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Montreal Impact: How to bounce back in the 2018 MLS season

By Forrest Wimberly

MONTREAL, QC - OCTOBER 22: Montreal Impact midfielder Ignacio Piatti (10) chases the ball while New England Revolution defender Benjamin Angoua (2) is trying to block him during the New England Revolution versus the Montreal Impact game on October 22, 2017, at Stade Saputo in Montreal, QC (Photo by David Kirouac/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - OCTOBER 22: Montreal Impact midfielder Ignacio Piatti (10) chases the ball while New England Revolution defender Benjamin Angoua (2) is trying to block him during the New England Revolution versus the Montreal Impact game on October 22, 2017, at Stade Saputo in Montreal, QC (Photo by David Kirouac/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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The Montreal Impact finished a disappointing ninth in the East last season. Here is a look at what went wrong and how to make it right in 2018.

The Montreal Impact sputtered out of the gates in 2017 posting a 0-2-3 mark over the first five matches before defeating Atlanta United in mid-April to collect their first win of the season. More roller coaster results followed the Impact until late May when they defeated Vancouver 5-4 over two legs to win their Canadian Championship semi-final.

Yet more league inconsistency followed the Montreal Impact into the Canadian Championship final in late June where Toronto FC narrowly edged the Impact 3-2 over the two legs to claim the Voyager’s Cup and the CONCACAF Champions League berth. After this loss in the Canadian Championship, the Impact just could not keep pace with the MLS Eastern leaders and fell way off the pace over the final weeks of the season landing in 9th place and 11 points away from a playoff berth.

Changes are in place though. Let’s look at what they did in the off-season:

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Off-season moves:

The big transfer of the off-season was the move that didn’t happen. Ignacio Piatti hinted at possible moves after the season but nothing came to pass of the rumors and Piatti is back for 2018.

In the other big move that did happen, former MLS Defender of the Year Laurent Ciman was swapped with LAFC in a move that sees Raheen Edwards and Jukka Raitala in blue and black this season.

The recent final loan deal of Algerian international Saphir Taider from Bologna completed the roster moves for now. Montreal owns nine international spots and eight of those are filled right now with a possible trade or further acquisition not out of the question.

2018 is here, so let’s talk about it:

Preseason 2018:

Montreal has gotten the better of USL sides Las Vegas and Tampa Bay while going 1-1-1 versus MLS competition. Again, the model of inconsistent play versus the MLS opponents with a win over the Chicago Fire, tie versus New York City FC, and loss to the Philadelphia Union.

2018 season outlook:

Ignacio Piatti and his team-leading 19 goals (all competitions) are back for 2018 and the additions of several younger players (Taider 26, Petrasso 22, Edwards 22) via the draft and trades should give the Impact more legs this season as their returning stars are all over the age of 30 (Piatti 33, Mancosu 33, Oduro 32).

The Montreal Impact will be fine in league play but will most likely fall short of the MLS playoffs as this group just can’t find the consistent results needed in league play. Don’t forget that Montreal lost the 2016 Eastern Conference Championship to Toronto and has been on a slide ever since. The MLS championship window looks to have closed on this current version of the Impact.

Montreal will not be a bad side…just not a playoff team in 2018. The best, and only hope of silverware in 2018 is to win the Amway Canadian Championship.

The tournament sets up nicely for Montreal with the semi-finals again this year versus Vancouver. Leg one is in Montreal on July 18 and leg two returns to Vancouver on July 25. A win over the Whitecaps puts Montreal and Toronto back playing another championship series in 2018. So in a re-building and uncertain season ahead, Montreal has a huge opportunity for a championship and CONCACAF Champions League slot by winning the domestic cup.

Opening Day Starting 11:

[ Evan Bush ]
Jukka Raitala      Zakaria Diallo       Victor Cabrera        Michael Petrasso

Samuel Piette        Saphir Taider
Shamit Shome

Raheem Edwards            Matteo Mancosu                     Ignacio Piatti

Schedule notes:

Montreal will play three of the first four on the road with long trips to Vancouver and Seattle in games one and four. In that pacific coast sandwich is a trip to Columbus and a visit from Toronto…so the schedule is very cruel to the Impact over the first few weeks. The only kind part of the schedule is that Montreal avoids the heat of Orlando, Houston, and Dallas during the hot, humid summer months by hosting them in June.

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