Head coach Wilfried Nancy brought a lot of positive emotions to CF Montreal fans in 2022, but it is now as an enemy that he will return to Stade Saputo.
Against all odds – and aided by Nancy’s philosophy – the Bleu-blanc-noir broke record over record last season, en route to a second-place finish in the Eastern Conference standings. All was not rosy, however.
A clash with the owner of the Montreal club, Joey Saputo, and the feeling of having reached the end of his project notably pushed Nancy to leave the metropolis. It will only remain to see the reaction that will be reserved for him when his new team, the Crew of Columbus, takes on CF Montreal on Saturday night.
Nancy would probably say he can’t control what happens off the pitch, but between the confines of it his men have done a good job this season.
The Crew (12-8-6) currently sit fifth in the East and have been virtually untreatable at home. Like CF Montreal (11-13-2), it’s abroad that it gets complicated. The Columbus squad have only won two in 12 games on opposing courts this season.
At ease in front of their supporters, the players of Hernan Losada have the opportunity to take advantage of the Crew’s setbacks and continue their domination at Saputo Stadium. They have also had success at home this season against good clubs like Nashville SC, the Philadelphia Union or the New England Revolution.
“I like to think that we see Stade Saputo as a fortress and that’s what we want it to become. We want it to be difficult for the other teams that come to Montreal to earn points. There is a certain pride in having that. I think game after game here, the guys are giving 100% to keep that,” said goaltender Jonathan Sirois.
Although his team leaves with this confidence at home, Sirois will still have to have an eye on the attacking players of the Crew. The visitors show the best attack in the east with 50 goals and although they have sold star midfielder Lucas Zelarayan to Al Fateh SC in Saudi Arabia, they rely on the services of the dangerous Cucho Hernandez, Diego Rossi and Julian Gressel.
“The Crew has a lot of technical qualities. He made good transfers and not only at the start of the season, but also during the summer transfer window. We will have to defend well and do the same things we do at home, because it has been working well so far. We have already recorded several home shutouts,” Losada pointed out.
We are talking about eight shutouts here at Stade Saputo, to be more precise, and 10 in total this season. They have all been listed on Sirois’ record, which equaled the team record that Evan Bush had set in 2018.
Sirois could get ahead of Bush before his eyes, as he now wears Crew colors. Bush has regularly helped the 22-year-old from Quebec and the latter has been living a real fairy tale this season, when he was the number two goalkeeper behind James Pantemis before he was injured in the first game of the campaign.
“It’ll be nice to see Evan.” I haven’t seen him for a few years. He has always been a mentor to me. He is someone who has always been important to me and who has given me a lot of advice. He contacted me to wish me success when I equaled his record, except for the game on Saturday,” mentioned Sirois with a laugh.
CF Montreal could probably help him make history by scoring the first goal of the game. The team are unbeaten in 11 games when they take the lead this season and they have shown a much different face when they have to come from behind.
Losada believes his players play the same regardless of the score, but he admitted the confidence isn’t the same when they can work with a lead.
“It’s difficult for us to score goals. When we score first, we stay compact, disciplined and it’s harder for our opponent to hurt us. It’s not something we can change. It is for this reason that we need more concentration, defensive efforts and collective work. If the other team scores first, we’re in trouble,” the head coach said.
Besides Nancy and Bush, Crew defender Rudy Camacho will also reunite with his former teammates on Saturday. Camacho was traded by the Bleu-blanc-noir at the beginning of April. He was in the last year of his contract.
Forward Romell Quioto (hamstring) and defenders Aaron Herrera (ankle) as well as Robert Thorkelsson (adductors) will miss the call for the Montrealers due to an injury.
