puerto rico vs montreal May 1st

[Juby]

first half is ending, I haven't paid perfect attention (I have guests) but from what I've seen Montreal has been dominating, about 4 or 5 great chances compared to puerto rico's 2ish. IMO Byers, Placentino and De Roux are playing best. De Roux looks shaken up, then soares too, they should be okay but braz is warming up.

0-0 at the half

[Juby]

sorry, i had to leave for half an hour and just caught the end, when I left they were getting subs (like di lorenzo) ready but after that I just know montreal won 1-0

[Jeremy]

Lots of great chances, good game overall. First victory! 1-1-1

[Juby]

at half time I was thinking all they needed was a good finish (they got one today though, edit: I missed it though so I can't confirm what sort of goal) especially considering the previous two games score tallies.

[Jeremy]

Yeah it was a pretty well struck ball from Soares in the right upper corner of the net. Very releaving to see a goal like that, and not a penalty!

[Keano]

Disappointed Byers couldn't look up and see some of the wide open wing options he had for passes, but on the other hand he kept the Islanders' D's hand full with several robust runs. Better from both Billy and Soares, encouraging. Very positive result with mostly subs starting, really controlled the pitch. lack of finish in the box though other than the strike by Soares.

[Jeremy]

Yeah that win really makes you think, do the regular starters deserve their place? I think we should go with the same lineup in the next league game.

[Keano]

Yeah that win really makes you think, do the regular starters deserve their place? I think we should go with the same lineup in the next league game.

Well, maybe with Pizzo

And, sucks to say about a local guy but Leduc was really struggling out there.

[Mr.Impact]

We'll take the 3 points. Puerto Rico is rebuilding, but is still a well organized team. They're going to have to rely on Bill Gaudette to keep making big saves for them, as they lost alot of star players.

Player Rankings

Djekanovic: Made the saves when he had to, and got the job done. I thaught he gained in confidence compared to last year, although he wasn't tested often on crosses. have no propblems starting him against weaker opposition. 7

Gatti: Was the player of the first half for me. He prefers ball to the ground, and likes to support his mids, has to improve his defensive play. I would like to see him at left back in the place of DeRoux from time to time. 7

Joqueviel: Put up another average performance for his standards. He had a better game then the TFC match, but still plentu of room for improvement.6

Aaboubou: Discovered that much like Stefano Pisoli, loves to get into the box on corners. Missed a header on a wonderful corner by Pastel Soares. Very reliable as a CB, but don't know if he could start on a regular basis. 7

DeRoux: Puerto Rico pressured the left side, leaving less space for DeRoux to roam. Often exchanged short one twos with Placentino that led no where. The keeper wasn another of his favorite passing options. Also coughed the ball up a few times. not his best game 6

Leduc: As Keano mentioned, was dissapointed by his play. Leduc is a good passer, and is at his best when he goes for the safe option. Today he gave up the ball too many times, and his positiong was off. The skipper for the day, looks to need more conditioning as he basically missed all of last year with a leg injury. 6

Hemming: Not a bad game over all, went down a few times and might of injured a knee. Dos Santos took no chances and subbed him for Testo. Could see him being a valuable role player for this squad. 7

Pastel: Liked what I saw again. Very technical player, with an excellent first touch. Took all of the Impact corners, and generated many scoring opportunities. Didn't panic, and burried his chance. I think this is a solid signing for the Impact thus far. 8

Billy: No where near where a player who's toyed with Italian Serie A, and played in the French Second division should be. It was his best game thus far, but still to invisible. I suspect that the Maestro is beginning to lose patience with him. I know he needs an adaptation period, but he has to show more life if he wants to stick around. 6

Placentino: Wow could the little guy fly. Forced Gaudette to make a great stop, on a rocket he struck with his less favored right foot. Basically was involved in every good Impact scoring chances. Had very little chemistry with Byers, but still managed some exceelent runs into the Puerto Rico box. Looks like he will start as a F, in the nutrilite championship match against vancouver. With Brown being suspended, and Sebrango injured (don't know to what extent) the other options are Byers and Agourram. 8

Byers: Seems off to a slow start compared to how he finished the season last year. Today he tried to take on the Puerto Rico defense by him self, with very little result. He powered by and semi lobbed Gaudette, only to have a PR defender clear the ball off the line. Is at his best when he comes off the bench in the second half and exploits tired defenders, but it is time for him to earn his place as a starter. 6

[nolando]

^^ Love the ratings!!

[Keano]

We'll take the 3 points. Puerto Rico is rebuilding, but is still a well organized team. They're going to have to rely on Bill Gaudette to keep making big saves for them, as they lost alot of star players.

Player Rankings

Djekanovic: Made the saves when he had to, and got the job done. I thaught he gained in confidence compared to last year, although he wasn't tested often on crosses. have no propblems starting him against weaker opposition. 7

Gatti: Was the player of the first half for me. He prefers ball to the ground, and likes to support his mids, has to improve his defensive play. I would like to see him at left back in the place of DeRoux from time to time. 7

Joqueviel: Put up another average performance for his standards. He had a better game then the TFC match, but still plentu of room for improvement.6

Aaboubou: Discovered that much like Stefano Pisoli, loves to get into the box on corners. Missed a header on a wonderful corner by Pastel Soares. Very reliable as a CB, but don't know if he could start on a regular basis. 7

DeRoux: Puerto Rico pressured the left side, leaving less space for DeRoux to roam. Often exchanged short one twos with Placentino that led no where. The keeper wasn another of his favorite passing options. Also coughed the ball up a few times. not his best game 6

Leduc: As Keano mentioned, was dissapointed by his play. Leduc is a good passer, and is at his best when he goes for the safe option. Today he gave up the ball too many times, and his positiong was off. The skipper for the day, looks to need more conditioning as he basically missed all of last year with a leg injury. 6

Hemming: Not a bad game over all, went down a few times and might of injured a knee. Dos Santos took no chances and subbed him for Testo. Could see him being a valuable role player for this squad. 7

Pastel: Liked what I saw again. Very technical player, with an excellent first touch. Took all of the Impact corners, and generated many scoring opportunities. Didn't panic, and burried his chance. I think this is a solid signing for the Impact thus far. 8

Billy: No where near where a player who's toyed with Italian Serie A, and played in the French Second division should be. It was his best game thus far, but still to invisible. I suspect that the Maestro is beginning to lose patience with him. I know he needs an adaptation period, but he has to show more life if he wants to stick around. 6

Placentino: Wow could the little guy fly. Forced Gaudette to make a great stop, on a rocket he struck with his less favored right foot. Basically was involved in every good Impact scoring chances. Had very little chemistry with Byers, but still managed some exceelent runs into the Puerto Rico box. Looks like he will start as a F, in the nutrilite championship match against vancouver. With Brown being suspended, and Sebrango injured (don't know to what extent) the other options are Byers and Agourram. 8

Byers: Seems off to a slow start compared to how he finished the season last year. Today he tried to take on the Puerto Rico defense by him self, with very little result. He powered by and semi lobbed Gaudette, only to have a PR defender clear the ball off the line. Is at his best when he comes off the bench in the second half and exploits tired defenders, but it is time for him to earn his place as a starter. 6

Epic post! Keep 'em coming! I thought Billy showed flashes in the first half with some tricky one-twos and the like, but ultimately agree with your assessment. Also I noticed he's visibly angry every time he gets subbed off which I hope is directed at himself and not petulance directed at Dos Santos as was the case with O'Brian last season.

[Jeremy]

Apparently from Billy's Facebook... "They expect more from me and I know it, but don't worry, they don't see my work, they don't know much about football here, so all the invisible work that I do, they do not see it"

!

[bettermirror]

That'll really garner some favours for Billy. Nice one, kid, nice.

[Keano]

Wow if true this pathetic. What invisible work? Jiggling his moobs and beer-ab?

[Mr.Impact]

Apparently from Billy's Facebook... "They expect more from me and I know it, but don't worry, they don't see my work, they don't know much about football here, so all the invisible work that I do, they do not see it"

!

WTF??? Invisible work ... What planet is this guy from? Hate it when foreign players can't be honest enough to admit that they are having difficulty adapting to a different style of play. Hope this guy is going to be able to practice what he preaches.

[mtl-supporter23]

"ils attendent plus de moi je le sais, mais tkt, c'est eux qui ne voyent rien, ils ne s'y connaissent pas trop ici, donc tout le travaille invisible que je fais, ils ne le voient pas"

Take it with a grain of salt guys the comment was made in reference to commentators making negative remarks about him. He's a foreign player in a new city, he'll adapt soon enough.

[Keano]

"ils attendent plus de moi je le sais, mais tkt, c'est eux qui ne voyent rien, ils ne s'y connaissent pas trop ici, donc tout le travaille invisible que je fais, ils ne le voient pas"

Take it with a grain of salt guys the comment was made in reference to commentators making negative remarks about him. He's a foreign player in a new city, he'll adapt soon enough.

If he meant t to the commentators that's pretty different than if it was directed at the coaching staff.

[SteveBeau]

"ils attendent plus de moi je le sais, mais tkt, c'est eux qui ne voyent rien, ils ne s'y connaissent pas trop ici, donc tout le travaille invisible que je fais, ils ne le voient pas"

Take it with a grain of salt guys the comment was made in reference to commentators making negative remarks about him. He's a foreign player in a new city, he'll adapt soon enough.

"ils ne s'y connaissent pas trop ICI" implies that we don't know **** about soccer HERE (Canada, Montreal, Quebec ect.)

A stupid comment to make, especially when he has contributed nothing since he got here...

[Mr.Impact]

What he should be doing, is comparing his contribution to the team, to that of Felipe "Pastel" Soares who was signed the same day as him. Granted they don't play the same style, but there is no doubt that Pastel has been more involved in the play, and has contrinuted more then Billy.

I don't believe that the Impact have brought him here to do the small things that go unnoticed that help a team become successful. That role could be given to any Canadian Rookie, who is developing. At the salery he's being paid, he's expected to dominate and win some games by himself.

This guy reminds me of Martin Fabro, who left after 4 or 5 games, and blamed everybody but himself for his poor showing.

[Grizzly]

A very refreshing aspect to this game is we actually had a decent ref in Mauricio Navaro.