For a second match in a row, it’s a familiar face from CF Montreal who comes to Saputo stadium, but it’s once again as if nothing had happened.
The notable return of former head coach Wilfried Nancy aroused passions among supporters, but a little less within the Bleu-blanc-noir. You can therefore imagine that the passage of Kei Kamara will not shake the columns of the temple when the Chicago Fire faces Montreal on Saturday evening.
Nancy, who held several positions with CF Montreal for more than a decade, guided the Columbus Crew to a 4-2 victory on September 2. His replacement, Hernan Losada, hopes that Kamara and the Fire will not have the same success, but he is far from giving them all his focus.
“If every time someone comes back here and we say it’s a special or emotional game, we’re going to have to talk about it every weekend. It’s a match like any other. All former players, coaches and people who have worked here are always welcome. It doesn’t change anything for us,” Losada said.
Kamara had an excellent season with the Montreal team in 2022, after being exiled away from MLS in 2021. He had nine goals and seven assists and was nominated to receive the comeback honor. ‘year. A contract dispute, however, led to his trade to the Fire before the start of the 2023 season.
In Chicago, the 39-year-old veteran hit the target on five occasions, which ironically would put him first among CF Montreal’s top scorers. His offensive contribution might not have hurt Losada’s men, who have the fourth-worst attack in MLS tied with New York City FC.
Losada spent the entire campaign looking for offensive solutions. Even more so since the injury to Romell Quioto in mid-May. The attack is now led by youngsters Kwadwo Opoku, Bryce Duke, Jules-Anthony Vilsaint and Mathieu Choinière, who have shown great promise recently despite certain difficulties.
“All players can be better in attack, if we look at our statistics,” noted the head coach. Obviously, we need effective attackers, but we must not forget that we have very young offensive players. There are goals in training, so let’s see if we can translate that into matches. »
And Montrealers will need goals to stay in the race for the Eastern Conference playoffs. Currently eighth, they only hold one point ahead of DC United, who occupy the last place giving access to the playoffs, and three ahead of the Fire.
The Bleu-blanc-noir not only has the opportunity to keep the Fire at bay, but also to avenge a bitter 3-0 loss suffered at Soldier Field two months ago. Losada expects a very different duel.
“When you play against an opponent that you faced a long time ago, there are a lot of things that are different. We know the Fire players individually, but we’ll see what game plan he brings here. “That’s why we focus our energies on our game and not theirs,” he said.
While CF Montreal will end its season by playing four of its last seven games at home, where it has enjoyed great success, the opportunity is great to amass valuable points in the standings.
“All points count. We have four home games left and we have to find ways to get points. We have to fight because our goal is to make the playoffs and we want to put the team in a good position. We are ready to do it,” Opoku argued.