MONTREAL – After watching their winless streak extend to six games on Saturday in a 2-1 loss to Orlando City, the Montreal Impact continue to face roadblocks as they look to bring their skid to an end.
Despite some absences and question marks on the bench, there's no straightforward answer for Montreal, who will still be looking for their first win since April 16 when they host the LA Galaxy at Stade Saputo on Saturday (8 pm ET, MLS LIVE).
"Well, you know, every game was different," Impact defender Hassoun Camara said after practice. "At the end, we had good football against Orlando. We didn't play very well against Philly and we took a point at home. So every game has its own story and we have to be concentrated during this game because MLS, it's a tough championship, and we can see that the situation can change week by week. So, we've got to stick together and learn from the last six games to win the next game. That's it."
Montreal had tied four consecutive games prior to the loss in Orlando, which saw the Impact unable to make Ignacio Piatti's team-leading sixth goal after four minutes stand up.
"If you look at the Colorado game or the Philly game, we had leads, even in Orlando we had the lead, and we can't seem to keep it," Impact midfielder Maxim Tissot said. "But on the other hand, if you look at Columbus, we were down 4-1 and we came back 4-4, so it's a bunch of mixed emotions where a tie feels like a loss, and a tie feels like a win sometimes. If we would have won against Orlando, you would say we haven't lost in five games. And now since we lost in Orlando we haven't won in six games. So there are two ways to look at it, but we've got to look forward now and do well against L.A."
The loss in Orlando remains fresh for Camara, who bemoaned Montreal's defending against set pieces. The Impact conceded the tying goal shortly before halftime Saturday when Orlando City's Cyle Larin scored off a Kaká free kick.
"We have the feeling that we repeat every week the same mistakes," Camara said. "And we had a great game before that so it gave them the chance to come back in the game and unfortunately they scored. So we have to work on that and improve because at the end we can see that's what makes the difference in this league. The teams have almost the same points and the difference will be about the concentration defensively and offensively. We have to kill the game with that so we're going to improve and work every day until we get that."
Star striker Didier Drogba practiced after returning from London to rejoin the team. Drogba, who did not travel to Orlando because of a hip flexor injury, had treatment in London while visiting his family.
"He says it's better and we'll see how it reacts with training over the next day or two," Impact coach Mauro Biello said.
Defender Victor Cabrera remains a question mark because of a calf injury that left him out of the lineup Saturday. The Impact will also not have defenders Laurent Ciman (Belgium) and Ambroise Oyongo (Cameroon), who have been called to play for their respective national teams.
"Our depth is tested right now with Laurent leaving and Ambroise with the national team, but it's an opportunity for the other guys to step up," Tissot said. "So even if it's in difficult conditions, with the team not performing as well as we want to, guys have to step up."
Defender Donny Toia remains a couple of weeks from returning from his hamstring injury and Biello knew that Oyongo's departure was imminent, but he only found out after the loss in Orlando that Ciman had been selected by Belgium as an injury replacement after not being named to the original squad.
"Obviously for me in the situation where the team is not at it's best right now and we've got some injuries and you need a guy like that, obviously your back line it helps, but at the same time it's an opportunity for some guys to step up and show what they can give this team," Biello said. "And I think that if we're able to come out of this situation you become even stronger in the second half of the season."
Biello and Tissot each said the team is reviewing video and analyzing what the team has been doing right and what it has been doing wrong. That, along with making the necessary adjustments in practice, remains the focus as Montreal approach their fourth game of the season at Stade Saputo, where they have two ties since losing 2-0 to Toronto FC on April 23.
"In our preventive coverage, when we lose the ball we need to be tighter on the players that stay up front," Tissot said. "We all feel it's too easy for them to get the ball and turn and counterattack us so we need to stop the play right there and not let them turn. We've got to correct those mistakes to play against LA because they're a great team. They have great players and we're playing at home. We need to make Saputo our fortress again."
