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first difficult outing for the Impact in Orlando

Tournament MLS is Back took off on Wednesday evening with a duel between Inter Miami FC and Orlando City, a match also won by the tournament host team thanks to a goal by Nani in timeout. On the Impact side, the fans were anxious to finally be able to watch a game of their favorite team. It must be said that more than 124 days had passed since the last Bleu-Blanc-Noir match against Olimpia. Fortunately, the wait was rather short since the Impact began its group phase on the second day of competition. However, those who expected an exciting match from the Montrealers were quite disappointed thanks. The team has never really been involved …

Thierry Henry tried to shake up his counterpart, Bruce Arena, by aligning a rather particular device. The French coach adopted a new strategy by using Samuel Piette as a right defender when the opponent had the ball and as a relatively offensive midfielder when the Blue-White-Black attacked. Unfortunately, this tactical scheme seemed to cause more confusion than anything else for Piette and his teammates.

The Revolution took the opportunity to completely dominate the Impact during this first half. Despite the excellent work of Victor Wanyama in midfield, the absence of a third player in the center line (in the middle) was greatly felt defensively. Clément Diop notably had to make a superb stop in the 19th minute of play to preserve equality in this match. A lack of finishing on the part of New England combined with decisive defensive interventions allowed the Montrealers to return to the locker room with perfect equality.

However, despite the equality of 0-0, Thierry Henry’s men gave the impression that they were still on vacation. There was a blatant lack of commitment among the Impact players and their desire to win was simply not there. There was no offensive animation when the team attempted to attack. The ball carrier often found himself alone with no options at his side. In addition, the majority of players were static and cohesion was completely nonexistent. The Impact lacked a lot of conviction to offer significant opposition to its opponent.

Realizing that his initial strategy was not working, Thierry Henry made some adjustments to the intermission. Zachary Brault-Guillard also entered the match, allowing Samuel Piette to focus only on his position in the midfield. The fixes were felt as soon as the game resumed.

The Blue-White-Black came back in the second half with new intentions which foreshadowed an exciting end to the match. We could observe a team more in control of their means as the ball moved fluidly and the Impact dominated possession. However, following a golden opportunity missed by Maximiliano Urruti, the Montrealers fell back into their bad habits at the start of the match. Again, it became very complicated for Thierry Henry’s men to successfully build anything offensively. Whenever the team attempted to attack, the players were not on the same page and the game quickly aborted. Bojan and Okwonkwo really didn’t have a great meeting either.

As for the men from Bruce Arena, they simply picked up where they left off in the first half. After ten minutes when the Impact was threatening, they took the upper hand in this duel by finding certain flaws in the Montreal defense. Gustavo Bou, undoubtedly the best player in this match, found the back of the net around the 56th minute of play with a powerful shot from the top of the net.

L’IMFC did try to get back in the game, but the team really seemed to be running out of ideas. As in the first half, possession of the ball was sterile and the attacks orchestrated by the Montrealers rarely led to an opportunity to score. The only player who managed to create real danger towards the end of the game was Ballou Tabla. The young left winger came close to tying the game in the closing seconds, but goalkeeper Matt Turner decided otherwise.

Positive points for the Impact: Victor Wanyama and Luis Binks are excellent signatures
It was Victor Wanyama’s first MLS game. If the former Tottenham player had made a good impression on Olimpa in the Champions League, supporters of the Impact are certainly even more thrilled after his performance last night. The Kenyan had a game in the middle, physically mistreating his opponents throughout the game. Renowned for being a player who loves confrontation, Wanyama has shown us that no one can frighten him, shrinking from any duel that presented itself to him. He is quite simply a monster in the middle of the field, he who has moreover finished the meeting with eleven recovered balls.

In addition, he really knows how to use his imposing size to allow him to create space on his roofer, enjoying using his body to protect his ball. I was also very surprised by the quality of the pass; Wanyama does not hesitate to send long balloons when the opportunity arises and he does so with fairly remarkable precision. With a Sapphire Taider rather obliterated and a Samuel Piette who did not know his best match, the contribution of Wanyama was essential to allow the Blue-White-Black to stay in the meeting until the very end.

He was without a doubt the player of the match for the Impact!

Even if the sample remained small, Luis Binks had shown us very encouraging signs during his first meetings with the Impact. Well, good news for Montreal supporters: the English defender has once again confirmed the expectations placed in him. The young central defender of only 18 years old already proves that he can perform in MLS and this at a very high level.

Indeed, Luis Binks has excellent qualities on both sides of the ball. Defensively, it is enormously difficult to beat one against one, he who uses his body and arms very well to gain the advantage over his opponent. In addition, despite his young age, his positioning on the ground is still adequate, he who multiplies defensive interventions at the entrance to the surface. Offensively, I am really impressed by the calm he has when he controls the ball. This insurance often allows him to move somewhat to improve his passing line, he who already has a very good recovery.

Negative points at the Impact: Lack of cohesion in possession of the ball and no offensive animation
Sadly, this performance reminded us of some bad memories of the Rémi Garde era where the club was often criticized for its lack of offense and its far too passive game. During the vast majority of the game, the Impact did not take advantage of its possession to destabilize the opposing defense. The only two opportunities obtained by Montrealers were chance by Maximiliano Urruti and the shot attempted by Ballou Tabla. In addition to these two offensive breakthroughs, Thierry Henry’s men were unable to distribute the ball properly in order to create breaches or opportunities to exploit.

It was still alarming to find our team completely unanswered against the defensive block of New England. The Blue-White-Black was sorely lacking in complicity and cohesion when trying to move forward. It is certain that the team had not played for a long time, but Thierry Henry will absolutely have to find a way to wake up his attack if he wishes to continue his course in the eliminatory phases. The Impact is already found in the cables after only one game.

Thierry Henry supported the Black Lives Matter movement in his own way
Before flying to Orlando, the Impact’s coach had admitted to Montreal journalists that there would be a surprise to honor the movement Black Lives Matter. Well, Thierry Henry has kept his promise. At the start of the match, he knelt for 8 minutes and 46 seconds to pay tribute to George Floyd, who died of police brutality in the United States. The day before, MLS had also shown its support for the movement by inviting all black players to the field before the start of the tournament. The league had changed its slogan from MLS is Back at MLS is Black in order to send out a powerful message.

We meet next Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. for the match against Toronto FC. Either the Montreal eleven will set the table for a whole third game (against DC United), or it will collapse before our eyes against his sworn enemy.

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