KANSAS CITY, Mo. – With two months left until the start of the 2012 MLS season, Jesse Marsch believes the Montreal Impact are ahead of schedule.
“I’m going to say yes to that, but I’m very careful to be smart enough to know that this whole process is going to take time,” Marsch said on Thursday. “You don’t become a team overnight, but yes, I’m optimistic and pleased with where we’re at.”
The expansion squad formally gets to work on Monday, with player physicals and the process of molding a list of names into a unit.
That list includes No. 1 pick Andrew Wenger and No. 20 pick Calum Mallace, who became the latest additions to Marsch’s list after Thursday’s SuperDraft. Marsch revealed that the club never came close to trading away that No. 1 pick in the absence of an “earth-shattering” offer.
There will be a few more who will join the squad after the Supplemental Draft on Jan. 17, and possibly one more major acquisition.
“Right now we are pleased with our group and I think we need to get it in and now start working it and molding it and seeing how the relationships play out,” Marsch said. “Then we’ve left ourselves room to make a move. So with the money we have available and other things, whatever we think is a need within our team, we can make a pretty big move to try and fill that.”
Camp is expected to open with the Impact’s No. 1 Expansion Draft pick, Brian Ching, who on Friday confirmed that he will be traveling to Montreal to join the start of the Impact’s MLS adventure.
“He’s scheduled to come in on Sunday and be part of our team,” Marsch said on Thursday. “The Ching [move] has been tough on everyone. There have been discussions with Brian and there have been discussions with Houston and we’re trying to move forward with it in a way that’s respectful to everyone involved and including what it means for our team.”
