(Montreal) Will they all play, and if so, how much time will they spend on the field? The answers to these questions remained unknown on Friday morning, but what is certain is that CF Montreal will see some of its crippled players back in uniform, and not the least, for a clash that will not be an easy task on Saturday. evening at Saputo stadium.
In anticipation of the visit of Real Salt Lake, the cream of the MLS Western Association, forwards Matías Cóccaro, Josef Martínez, Mason Toye and Kwadwo Opoku will be available, announced head coach Laurent Courtois during a media availability which preceded the team’s training session at the Nutrilait Center on Friday.
“Having all the guys together brings a whole different dynamic,” Courtois noted.
“All players want to earn their place, all players want to show how competitive they are. Also, you can distribute the repetitions in training. It’s no longer necessary to continually turn to the same players,” he added.
Before both suffering knee injuries, Cóccaro had three goals and an assist in seven outings, while Martínez had two goals and three assists, also in seven games.
That said, Cóccaro and Martínez have not stepped on an MLS field in a match since April 13 against Cincinnati FC, while Toye has not played since a performance that lasted only only six minutes, as a reserve, against Columbus on May 15.
For his part, Opoku only participated in two games, the last dating back to March 2 in Dallas, a match he started, but in which he was ultimately limited to 11 minutes of action.
“We have several players who are not quite in optimal condition for a match, in terms of minutes played, and we are going to have to be careful. We will have to be judicious in managing the match and in relation to the number of substitutions to which we are entitled,” remarked Courtois.
“In that respect, it’s still a bit of a headache. But as I mentioned, having everyone healthy in training brings a completely different rhythm. We’ll see how it goes. »
CF Montreal will play its first match since a 2-2 draw at the Philadelphia Union on June 1. According to Courtois, the two-week break had benefits.
“It allowed us to evaluate, to take stock and make observations about things, and to be able to rethink, anticipate or continue, because there were things that were going very well too. A large part of this break was also aimed at allowing players to regain health and restore morale. In this sense, the last two weeks have been really beneficial,” Courtois said.
CF Montreal (4-7-5 -17 points) will find its fans at the heart of a modest three-game unbeaten streak (1-0-2). We emphasize the term “modest” because that of Real Salt Lake (9-2-6 -33 points) extends over a period of 13 games (8-0-5) and began on March 23 with a victory 2-1 in the stronghold of the Vancouver Whitecaps.
“It’s impressive how comfortable (Real Salt Lake) can be playing under pressure, and I really like their identity on the ball. Also, he has special players up front who can make a difference,” noted Courtois.
“But perhaps what’s more impressive is his level of resilience. (Salt Lake) was in bad situations several times and was able to reverse the scenario of the match. So, there are plenty of signs to alert us that Salt Lake is a really good team right now. »
When Courtois talked about “special players” up front, he was certainly referring to Colombian Cristian Arango, who leads MLS with 16 goals scored. Perhaps he also had a thought for Andres Gomez, another Colombian aged just 21, who amassed eight goals.
Together, they have one more goal than the entire CF Montreal team.
“They are a confident team, and they score a lot of goals, especially their striker (Arango),” admitted defender George Campbell.
“However, I think we realized from watching videos that (Arango) always wants to shoot on goal. As a team we know they are very good, but if our pressing is applied in the right way and we work on this aspect in training, we can put teams under pressure and get the crowd behind us. We will try to keep possession of the ball in their third of the field. »
