With his return to the Montreal Impact after nine years playing in Europe, midfielder Patrice Bernier is happy to be back home and is getting ready to kick off his Major League Soccer career.
Interestingly, the native of Brossard, Que., and current resident of Montreal’s south shore hasn’t actually found himself spending much time at home just yet.
“To be honest, I’m at home less than I was in Europe because we have been away at camp, so I think I have only actually been at home for ten days so far. There has been a bit more travelling than there was in Europe, where we usually only had one camp. But it is nice to know that I’m going to be settled at home and will be around family and friends on a regular basis,” Bernier told sportsnet.ca.
Given that Montreal has an entirely different roster from the one that competed in the NASL last year, how MLS’s newest expansion team will fare in its first season is still a story that remains to be written. But while many pundits are debating the merits of the squad that has been assembled to date, one acquisition that has met with near universal acclaim has been the signing of the 32-year-old Bernier.
A player who checks off all the boxes
A veteran and important member of the Canadian national team, Bernier is a solid two-way midfielder who has returned to the Impact following stints with Moss F.K and Tromso IL in Norway, FC Kaiserslautern in Germany and FC Nordsjaelland and Lyngby BK in Denmark. He has arrived back in Montreal as a player who checks off all the boxes in terms of what the Impact require from a performer and person who will be key in several capacities this upcoming season.
In addition to his experience, technical ability and athleticism, the Canadian international, who has 46 caps to his credit, also brings a number of important intangibles to the Impact. Ask anyone in the Canadian soccer community to describe Bernier and they will often mention his excellent character and leadership abilities. And given that these types of qualities are vital for any new team, I asked Bernier if he expects to play a leadership role and whether or not coach Jesse Marsch has discussed the captaincy with him.
“As I’m coming in with a number of years played in Europe and with my national team experience, I know that I will have a (leadership) role. At every team that I have been at I have been a vice-captain. And here we have many younger players and, along with the other experienced MLS players that we have brought in, I have to set a certain standard, especially for an expansion team. We will have to lead and be vocal and I will have to be a role model or at least lead by example. Right from the get go, that is what the coaching staff wants us to be,” Bernier said.
An impact on and off the pitch
Bernier is also uniquely positioned to promote his club and build further ties in the Montreal community and in Quebec due to the fact that he is a local product. Given that he is bilingual, highly professional, easy going, media friendly and well respected, the midfielder is the ideal ambassador for an organization that is now transitioning to function at even higher business and sporting levels via its move into MLS.
And according to Bernier, he was always fully aware of the increased off the field responsibilities that were going to come with his return to Montreal.
“I knew when I when I came back that I would have those responsibilities, because it is a big thing here to have local players and French speaking players. It is a responsibility, but it’s not something that I really think about that much. I just know that it is there and that I have been tagged as a local product and that there is everything that comes with that. For me it is all about performing on the field, first and foremost. And the rest is just things that come along with my being from the area,” Bernier said.
An opportunity he could not pass up
While 2012 is going to be a very busy year for him between MLS and Canada’s World Cup qualifying campaign, Bernier was quick to admit that he could not pass up the chance to return to the Impact at such an important and exciting point in the history of the organization. He also stressed that he has been energized by the unique opportunity to play a key role in his hometown club’s transition to the North American top flight.
“It certainly provides motivation. I knew in making the decision (to join Montreal) that it was about being part of a project and that is very motivating. It’s something that I wanted to be a part of and I want to set a standard so the Montreal Impact has a good name in the league,” Bernier said.
“And because I come from the area, I think you do want to give something extra because you want to succeed in front of the people that allowed me to become a professional in the first place. … I think it is something extra now that I am playing in Montreal because it is in front of family and friends, including both people who saw me play when I was younger and people who have not seen me play and who have only heard of me.”
Impact on track for First Kick
As for how things have been progressing for the team on the pitch, the veteran central midfielder is happy to report that the team seems to be shaping up nicely under the watchful eye of Marsch.
“We are progressing day to day. Of course, MLS is a physical and athletic league, but we are trying to really play and be good on the ball, and have the physical aspects also. It’s moving along and I think it is better than I would have expected from a team that only existed on paper several weeks ago,” Bernier said.
While he is currently focused on his training sessions with Montreal’s first team, Bernier is also cognizant of the mentor role that he will need to play with the young players in the organization and sees the long term role of the Montreal Impact Academy as something that will be vital not only to the success of the Impact franchise, but also towards the success of Canada’s national teams.
“I think that, just as it is in Toronto and Vancouver, the academy is very important. It’s about preparing the young players for the future just like it has been done in the rest of the world. I think that we have caught on theoretically and in a few years all three of the clubs should have a number of homegrown players on their squads,” Bernier said.
I concluded my discussion with Bernier by asking if he can see himself continuing to play a role with Impact down the road when he has hung up his boots as a player. Ultimately, the focus that has allowed him to be so successful for both club and country has him solely focused on the current tasks at hand — promoting the Impact off the field and, most importantly, giving it everything he has to ensure that his team is successful on the pitch.
“I’m not thinking that far ahead. I don’t know what type of role I might like to have when I retire,” Bernier admitted. “Of course I would like to stay in football, but my main concern right now is playing well in the present. I think if I was thinking about those things it would mean that I wasn’t focused 100 per cent on playing my best and giving everything I have got.”
Steve Bottjer is a Toronto-based writer, podcaster and editor for RedNation Online, on online magazine covering all aspects of Canadian soccer. Follow RedNation Online on Twitter.