Jump to content

2015 Impact Season


Ruffian

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 169
  • Created
  • Last Reply

IMFC - My thoughts on the game last night. 

 

First, great to see Oyongo nick a goal - good to see him gain some confidence offensively.  Was scored off another great play from Piatti.  There were some moments of offence in the first half, but as was said by the commentators on the radio, players were not engaged enough last night.  Jack Mac especially.  

 

I thought TFC was excellent - would have been tough to beat for any team tonight.  But letting Donadal track Bradley?  Really?  Did anyone see how far Donadel was out of the play when Bradley took the Giovinco pass to score the equalizer?  For all of Mallace's limitations, would he not at least have been a better tracker of Bradley last night?  

 

Soumare and Ciman - I don't think Bacy needed to make that late tackle, but I also question the penalty, as it seemed that Bacy got ball first.  Wonder if MLSsoccer.com will review this one.  Ciman did his best, but we needed to bunker down more and park the bus.  The game was far too wide open for an away game.  You need a few more midfielders to hold Bradley in check, as he released Gio and Alidore at will.

 

Team play - there were some problems linking up play last night - poor first touches and passing, and far too dependent upon fast breaks.  That's a team that knows it is being outplayed and has little chance to score except for some individual brilliance.  Yet, they scored a decent first goal.  Something ain't right with Klopas' tactics here.

 

Bernier:  he wouldn't have been a difference maker against Bradley, but maybe a half time sub instead of at 75 minutes would have sent more of a message to the team.  Bit more control of midfield - few more sprayed passes, calmness etc.  Even in those last minutes, he seemed to have that effect.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Johan Venegas arrived in Montreal last night. Some of the ultras went to the airport to welcome him. Apart from that there was no one at airport, no media or "fans" at all unlike the hundreds that showed up for Drogba. The Impact only sent one person to pick him up, probably just a driver. I think at 26 from a soccer perspective he is probably a better signing than Drogba, disappointing to see him completely fall under the radar with Drogbamania. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Impact has 29 players signed. Cameron Porter is done for the year, so he's not considered on the 28-man roster. So, you still need to drop one player to register Venegas.  I'll admit that Drogba was the more important player to sell tickets.

 

I've read  (per Patrick Leduc) that the Impact is shopping a player who could become a free agent later this year, has played minutes and is at a position where there are a lot of players fighting for spots and the only guy who fits that bill is Oduro. (Mapp, Kronberg and Cooper are the other players who could become free agents this year and one is the back-up goalkeeper and the other 2 have been injured though Mapp is apparently 95% ready)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jack McInerney is probably getting traded to Columbus for Allocation money.  I don't know what happened in Montreal. He was useful for the team when he played, but he never was happy this year because he wasn't starting when he was prefered to the likes of Oduro and Porter at the beginning of the year. Klopas was also always saying that he could start Piatti instead of McInerney at forward when the other two strikers were injured.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The trade has happened.  Jack Mac off to Colombus to fight with Kamara for time in attack!  Seems to be another tough sell for him.

I didn't enjoy Braz's flippant remarks about Jack Mac today - hardly said anything good about him.  Seemed to me he scored some goals and he has a role on the team here, especially if we have one or two injuries.  But I guess that's the penny dropping in the post-Drogba era.

 

good luck to him - and I still think that trade worked overall for the Impact, but still remains to be seen if Wenger amounts to much in Philly

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I liked Jack Mac but he was a bit of a strange style of striker. He could make some nice plays with other players and could finish yet at the same time wasn't really a guy you could count on to score, ie. his goal per minute ratio was pretty good but yet he was not the type of guy you could put on when you needed a goal at the end of the game and rely on him to score. He did not have the size or style to be effective as a lone striker and despite his ball skills he is neither fast enough or physical enough to be a winger. Possibly he could flourish in a two striker setup possibly as a withdrawn second striker. He seemed to be a good player that just did not fit in with either the tactics or the other players the Impact had and that might be the case with many teams. Just a peculiar style that you probably have to adjust the team for and have the right style of players with him. Really hard to predict what his future will be, he has a lot of potential but will he realize it and become a dominant starting forward or just a decent second choice striker is hard to tell. One would have liked to get more than a 2nd round pick for him and he is certainly worth more but with the new players and salaries coming in the Impact probably did not have much choice or many teams to trade with who could fit his salary under their cap. And Oduro even when he is not scoring makes teams constantly watch him and is thus effective in the overall tactic in a way that JackMac was not. He could come back to haunt us especially going to an Eastern Conference team but with Drogba and Venegas plus Odoru, and Cooper and Porter when they come back from injury it was hard to see a spot for him in the team in the future. 

 

You have to love a player who gives quotes like this though:

 

Media guy: Why did we always get the feeling that you and Frank didn't see things eye to eye?

JackMac: I don't know, because you guys just make shit up.

https://youtu.be/p9HvI659tpI?t=3m12s

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Love that quote.  Jack Mac comes off as your stereotypical yank and I love it, he seems to have that Patrick Kane d-bag in him which isn't a bad thing for a goal scorer.

 

Gotta agree with Grizz though on his assessment as a player.  I remember watching him as a U17 in 2009 and the Americans were calling him the next McBride, and I really don't see the similarities.  

 

To me Jack Mac is sort of like Simeon Jackson, he is a poacher with instinct at times but at the same time not a clutch scorer or a guy you depend on for goals.  Can't play up top alone, not great at hold up play, a waste on the wing.. really needs to partner up top.  But both have pretty good technique and can run with the ball at times and show glimpses of something special.

 

There was a funny juxtaposition on the MLS webpage I should have taken a screenshot of.  There were 4 Cyle Larin articles back to back and after those there was a blurb stating that Jack Mac was off to Columbus.  Just funny because only 2 years ago Jack Mac had 10 goals in June as a 21 year old and was the toast of MLS in the way Larin is now... remember they called him "The American Chicharito".. not quite and a nice reminder of how hard it is to stay at the top.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Apparently, Bernier's wife is pissed at Klopas and sent a facebook message that it was unacceptable, ridiculous, disrespectful vicious that his husband isn't playing and it's time to shake things up and leave where they'll treat him with justice.

 

"C'est tout simplement ridicule, inacceptable, irrespectueux mais surtout vicieux de la part de ton entraineur, a-t-elle écrit. Il est temps pour toi de faire brasser les choses et d'aller ailleurs... là où on t'apprécieras et te traitera avec justice!"

 

 

I just don't think that Bernier has value in MLS or somewhere to be transferred this late. Bernier will have to live with that for the next 2+ months.

I just don't think that Bernier has value in MLS now after
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bernier... might want to think about a career change...be it dropping down to NASL in Ottawa under Dos Santos, or moving away from the game.

 

Klopas is driving the bus now in terms of who gets on the pitch, management will back him if he makes playoffs and especially if Impact win V-Cup to be back in CCL.

 

Tough spot for Bernier, I suspect he talked to much about his problems at work to his spouse, no good comes from her involvement and comment.

 

Bernier will need to make apologies to get back into some sembleance of being part of the team, he might not be willing to do that. If there are other tensions inside the dressing room regarding Klopas the fault lines will get revealed in the next two weeks. I do not think ownership can entertain a coach change with Drogba coming in, it is too much of an investment to create instability at the coach level.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...