Montreal Impact changes for 2013

[Alberto7]

Some roster changes already announced:

confirmed leaving:

Greg Sutton- retired

Eduardo Sebrango - retired

Evan James - released

Shavar Thomas - released

Josh Gardner - Traded to Sporting KC

Bernardo Corradi- released

Bryan Arguez- released

Miguel Montano- released

edit: December 10

[El Hombre]

Evan James - released

That's unfortunate.

That leaves Bernier and Ouimette as the two Canadians, right? Don't they need to pick up another one?

[Raven]

That's unfortunate.

That leaves Bernier and Ouimette as the two Canadians, right? Don't they need to pick up another one?

Evan James should contact FC Edmonton, also there is talk of bringing up some academy players to hopefully fill in the gaps

[Macksam]

That's unfortunate.

That leaves Bernier and Ouimette as the two Canadians, right? Don't they need to pick up another one?

In all honesty, I didn't think much of Evan James during the Olympic qualifiers.

I wonder who they'll get. Hutch? That could be a great DP signing for them.

[El Hombre]

In all honesty, I didn't think much of Evan James during the Olympic qualifiers.

I wonder who they'll get. Hutch? That could be a great DP signing for them.

I thought James was decent. had a couple good touches.

I hope they bring up Ilcu.

[Obinna]

I thought James was decent. had a couple good touches.

I hope they bring up Ilcu.

Ilcu is going with them to the upcomming camp in italy

[Obinna]

In all honesty, I didn't think much of Evan James during the Olympic qualifiers.

I wonder who they'll get. Hutch? That could be a great DP signing for them.

That is like the Amercians saying Dempsey would be a great DP signing. Sure it is true but it won't be good for the MNT.

[Mr.Impact]

Roster for the Italy camp.

G

Evan Bush

Troy Perkins

D

Jeb Brovsky

Hassoun Camara

Matteo Ferrari

Dennis Iapichino

Alessandro Nesta

Karl W. Ouimette

Zarek Valentin

M

Bryan Arguez

Davy Arnaud

Patrice Bernier

Calum Mallace

Justin Mapp

Lamar Neagle

Sanna Nyassi

Sinisa Ubiparipovic

Collen Warner

F

Marco Di Vaio

Andrew Wenger

Academy

G

Maxime Crépeau

D

Maxim Tissot

M

Wandrille Lefevre

Zakaria Messoudi

F

Mircea Ilcu

.

[Sam]

Although it's disappointing to see a Canadian lose his spot I was never really impressed with James. Thought he had a pretty poor first touch.

I hope we see a few more Canadians get promoted from the academy this year and maybe one or two coming in from Europe/elsewhere in MLS. I think the Impact really need another quality central midfielder to play alongside Bernier. It would be interesting to see if the Impact can poach De Guzman from Dallas seeing as he probably would much rather be in Canada (plus I'm sure he'd see it as a nice way to stick it to TFC).

[A_Gagne]

Sux for James, although considering he didn't even register a 1min of PT, I'm sure the kid had his CV updated beforehand. Good luck, I hope he lands on a team at a level worth playing at. Our player pool is so small it's a big hit whenever one of our younger players end up out of soccer due to lack of opportunity as opposed to lack of potential.

[Macksam]

Sux for James, although considering he didn't even register a 1min of PT, I'm sure the kid had his CV updated beforehand. Good luck, I hope he lands on a team at a level worth playing at. Our player pool is so small it's a big hit whenever one of our younger players end up out of soccer due to lack of opportunity as opposed to lack of potential.

That is true. However, at the very least, we now have some solid professional teams that have to replace them with other younger Canadian players.

[Grizzly]

I suspect that in addition to Ilcu, Crépeau will be brought into the 1st team as 3rd keeper. With Perkins and Bush we are pretty solid at keeper so I don't see any reason to sign anyone outside of the organization unless there is a possibility to place Crépeau on loan somewhere where he will get more playing time.

We do need at least one more quality starting midfielder to go along with Felipe, Bernier and the ever fragile Mapp. We have some decent depth mids in Arnaud, Warner, Ubiparipović and Mallace. JDG as a signing is the absolute worst idea I could imagine, not an upgrade on the depth mids we have. A guy with a poor attitude who is losing his skills and fitness fast who will be more expensive than the other players of his calibre. Some years ago he might have been a good signing though not at the price TFC paid but I would take Warner over him at the moment. Plus with the exception of Arnaud and Ubiparipović all of our depth mids are fairly young and hopefully on an upward projectory as far as playing level while JDG has been on a pretty drastic downward spiral in the last few years. Nesta really pushes forward and likes to set up the mids for the attack. He really likes giving the ball to a midfielder who can take it and carry it and develop the attack like Bernier and Felipe this year. What is he going to do with a guy who is going to keep passing the ball back to him everytime he feeds him?

[Sam]

Haha I knew you wouldn't like the JDG idea. I also really don't think he would be that expensive right now coming from Dallas, and he is still an upgrade on Warner.

I actually thought Warner had a very good start to the season, but in the second half once Bernier started to pick up Warner started to look lost out there. I really think that Montreal needs a player who can play in that hole right in front of the back four who is more comfortable on the ball than Warner and more adept at playing good forward passes to get attacks moving (instead of just long balls to a usually offside Di Vaio). The main knock against De Guzman right now would be his age on an already aging team and you are right I think there are probably better options, but saying he is "the worst idea I could imagine" is a little anti-JDG bias. He has a better passing range than Warner, is far more comfortable on the ball and is decent positionally.

I'm not sure who is on the Impact's radar at the moment for this position but I'm sure Marsch and the staff are looking because it was a pretty glaring hole coming down the stretch when we really needed someone to calm down the game.

I also think it is important that this season the Impact give a bit more time to the Academy guys than they did last season. Although I don't blame them for not doing it this year as it's important to get the team moving in the right direction in the first year and build a core before really incorporating the younger guys.

[youllneverwalkalone]

If JDG ever plays for the Impact, Grizzly will be combing the night clubs of Montreal dressed in a red adidas track suit (think Chaz Tenenbaum) with the sole purpose of demanding that Julian meet him and his dad for morning calisthenics, conducted in Spanish, at the Holiday Inn on Rue Sherbrooke.

[Grizzly]

If JDG ever plays for the Impact, Grizzly will be combing the night clubs of Montreal dressed in a red adidas track suit (think Chaz Tenenbaum) with the sole purpose of demanding that Julian meet him and his dad for morning calisthenics, conducted in Spanish, at the Holiday Inn on Rue Sherbrooke.

Good one YNWA. Montreal with its nightlife would be one of the worst places for JDG to play, especially since he would be near enough to his friends in TO to invite them all down to party just like he did when we played Honduras (even before the game it was hard to tell from his Facebook page that there was a national team game in Montreal, it sounded more like he was holding a party for his TO friends).

As for Sam's claim of bias against JDG, he is not my favourite player but I am also being objective about his playing ability. We all saw how poor he was moving the ball forward in WCQ and in MLS this year. He has some value as a destroyer but Warner can do that as well as he can. Warner is not the best passer or mover of the ball but in his present state JDG is no upgrade on him in that regard. When JDG was Warner's age he certainly would have been a significant upgrade on him and Warner does not have the potential of a young JDG and I have nothing against an upgrade on Warner but JDG at this point in his career is not it. I am not the biggest DeRo fan either but I could see how he could be a useful player for Montreal and could fit into our team but not JDG.

[BearcatSA]

De Guzman has shown that he can help a team in a role playing capacity (he drew praise for his linking play in the deep lying holding mid position in Dallas) but the question remains as to how much a club value$ his contributions and skillset. I think there may be too big a gap between what an MLS club will be willing to pay for his services and what he would like to be paid.

[shawn_strat]

Although it's disappointing to see a Canadian lose his spot I was never really impressed with James. Thought he had a pretty poor first touch.

I hope we see a few more Canadians get promoted from the academy this year and maybe one or two coming in from Europe/elsewhere in MLS. I think the Impact really need another quality central midfielder to play alongside Bernier. It would be interesting to see if the Impact can poach De Guzman from Dallas seeing as he probably would much rather be in Canada (plus I'm sure he'd see it as a nice way to stick it to TFC).

Are you kidding? I don't want De Guzman anywhere near Montreal. There is no way that he is worth the salary he's getting.

[Sam]

Are you kidding? I don't want De Guzman anywhere near Montreal. There is no way that he is worth the salary he's getting.

Just to be clear I agree that the salary would be an issue, but if JDG is willing to take a serious pay-cut (which he will HAVE to do if he wants to stay in MLS) then I think he is a player that might fill a role at Montreal. Of course all of this discussion will be change dramatically now that Marsch is gone and probably several players with him.

[JimmyJames]

Wow, change the name of the thread to JDG sucks and I hate him....JDG would be a good signing for MTL, mainly because they have a few players that know where to be without the ball.....but keep hating people, JDG is the reason why TFC sucks, why we did not make the hex and why there is unrest in the middle east...

[Lord Bob]

JDG does suck, to a hilarious extent, both on the field and off it. No MLS team should have a place for him at any price.

[Macksam]

JDG does suck, to a hilarious extent, both on the field and off it. No MLS team should have a place for him at any price.

Another one for good measure,

[Lord Bob]

Another one for good measure,

This usage was much more accurately placed than the other.

[Macksam]

This usage was much more accurately placed than the other.

lulz, fair enough.

So, you think the Scottish Prem and Championship are better than MLS? If so, to what extent?

[Dub Narcotic]

Four trialists on the Italian trip (so far):

The Montreal Impact announced Monday afternoon that four new players to the test with the team in his post-season camp in Italy.

Midfielders Nicolas Cordova (Brescia), Henrique Cornelio Bem (SC Kriens) and Andrea Pisanu (Bologna), as well as striker Oussama Essabr (Crotone on loan from Juventus) joined the team trains in Florence.

I'm starting to come around on this angle Saputo is trying to take. Rather than scout South America directly or take big DP gambles, find those 'floaters' in Europe who are between clubs, maybe for merit, but also maybe for managerial changes, agent issues, passport issues, injury layoffs etc... Felipe and Ferrari are two good examples of this kind of player (also, Chiumiento, Saer Sene, etc..), and perhaps one or two of the above could help. I don't know any of the players, though.

[tmcmurph]

Four trialists on the Italian trip (so far):

The Montreal Impact announced Monday afternoon that four new players to the test with the team in his post-season camp in Italy.

Midfielders Nicolas Cordova (Brescia), Henrique Cornelio Bem (SC Kriens) and Andrea Pisanu (Bologna), as well as striker Oussama Essabr (Crotone on loan from Juventus) joined the team trains in Florence.

I'm starting to come around on this angle Saputo is trying to take. Rather than scout South America directly or take big DP gambles, find those 'floaters' in Europe who are between clubs, maybe for merit, but also maybe for managerial changes, agent issues, passport issues, injury layoffs etc... Felipe and Ferrari are two good examples of this kind of player (also, Chiumiento, Saer Sene, etc..), and perhaps one or two of the above could help. I don't know any of the players, though.

Aside from being inexpensive to trial they would all be familiar with the same style of play having played in SerieA/B and be familiar with the expectations of the positions in an Italian style team. I'm thinking Saputo will have the majority of his international spots filled with Italians or foreign players knowledgeable of that style. It would bring a consistency to the team and cut the learning curve for new players.