“Veterans need to do more” and “youngsters need to seize the opportunity presented to them,” head coach Hernán Losada explained after a 4-0 loss to the New England Revolution on Saturday.
There is one player who sits at the center of this Venn diagram or rather, who falls outside of these two categories: Mathieu Choinière. The 24-year-old is in his sixth season with the club and has proven his worth in every encounter since the start of the campaign.
The expression “wet the jersey” seems to be tailor-made for the Quebecer. It’s one thing to win the Navette test at every training camp, but Choinière took that energy to the field and struggled like hell in holy water on Saturday night while some of his teammates refused to take it. double bites.
Thanks to his tenure against the Revolution, Choinière became the Academy player to play the most games with the first team (80), beating Limoilou bomber Anthony Jackson-Hamel in the process.
“Mathieu is phenomenal,” Losada said after the win over the Philadelphia Union when Choinière was the spark plug on all three goals for the club. After six games, the situation is still the same.
Choinière has been involved on the team’s only three goals and has so far offered “effort and sacrifice”, which the Montreal driver considers the minimum.
He ranks first on the team in assists, assists expected, passes leading to a shot, shots, tackles completed and fouls committed in addition to being second in goals expected. Yes the mistakes made, because Choinière has played with a knife between his teeth since the start of the campaign.
He also wore the captain’s armband during the last 35 minutes during the duel against the Whitecaps. In short, if the season offers only a thin glimmer of hope to the CFM, the performances of Choinière are something to hang on to. They confirm his progress and his long ascent as the silent leader of the group.
“He has a big heart, he plays for the team. He puts the team before his individual performances. I really like him,” Losada mentioned last month. And each time the main interested party is questioned as to whether he would like to evolve only to one position, he always answers a formula which looks like this: “I will do what the coach wants and what the team needs”.
This sacrifice, this abnegation and this second effort have been sorely missed by the Montreal eleven since the start of the season. And if the CFM wants to turn the tide after this pitiful start to the season, it will need more Mathieu Choinière.
Plus the beam.
