CF Montreal remained in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race with a 2-1 home win over Charlotte FC on Saturday night. A busy week, however, presented a real headache.
After having a lucky hand against Charlotte FC, head coach Laurent Courtois still decided to stir things up for the away duel against the New England Revolution on Wednesday night. Thus, he made five changes to the Montreal team.
Five changes, at this point in the season, is a lot. But clearly, Courtois also had in mind next Saturday’s game against the Chicago Fire, at Saputo Stadium.
“There is an element in which I am forced to evaluate the ability of our guys to chain together so much effort in such a short time. There are some who have given a lot recently. We thought it was the right ‘timing’ and we gave some players a little rest. Hopefully they will be fresh for Saturday,” said Courtois after Wednesday’s game.
For the occasion, the head coach opted for the same trio of central defenders and the same Samuel Piette-Nathan Saliba combination in midfield.
The offensive cohesion between Tom Pearce, Dawid Bugaj, Kwadwo Opoku, Matias Coccaro and Jules-Anthony Vilsaint, the five new players inserted into the formation on Wednesday, however took time to establish itself. The pressure was not stifling and several battles for possession of the ball were lost.
These things are repeated in training, but you still need to have the opportunity to apply them in a match situation. Perhaps that is where the Revolution’s 2-0 lead at halftime came from.
“Qualitatively or in terms of intensity, or both, some players are a little less ready than others. Some tell us that they want to show things and based on that, during a midweek match, we thought that was the best solution. But it’s clear that we are not at the same level for intensity and qualities. When both are the problem, there is a problem,” explained the head coach.
However, his side pulled themselves together and scored twice in the second half to earn an important 2-2 draw. It was a Pearce golazo from a free-kick that provided the spark.
However, the discourse was the same in the locker room and Courtois made no changes at the start of the second half.
“It’s a classic for us. We said the same words, we showed a video at halftime reminding the players what we had discussed before the game. Suddenly, in the second half, we applied it. We simply presented the portrait at halftime and we had to execute,” he said.
Although imperfect, CF Montreal’s performance proved to Courtois that his players were ready for any eventuality. It must be said that the many changes seem to give more gray hair to journalists than to those most concerned.
“There’s no difference despite the changes,” Pearce insisted. “We train during the week and all the players work their hardest. We play the plays that are called. Regardless, we give it our all and we’re ready.”
Saliba nevertheless believes that a little time for adaptation is necessary at the beginning of the game. It is during this period that the Montrealers must remain vigilant.
“It’s definitely never easy to miss a game and start the next one. It takes some time to get used to it and adapt to the changes. In the second half, we were really on the same wavelength. It’s something normal. It doesn’t drag us down like it might seem,” stressed the Quebecer.
CF Montreal is currently just two points out of ninth and final playoff spot in the East, with five games remaining.
