Montreal MLS roster discussion

[Michael Crampton]

However, I think we do want to see that some effort is being made to sign and play Canadian players. I did not see much effort in this regard at all from years 2 to 4 of TFC and last year with the Caps.

I was a big critic of Mo Johnston's attitude towards developing the Canadian player pool and his eagerness to "blame Canada" in year one of TFC's existence but it's worth noting that in year 3 TFC went out and signed two of the best Canadian players of this generation; one of them at pretty great expense after a protracted courtship. That doesn't do anything for player development but it's hard to not see that as "much effort".

[Kurosawa1555362267]

http://fr.canoe.ca/sports/nouvelles/soccer/archives/2011/12/20111202-082600.html

Impact are negotiating with Etienne Barbara, the Maltese 20 goal scorer from the Railhawks... not sure if this is that infamous NASL pick, or just that he was available

Barbara I don't really care about, but Mtl also have the rights to Brad Rusin who transfered in Denmark last July. If he comes back I'd really like him with the Impact, I was pissed when I first heard of the transfer, I tought he would be with us for 2012. Best player inm the NASL in my mind.

[Keano]

Barbara I don't really care about, but Mtl also have the rights to Brad Rusin who transfered in Denmark last July. If he comes back I'd really like him with the Impact, I was pissed when I first heard of the transfer, I tought he would be with us for 2012. Best player inm the NASL in my mind.

Well both would address the two biggest holes in the current roster: depth at forward and CB

[RS]

I was a big critic of Mo Johnston's attitude towards developing the Canadian player pool and his eagerness to "blame Canada" in year one of TFC's existence but it's worth noting that in year 3 TFC went out and signed two of the best Canadian players of this generation; one of them at pretty great expense after a protracted courtship. That doesn't do anything for player development but it's hard to not see that as "much effort".

Yup. DeRo and JDG were brought in in 2009, along with Adrian Serioux and Ali Gerba. At points there were as many as six Canadians in the TFC starting lineup that year (Brennan and Attakora being the other two).

[the biologist]

Barbara I don't really care about, but Mtl also have the rights to Brad Rusin who transfered in Denmark last July. If he comes back I'd really like him with the Impact, I was pissed when I first heard of the transfer, I tought he would be with us for 2012. Best player inm the NASL in my mind.

...and he already has 2 goals in 6 games with HB Køge...

[Opie]

Rusin >>>>>> Barbara. Rusin could probably play himself into the U.S. National Team , although he is not going to do that in Denmark. The talent on the back lines in the NASL was really poor. Not that the talent in the middle or up front was anything to write home about either. I don't think Barbara would be 1/8 as effective in MLS. Rusin is a much better player.

According to Nick De Santis they want Del Piero, but he wants to play in NY, LA or another "big" market.

http://fr.canoe.ca/sports/nouvelles/soccer/archives/2011/12/20111201-211706.html

Take it with a grain of salt, but he also blew off Blackburn in the EPL and the Swiss league.

[Keano]

I would still like them to sign that big poacher (Barbara) (but not instead of Rusin.. can they sign both of them?) as long as it's a depth move along with a very good (much better) more creative forward... like a Del Piero haha

[pappinchris]

I wouldn't have a problem with the double move BUT Barbara would count as a international spot...If it happens forgot big name DP striker In my books they cost more than most midfielders/defenders typically as well and it would take up a international spot that would go to a DP caliber player.

[Guest uno]

Jesse Marsch: Montreal Impact's conversations with Chelsea's Nicolas Anelka were very good

The first-year head coach expects the Impact to be competitive in their first season and has been aggressive in trying to sign high-profile players like Anelka and Del Piero.

Dec 3, 2011 6:30:00 PM

http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/69/transfer-zone/2011/12/03/2786456/jesse-marsch-montreal-impacts-conversations-with-chelseas

[Soccerpro]

The Montreal Impact have been pretty busy the past two weeks.

Aside from unveiling its official team jersey, Major League Soccer's newest franchise has seen its roster swell from four to 18 players after it made a series of trades and picked up players in the expansion draft.

One thing the Impact haven't done is sign a Canadian. Their current roster includes Americans, a Frenchman, a Gambian, a Jamaican, a Colombian and a Bosnian - but not a single player born in Canada.

But Matt Jordan, the Impact's director of soccer operations, insists the club is actively pursuing Canadian-born players ahead of the start of the 2012 MLS season.

"We are in discussions with several (Canadian players). … We will have a Canadian influence on the team," Jordan told sportsnet.ca.

Jordan declined to identify which Canadian players the team was in talks with when pressed for details.

The former Impact goalkeeper did hint that two products from the Impact's youth academy could be added to the senior team roster.

"We have a couple of guys who are very interesting for us. I don't want to say any names, but there are a few who feel really good about," Jordan said. "One guy we think has the potential to contribute; the other is going to be a multi-year project."

Thus far, Montreal has built a side that combines experience and youth. The additions of three veterans - goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts, defender Nelson Rivas and midfielder Davy Arnaud - are all part of Montreal's plan to build sturdy team spine.

"We feel like we're slowly accomplishing our goals of building a strong core through the middle of our team," Jordan explained.

Another principle the Impact have adopted in building their roster is trying to sign players with MLS experience.

"We feel really good with a lot of the pickups we've made," Jordan said. "You have Justin Mapp, Josh Gardner, Tyson Wahl, Sanna Nyassi, Justin Braun - these are all guys who are a good age and have good MLS experience, and have played and been successful in the league.

Picking up Mapp in the expansion draft was an astute move, according to Jordan.

"Justin Mapp is a proven player in this league. He's played over 200 games (and) the nice thing with him is you can play him in two or three different positions. He can play on the outside, in an attacking midfield role, and he can play as a second striker. He's a very versatile players and he's a very effective player," Jordan explained.

Montreal also pulled off a major coup when they acquired Ricketts in a trade with the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Evan Bush, 25, was the Impact's starting goalkeeper in its final NASL campaign in 2011 but has never played in MLS. Ricketts, meanwhile, is 34 and was voted the MLS goalkeeper of the year in 2010.

Hardly a surprise, then, that the arrival of the more experienced Ricketts means Bush will be the team's backup next season.

"Donovan is the number one keeper," Jordan said. "Evan did a great job for us last year and we feel that he and Ricketts are going to form a great partnership. Evan is going to gain a lot by working with Donovan on a daily basis, and it's going to be instrumental in his development."

Despite the recent flurry of moves the Impact have made in the past two weeks, Jordan feels there are still significant holes to fill on the roster.

"We're still looking for an influential striker and probably a midfielder; a more of an offensive-minded midfielder that plays higher up the field. Those are our two biggest priorities," Jordan revealed.

One player who could be leaving Montreal is Brian Ching.

Montreal picked the former Houston Dynamo forward first overall in the expansion draft, even after he publically stated he would retire if the Impact selected him. Conventional wisdom suggests the Impact will try to trade Ching, but Jordan affirmed that fans could see the American star in a Montreal uniform next season.

"We certainly have not ruled it out," Jordan said.

So who will the academy players be? Ilcu and ....? I hope they don't sign the young keeper, let him keep getting experience with the academy.

[pappinchris]

Ilcu, Agourram or Crepeau. Even if they sign Crepeau he will pretty much be our reserve team keeper tho.

Also as far as the other 2011 players who have not been officially cut by team..can someone make a list? Sorry If I sound needy lol

[Soccerpro]

I'd be disappointed with Crepeau being signed. Realistically he's not going to see playing time. I'd rather have a young outfield player who could possibly see the field signed in his place . It's obvious Matt Jordan is referring to Crepeu as the multi year project, I just hope we don't see Bernier, Ilcu (with little playing time) and Crepeau (who wont play for years) as the 3 Canadians signed to the MLS roster.

I think Agourram doesn't have a chance of making the MLS roster. He didnt even play well in the NASL. He's run out of chances. He's not that young anymore.

[Michael Crampton]

Soccerpro: where is the article you posted from? It's kinda bad form to post a whole article without accreditation or a link.

Thus far, Montreal has built a side that combines experience and youth. The additions of three veterans - goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts, defender Nelson Rivas and midfielder Davy Arnaud - are all part of Montreal's plan to build sturdy team spine.

"We feel like we're slowly accomplishing our goals of building a strong core through the middle of our team," Jordan explained.

Another principle the Impact have adopted in building their roster is trying to sign players with MLS experience.

"We feel really good with a lot of the pickups we've made," Jordan said. "You have Justin Mapp, Josh Gardner, Tyson Wahl, Sanna Nyassi, Justin Braun - these are all guys who are a good age and have good MLS experience, and have played and been successful in the league.

Picking up Mapp in the expansion draft was an astute move, according to Jordan.

"Justin Mapp is a proven player in this league. He's played over 200 games (and) the nice thing with him is you can play him in two or three different positions. He can play on the outside, in an attacking midfield role, and he can play as a second striker. He's a very versatile players and he's a very effective player," Jordan explained.

All this is very true.

We're months from the start of the season, there's a lot of time for both teams to change and take shape, TFC is looking better at this point in the off season than they ever have before,* and I hate making explicit predictions but, honestly, from what I've seen from Marsch Toronto FC fans need to start preparing themselves for something that most can't even imagine: a Montreal team that is competitive in their very first season and capable of finishing ahead of TFC and possibly making the playoffs.

Most LIKELY, simply due to being an expansion team, Montreal will be like most other expansion teams: competitive enough with the rest of the league with their first 11 to 15 players but lacking the depth to sustain a playoff PPG pace over the course of an entire season as injuries, suspensions, and international absences occur. They'll be helped in that 2012 is a rare non-WC, non-GC summer in North America and they seem unlikely to have many Canadian or American internationals anyways but MLS seasons are tough. The massive travel, different geography and climate of its cities, and physical style of play in the league makes much of the test of MLS a question of teams' depth more than anything else. But Marsch is being clever by clearly putting an emphasis, completely unlike Mo (and Winter...), on players with MLS experience in leadership positions. Most of them are not stars and many have played on some pretty poor MLS teams at some point but they've all shown that they know how to be successful in the league. That said, it's worth keeping in mind that since the major expansion wave in MLS began in 2005 only one team out of EIGHT - Seattle - has been able to be successful in their first season. It's a tough hill to climb and the odds are long. Again, most likely, AT BEST, Montreal will have to be satisfied with being a fringe playoff team - like Portland in 2011 - that fades down the stretch.

TFC on the other hand, if they don't backslide from where they ended the season last year, are most likely to, AT WORST, to be a fringe playoff team that stays in or around the playoff picture until the final month even if they don't, in the end, make the playoffs. TFC's improvement after the team was rebuilt (again) in mid-summer has probably been overstated because of the team's success in making it to the knockout stages of the CCL. Yes, they finally managed to win an away game and beat Columbus (convincingly) too but, as Duane Rollins pointed out on CSN, that team was only middle of the pack in terms of PPG and they only won 3 games in the final third of the league season. Hardly a blistering pace even if it felt like a massive improvement over the beginning of the season and the team was clearly capable of playing better soccer than they had done up 'til that point. TFC could be better if the improvement continues but it's not impossible that they could be worse. De Guzman's knee injuries might recur and even if that doesn't keep him out of the line-up it's clear that it massively affects his play, Koevermans and Frings aren't young and will have to adapt to a full season of North American travel (and summer), and the back line is still very much a work in progress. It doesn't seem LIKELY but it's not impossible that TFC could be worse in 2012 than the team that looked so good in beating Dallas at PHP in mid-October.

Long story short: (in my estimation and based on what I've seen so far) if the Impact stay healthy, get some early victories and self belief, and can sustain that over the course of a season it's not impossible that they could make the playoffs. If TFC don't keep improving (or actually backslide) from where they ended the 2011 season its very possible they won't.

That could be a disaster in TFC-land that parts of our fanbase are probably not prepared to deal with. It's sorta exciting though and should make for some great games between the teams if they can both stay around the playoff race all year.

When does the season start?

*Keep in mind: TFC hadn't traded for DeRo yet at this point between '08 and '09 IIRC.

[Soccerpro]

Soccerpro: where is the article you posted from? It's kinda bad form to post a whole article without accreditation or a link.

All this is very true.

We're months from the start of the season, there's a lot of time for both teams to change and take shape, TFC is looking better at this point in the off season than they ever have before,* and I hate making explicit predictions but, honestly, from what I've seen from Marsch Toronto FC fans need to start preparing themselves for something that most can't even imagine: a Montreal team that is competitive in their very first season and capable of finishing ahead of TFC and possibly making the playoffs.

Most LIKELY, simply due to being an expansion team, Montreal will be like most other expansion teams: competitive enough with the rest of the league with their first 11 to 15 players but lacking the depth to sustain a playoff PPG pace over the course of an entire season as injuries, suspensions, and international absences occur. They'll be helped in that 2012 is a rare non-WC, non-GC summer in North America and they seem unlikely to have many Canadian or American internationals anyways but MLS seasons are tough. The massive travel, different geography and climate of its cities, and physical style of play in the league makes much of the test of MLS a question of teams' depth more than anything else. But Marsch is being clever by clearly putting an emphasis, completely unlike Mo (and Winter...), on players with MLS experience in leadership positions. Most of them are not stars and many have played on some pretty poor MLS teams at some point but they've all shown that they know how to be successful in the league. That said, it's worth keeping in mind that since the major expansion wave in MLS began in 2005 only one team out of EIGHT - Seattle - has been able to be successful in their first season. It's a tough hill to climb and the odds are long. Again, most likely, AT BEST, Montreal will have to be satisfied with being a fringe playoff team - like Portland in 2011 - that fades down the stretch.

TFC on the other hand, if they don't backslide from where they ended the season last year, are most likely to, AT WORST, to be a fringe playoff team that stays in or around the playoff picture until the final month even if they don't, in the end, make the playoffs. TFC's improvement after the team was rebuilt (again) in mid-summer has probably been overstated because of the team's success in making it to the knockout stages of the CCL. Yes, they finally managed to win an away game and beat Columbus (convincingly) too but, as Duane Rollins pointed out on CSN, that team was only middle of the pack in terms of PPG and they only won 3 games in the final third of the league season. Hardly a blistering pace even if it felt like a massive improvement over the beginning of the season and the team was clearly capable of playing better soccer than they had done up 'til that point. TFC could be better if the improvement continues but it's not impossible that they could be worse. De Guzman's knee injuries might recur and even if that doesn't keep him out of the line-up it's clear that it massively affects his play, Koevermans and Frings aren't young and will have to adapt to a full season of North American travel (and summer), and the back line is still very much a work in progress. It doesn't seem LIKELY but it's not impossible that TFC could be worse in 2012 than the team that looked so good in beating Dallas at PHP in mid-October.

Long story short: (in my estimation and based on what I've seen so far) if the Impact stay healthy, get some early victories and self belief, and can sustain that over the course of a season it's not impossible that they could make the playoffs. If TFC don't keep improving (or actually backslide) from where they ended the 2011 season its very possible they won't.

That could be a disaster in TFC-land that parts of our fanbase are probably not prepared to deal with. It's sorta exciting though and should make for some great games between the teams if they can both stay around the playoff race all year.

When does the season start?

*Keep in mind: TFC hadn't traded for DeRo yet at this point between '08 and '09 IIRC.

Googling the first line will always get you the url.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/2011/12/03/impact_canada_jordan/?utm_source=Soccer%20Lineup%20RSS-Images&utm_medium=feed&utm_content=Impact%20will%20have%20a%20'Canadian%20influence'

Keep in mind many supporters on this board thought the whitecaps had put a playoff team together prior to their first MLS season. It just doesnt always work the way you think it will with expansion teams.

[JimmyJames]

In the Guardian today..Anelka to MTL Rumour.....

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/dec/04/didier-drogba-chelsea

"...while Villas-Boas has accepted transfer requests from Nicolas Anelka and Alex. The French striker could join the Montreal Impact, a new Major League Soccer franchise, in January..."

Anelka has been a victim of Daniel Sturridge's exciting attacking emergence and he acknowledged a parting of the ways was inevitable. "I've known for a little while where I'll be on 2 January," said Anelka.

[Keano]

In the Guardian today..Anelka to MTL Rumour.....

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/dec/04/didier-drogba-chelsea

"...while Villas-Boas has accepted transfer requests from Nicolas Anelka and Alex. The French striker could join the Montreal Impact, a new Major League Soccer franchise, in January..."

Anelka has been a victim of Daniel Sturridge's exciting attacking emergence and he acknowledged a parting of the ways was inevitable. "I've known for a little while where I'll be on 2 January," said Anelka.

Speculation is that he'd be 5M per year... for that kind of money you'd want to see a boat load of goals and a solid shot at MLS playoffs... tall order for an expansion team no matter who's poaching up front... still the marketing benefits would be off the charts and maybe that's more important right now... after all we are in a city where the TV anchors discussed the Habs while waiting for the Rivas press conference to start .

[Michael Crampton]

Googling the first line will always get you the url.

Fair enough, but you're still posting the words as your own. I had to edit the quote tags in my response to make it clear that I wasn't even quoting you.

Keep in mind many supporters on this board thought the whitecaps had put a playoff team together prior to their first MLS season.

Yeah, but most of them were Vancouver supporters or "general Canada" supporters with, quite frankly, little first hand knowledge of MLS beyond what they'd gleaned from getting admittedly pretty good results against bad to mediocre TFC teams in the NCC. Geographic proximity to the exception-that-proves-the-rule Seattle probably didn't help either in setting their expectation level and that was reinforced by a certain arrogance that eminated from their FO in the lead up to MLS expansion. The Whitecaps had legitimately consistently been one of the best organized, somewhat visionary, and leading Division 2 franchises in North America for quite a while and there was a lack of recognition that just being the best of that bunch didn't automatically make them a better soccer organization than established MLS clubs. Again, mostly comparing themselves to TFC probably didn't help either.

Among commentators more familiar with MLS the most common attitude towards Vancouver was, to paraphrase, "I don't know what to expect because they're not going the route of a typical expansion team." No critical analysis of their roster could make a very convincing case about being confident they'd be successful.

I was too optimistic too: I picked them to finish second last in the CSN prediction thread. Of course, I had Portland dead last and got that completely wrong.

But I don't get that vibe off Montreal at all. Marsch is being prudent and pragmatic. He doesn't seem to be going for the brass ring or trying to reinvent the wheel. His team, in these admittedly early days, seems to be a very typical MLS squad so far. They probably won't be good but, unless they get a lot of injuries,* they probably won't be terrible either. They're setting themselves up to be in a position where, if everything does go their way, they really could have quite a good season. It's unlikely but far from impossible (and I don't mean that in the "but anything's possible" cliched way either).

*There's some big concerns there. Most likely they will have a squad with little solid depth so they'll be relying on their first 11 to carry the rest of the team so there'll be even more physical demands (from less available squad rotation) on those players. Arnaud and Ricketts should be particular concerns: they're good players who were basically available because they're not very durable anymore.

[Keano]

Arnaud and Ricketts should be particular concerns: they're good players who were basically available because they're not very durable anymore.

At least there is very capable cover for Ricketts.. covering for Arnaud could be more of a problem, as, although we've loved what we've seen from Ubi last year, there was a lot of chatter on NYRB boards about how at the MLS level he was prone to the odd groaner. Bringing Bernier in would be much more comforting as far as CAM goes, even though he doesn't always play that position for club and country.

[Michael Crampton]

covering for Arnaud could be more of a problem, as, although we've loved what we've seen from Ubi last year, there was a lot of chatter on NYRB boards about how at the MLS level he was prone to the odd groaner.

Ubi should properly be a sub on a decent MLS team IMO. He's a useful player with flashes of being really good occasionally - some of us suggested him for TFC when he was available in the re-entry draft - but not reliable enough to be a game in, game out starter.

I'm, as sad as this sounds, not really familiar enough with Bernier to be able to comment on him. He's one of those many European based guys who's been around the national team but is rarely influential enough to make an impression on me. It's hard to imagine he wouldn't be good enough but the success rate of repatriated Canucks is so uneven (at TFC) that I wouldn't take anything for granted myself.

[Soccerpro]

I'd like to see Montreal bring in Saiko for training camp. He might earn a contract.

Please Canadian MLS teams, don't overlook the painfully obvious.

[Soccerpro]

Fair enough, but you're still posting the words as your own. I had to edit the quote tags in my response to make it clear that I wasn't even quoting you.

Yeah, but most of them were Vancouver supporters or "general Canada" supporters with, quite frankly, little first hand knowledge of MLS beyond what they'd gleaned from getting admittedly pretty good results against bad to mediocre TFC teams in the NCC. Geographic proximity to the exception-that-proves-the-rule Seattle probably didn't help either in setting their expectation level and that was reinforced by a certain arrogance that eminated from their FO in the lead up to MLS expansion. The Whitecaps had legitimately consistently been one of the best organized, somewhat visionary, and leading Division 2 franchises in North America for quite a while and there was a lack of recognition that just being the best of that bunch didn't automatically make them a better soccer organization than established MLS clubs. Again, mostly comparing themselves to TFC probably didn't help either.

Among commentators more familiar with MLS the most common attitude towards Vancouver was, to paraphrase, "I don't know what to expect because they're not going the route of a typical expansion team." No critical analysis of their roster could make a very convincing case about being confident they'd be successful.

I was too optimistic too: I picked them to finish second last in the CSN prediction thread. Of course, I had Portland dead last and got that completely wrong.

But I don't get that vibe off Montreal at all. Marsch is being prudent and pragmatic. He doesn't seem to be going for the brass ring or trying to reinvent the wheel. His team, in these admittedly early days, seems to be a very typical MLS squad so far. They probably won't be good but, unless they get a lot of injuries,* they probably won't be terrible either. They're setting themselves up to be in a position where, if everything does go their way, they really could have quite a good season. It's unlikely but far from impossible (and I don't mean that in the "but anything's possible" cliched way either).

*There's some big concerns there. Most likely they will have a squad with little solid depth so they'll be relying on their first 11 to carry the rest of the team so there'll be even more physical demands (from less available squad rotation) on those players. Arnaud and Ricketts should be particular concerns: they're good players who were basically available because they're not very durable anymore.

The Impact better sign some players who can score/attack. Right now they're D - heavy.

From a neutral's prospective I have trouble respecting a coach/team that takes Jeb Brovsky after watching him play for the Caps this year. Good person, awful soccer player.

[Keegan]

I'd like to see Montreal bring in Saiko for training camp. He might earn a contract.

Please Canadian MLS teams, don't overlook the painfully obvious.

I think he intends to start the season with FCE, not sure why at this point but at least we know he'll be playing regularly. Maybe he can move in June.

[Keano]

I'm, as sad as this sounds, not really familiar enough with Bernier to be able to comment on him. He's one of those many European based guys who's been around the national team but is rarely influential enough to make an impression on me. It's hard to imagine he wouldn't be good enough but the success rate of repatriated Canucks is so uneven (at TFC) that I wouldn't take anything for granted myself.

Yes it's true we don't get to see much of him with Canada, because his position is one of those with which invisibility is a good thing i.e. no mistakes... when he was with the Impact years ago he played much more offensively even occasionally at forward is I remember correctly.

[Kurosawa1555362267]

Montreal just added Ian Westlake to their roster. Still no canadian though...

[Keano]

Westy the Goat! Awesome.

It's clear they are announcing deals in a spaced manner that have already been inked, curious to know which other ones may have already been done deals.