All paths that lead to the starting XI from CF Montreal are winning. However, Olivier Renard says he prefers chemin Sirois to chemin Choinière.
They are two of CFM’s biggest stars this season. Quebecers seized their chance to establish themselves as incumbents. However, to get there, they took courses at the antipodes, and the vice-president and chief sports officer of the Bleu-blanc-noir certainly has a method for which he has a penchant.
“I’m very proud of what Jonathan [Sirois] is doing, but also of what the club has decided to do with his career,” Renard said during his mid-season review last Thursday. He is on the pitch, he deserves all the praise.
“But Jonathan Sirois’ project didn’t start yesterday. We made the decision to send him on loan for two seasons. This is also what we did with Sean Rea. […] They go outside of Montreal to learn to be men, to learn to play. It’s so as not to do like Mathieu Choinière and spend two or three seasons playing only 10 or 15 minutes per game. It is important that they play every week. »
The goalkeeper has spent the last two seasons on loan in the Canadian Premier League (PLC) with Valor FC. In particular, he was named the best goaltender on the circuit in his first year in the Canadian championship. Sean Rea had exactly the same journey, spending his last two years with Sirois in Winnipeg.
This season, winger Jean-Aniel Assi is on loan in the PLC with Atlético d’Ottawa while Rida Zouhir plays with San Antonio FC in the USL Championship, the second American level. As the summer transfer window approaches, which opens on July 5, Renard has expressed interest in loaning out more players to see their playing time skyrocket.
Some candidates, who get few minutes in the first team like Jules-Anthony Vilsaint, Ousman Jabang, Ilias Iliadis, Jojea Kwizera or Róbert Thorkelsson, could be prime targets.
A particularly logical scenario for the last name on this list. The 21-year-old Icelander has accumulated only 161 minutes in 2022 and has 203 on the clock in the MLS at the midpoint of the 2023 season. He is more in the footsteps of Mathieu Choinière than in those of Jonathan Sirois.
The main thing for Renard remains to take the case of Sirois and make an example of it. When number 1 goalkeeper James Pantemis fell in action, it was up to his protege to rise to the occasion.
“We could have reacted, the transfer window was still open. But if I had gone to get a keeper at that time, that means the whole project that was done for two years and not giving him the chance to see if it worked, I wouldn’t have been consistent with what we’ve done in the past two years,” Renard noted.
All MLS clubs have a reserve team currently playing in the MLS Next Pro, a development league. All but two: D.C. United and CF Montreal. An observation that Olivier Renard is already well aware of.
“We know we don’t have MLS Pro Next, but the philosophy of the club is to have another way of developing our players and that’s what we did with Jonathan [Sirois]. It is also important that the young people of the Academy understand what they can do in the future.
“Sometimes it’s good to go play somewhere else, even if we had the MLS Next Pro. For young players, to go play somewhere else and become men outside of Montreal, to get out of the family cocoon and mom’s kitchen, it feels good to leave. I think if you ask Sean [Rea], he’ll say that too. »
“For sure Ligue 1 can help us develop some players. However, I know that it is not ideal for different reasons, but we found in the current situation of the club that it was the best possible solution to develop our young players, “explained the former Belgian goalkeeper.
However, the Montreal club cannot do everything with this reserve team. There are limits of players he can send at once “so as not to distort the championship”, according to Renard. Still, it’s an interesting option. Pantemis, Vilsaint and Iliadis have all gone for a spin in the reserve squad this year.
“It’s something we’ll continue to do,” CFM head coach Hernán Losada said last month. “I know the level isn’t the same and the conditions aren’t the same playing on synthetics and everything, but it makes for a very difficult workout to replicate. These are matches, real matches. With players coming back from injury or needing minutes, we can do that, and that’s an option for the future. »
