Montreal Impact president Joey Saputo was blunt about his decision to fire head coach Mauro Biello.
“Our team had a difficult season — even very difficult,” Saputo told reporters in a press conference on Monday. “We missed the playoffs, we didn’t win the Canadian Championship, we struggled all season long, we never hit our stride and more importantly, this team never had a clear identity of play.”
The Impact finished with an 11-17-6 record, tied for ninth place in the Eastern Conference with 39 points. That was six points fewer than last season when they qualified for the 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs as the No. 5 seed in the East before storming to the conference finals.
“With all the elements we had in that roster, I believe that we could expect more,” Saputo said. “In the end, we’re unable to even our own expectations and internal objectives.
“Mauro spent his whole career here. He’s a real builder of the Impact and of soccer in Quebec. The current situation won’t change his status. … He was given full control to build this team. Today, after nearly three seasons and along with this year’s results, we believe that it’s time to make a change.”
Saputo admitted he began to get worried in April as the Impact only won one game over the first two months of the season. At that point, he and technical director Adam Braz had the first of “several meetings” with Biello to express their concern, but decided to give him at least the rest of the season to try to return to the playoffs.
When that didn’t happen and Montreal ended the year on a five-game losing streak, the decision became clear.
"My concerns were beginning back in April,” Saputo said. “I asked what we needed to do to get where we wanted to be. We needed to manage the games better, but this year we lost 10 points in the latest minutes, so we didn’t do that. We needed to defend set pieces better, but we had 23 goals against on set pieces. Defending had to be better: last year we had 53 goals against, this year we had 58, so we didn’t do that. And accountability: players needed to be held accountable, and unfortunately I don’t think it was the case. I had four objectives that had to be improved, [and we met] zero on four.”
Saputo said the search for a new coach has already begun, admitting that the process actually started in July because he “wanted to be prepared.” He’s met or had lone phone calls with several coaches, including “a Swiss coach, a Frenchman, a German, a Spaniard, two Italians and three Argentines.”
As for the criteria he’s looking at it, he said the list is quite exhaustive as he’s trying to hone in a proven winner, comparing the hire to signing a marquee Designated Player.
“They are based on four different categories: characteristics, experience, soccer philosophy, language,” Saputo said. “In each category, you have a lot of things. When we say experience, it’s at least five years at a high level, and someone who won trophies. When we talk philosophy, it’s about the type of identity he wants to give to the team. I want to be sure we hire someone able to make the difference.
“We’ve invested in players, in the organization, in the structure. I think that now we realize that to go to the next level, we have to invest in a coach. I won’t tell you names, but when we will name the coach, you will realize that it’s not anything that we’ve had before. We go to another level, totally.”
Saputo added he hopes to have a coach in place in “the next two or three weeks” to evaluate the current players who are under contract until December and “even do a short trial camp,” before turning his attention to the MLS SuperDraft and the January transfer window.
Manu of the current players just learned the news of the coaching change Monday — and although they were upset, they weren’t necessarily surprised.
“I’m really disappointed for him,” defender Hassoun Camara said. “He brought me a lot for several years. I wish him all the best. He brought us confidence by giving plenty of responsibilities to the players. This season, cohesion was more difficult in the locker room. Some things, that will remain inside stuff, didn’t work in leadership and responsibility matters.”
“We were expecting his dismissal, due to our performances,” defender Laurent Ciman added. "We have our share of responsibility in the situation. We can also wish him and his staff all the happiness they deserve. He brought us a lot, regarding the love of the club.”
Matthias Van Halst contributed to the reporting on this article.
