re not the same. Daniele Paponi runs around and does his thing, works his tail off. But he’s not Di Vaio.
What do the losses of Hernan Bernardello and Adrian Lopez to long-term injuries mean for the Impact going forward?
Barker: The loss of Bernardello is huge because he just rounded into match fitness. He just rounded into form and he’s been a terrific signing, so his absence is huge because he’s a starting-calibre midfielder alongside Patrice Bernier. He forced captain Davy Arnaud out of the starting 11, which is not a bad option to have come off the bench. Arnaud is full of energy and has experience. If Arnaud comes back in for Bernardello, it’s all good because he can get the job done. But Bernardello is a better player than Arnaud, so that’s the loss.
As far as Lopez goes, it’s not as significant because you do have other guys who can slip into the back line to give Matteo Ferrari or Alessandro Nesta a rest. Lopez is a better player off the bench than some of their young guys on the bench, so it’s still not as significant a loss as Bernardello.
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What about Bernier? He and Bernardello forged a good working relationship in the midfield before he picked up this injury. What does Bernardello’s absence mean for Bernier and his role on the field?
Barker: That’s a good question because there are a lot of partnerships on the field, and there’s was a solid one. Partnerships are about trust, and I don’t know if Bernier would trust Arnaud or Collen Warner beside him as he does with Bernardello. Both Arnaud and Warner are solid players, but there is a little difference in that midfield when Bernardello is in there. He cuts off passing lanes with the best of them. His distribution is excellent and never gives the ball away. Bernier knows Arnaud and Warner more, but he trusts Bernardello more in the little time that he’s been there because he’s seen the Argentine’s expertise and the level he brings.
Without Bernardello beside him, Bernier might not get forward as much and playing a more holding role. He might not jump into the attack and leave Warner or Arnaud behind. That would be the difference without Bernardello there. If Bernardello is there, Bernier’s not hesitating to get forward.
You mentioned the defensive options off the bench. Lopez has joined Nelsen Rivas on the sidelines with his injury, while the three Canadians — Maxim Tissot, Karl Ouimette and Wandrille Lefèvre – are all young and inexperienced. Can the defence hold up the rest of the way?
Barker: That’s a good question, too. Yes and no. Yes, because (Impact coach) Marco Schällibaum is smart enough to manage the starting defenders’ minutes. Can they manage to play at the same level they do right now without Nesta and Ferrari? I’m going to say no.
I think there are more weaknesses in the back line right now. If the attacking midfielder of the opposition gets past Bernier and Bernardello, they usually have 20 to 25 yards of space to run at Montreal’s goal without any kind of interference because Nesta and Ferrari are not the quickest in jumping out of the back line and into midfield to make a defensive play.
Having said that, I think with the young guys on the bench, you can see the difference on the field when they’re not in there. Schällibaum wouldn’t put one of them in the centre of defence. He’d move Jeb Brovsky or Hassoun Camara into the middle from the fullback slots before letting the young guys fill in for Nesta or Ferrari. He would play the young guys at fullback, because there’s a real difference when Nesta or Ferrari are not in there.
NEXT WEEK: sportsnet.ca talks to Gerry Dobson about Toronto FC. Do you have a question you want to ask Gerry? Send your queries to John Molinaro via Twitter and he’ll use the best one in next week’s Q&A.
