COLUMBUS, Ohio – After seeing a hard-fought road point slip out of their hands to the tune of a 4-1 loss to Columbus Crew SC on Saturday, the Montreal Impact were left at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings in the midst of a difficult and congested start to the summer.
Mauro Biello’s men went to Columbus for their third match in eight days after drawing Orlando City in MLS play and Toronto FC in the Canadian Championship midweek. The Impact hung around for a 1-1 draw until the 70th minute, but then Crew SC scored two goals in three minutes to break the game open.
After the match, Biello said he thought his team played well and was the better side for stretches, but credited a “lucky bounce” and summer fatigue for the late-game drop-off. Nonetheless, the lopsided loss doesn’t have the Montreal boss questioning his team just yet.
If the Impact can survive until July 19, they’ll begin a stretch of nine league matches that includes seven at home, where the club averages better than two points per game. Biello expects his team to rebound during that period, and believes Montreal are better than the standings indicate.
“I think we’ve shown that,” he said. “The second part of the season, we’ll be playing a lot more games at home. A lot of teams have played nine or 10 games at home, and we’ve had less games, too. This was a difficult stretch, we know that. Now we start a stretch where we’re going to have a lot of games at home.”
Biello has largely played a consistent counterattacking 4-3-3 during his time in Montreal, but has been experimenting with a formation that includes three center backs. While it didn’t work against Columbus, he said he’s happy to have that tactical wrinkle in his arsenal moving forward.
“We’re taking a look at it,” he said. “For us, it’s about being flexible and being able to adjust. We know we can play with the 4-3-3, and the three-at-the-back now gives us another look. With all these games we’ve been having, it’s been difficult to work on it, but overall it’s something we have and can use going forward.”
And with the summer transfer window approaching, reinforcements could be on their way.
Biello has already added midfielder Blerim Dzemaili on loan from Bologna in Italy’s Serie A, and the Impact boss expects to be active when the window opens July 10.
“We’re always looking. We always want to better the team,” he said. “For sure, we’ll be making some adjustments during that period.”
