Although CF Montreal have yet to win in two MLS games, Wilfried Nancy called for calm on Friday, on the eve of a visit to Yankee Stadium against New York City FC.
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“I spoke with the players after the game against Philly [l’Union de Philadelphie samedi], he said at the start of the press briefing on Friday morning. In terms of results, we can say that we have not yet won a match in MLS.
“But if we analyze the last two games in depth, over 180 minutes, we had seven minutes which were not good. »
The head coach assures that he retained many more positives than negatives during his first two outings.
“Against Orlando [le 27 février], we were in control of the game and we allowed goals against the run of play and it was the same against Philly. »
However, including the CONCACAF Champions League, Montreal won only one game and lost four.
It is therefore tempting to say that the campaign is off to a bad start, especially since it can be difficult to recover from a bad start to the season in MLS.
“There are examples like Toronto and other teams that have struggled,” admitted Nancy while showing calm and realism.
“We know that to make the playoffs, there are about 13 games to win. We play 34 games and there are two played.
“If you ask me the question in 15 games and we haven’t won any, there will be fire. But for the moment, there is no fire at the lake. »
photo-source position-absolute" itemprop="copyrightHolder"> Photo Martin Alarie
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Wilfried Nancy gave his directions to Kei Kamara on Saturday at the Olympic Stadium.
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The head coach does not hide to say what he thinks and he reiterated that he very much appreciated what his troops did in the second half against Cruz Azul in the first quarter-final duel of the League of champions Wednesday.
“You know me, when my team doesn’t play well, I say it doesn’t play well,” he said.
He also made a point of recalling that the club was faced with a busy schedule and a difficult schedule due to travel. For example, CF Montreal left for Mexico on Monday and returned to New York on Friday night for their Saturday afternoon matchup at Yankee Stadium.
“We played the last, Wednesday at 10 p.m., and we will play the first at 1 p.m. Saturday. We arrived in New York Thursday evening at 10:30 p.m., we waited for the plane for three hours.
“We will try to play our match, but there are factors that we cannot control. »
The Impact will play its fifth game in 18 days and will have two more to play by next Saturday before taking advantage of the international break.
It is therefore not easy in the circumstances to prepare the training when the meetings follow one another and when they are interrupted by fairly long journeys.
“I’m going to put a team in to cause problems for the opponent, but I also have to consider the freshness and think about next Wednesday’s game against Cruz Azul and then Saturday at Atlanta.
“That’s why I didn’t start Kamal Miller [mercredi] because he needed to breathe. »
And there are no reinforcements joining the club on Saturday apart from Romell Quioto who has served two one-game suspensions in MLS and the Champions League.
All injured players remained in Montreal, but there is a possibility that midfielder Mathieu Choinière could play. We were supposed to test it on Friday.
Miller may also be able to return to his defensive position, having entered as a reserve on Wednesday night.
as difficult
CF Montreal fans are complaining about the team’s rocky start to the MLS season, but they’re not alone. Also engaged in the Champions League, New York City FC has only one point in two games, the result of a draw.
In good position
It can be said that New York City are in a good position in the Champions League after winning the first leg of their quarter-final 3-1 against Communicaciones. The return match will take place in Guatemala.
Broken-down
The slow start of the New Yorkers in the North American championship can be explained by the fatigue of repeated duels at the start of the season, but we can also look at the side of the attack which has still not hit the mark in 180 minutes. .
See the country
As Yankee Stadium is not approved by FIFA, NYCFC played their Round of 16 match against Santos de Guapiles at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles and against Communicaciones at Pratt & Whitney Stadium in New Haven. The team plays its first game at Yankee Stadium on Saturday.
Banner raised
As this is the first local game at Yankee Stadium this season, New York City will take the opportunity to hoist their banner of champion of the MLS Cup won last fall.
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