MONTREAL – After 10 games as head coach of the Impact’s Reserve League side, Mike Sorber is getting ready for the real deal.
Due to head coach Jesse Marsch’s dismissal in the Impact’s 1-1 draw away at Houston on October 6th, Sorber (above, second from left) will be living his very first day in charge of the first team this Saturday as the Montreal-Toronto rivalry comes alive in MLS again at BMO Field (1:30 ET, TSN/RDS in Canada, MLS Live in the US).
Sorber, who like Marsch is a former assistant to Bob Bradley with the United States, seems serenely confident that the staff’s team-oriented approach during the week makes no difference whatsoever in the players’ preparation.
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“Everybody knows that Jesse is the head of this group, and he has led the group in a good way, but we’re all a part of it,” Sorber told reporters on Wednesday. “The message doesn’t change, and the group understands that once you step on the field, it’s about the 11 players that are on the field.”
Marsch, for his part, explained that no matter who roams around the Impact’s technical area, those 11 players would step on the field with June 27th in their minds. That night, the Reds’ 3-0 thrashing of the Impact ruined Marco Di Vaio’s debut – and Alessandro Nesta’s first fan experience at Stade Saputo.
“The staff has done a really good job all year, and it’s going to come in handy at this moment because I got thrown out,” Marsch said on Thursday. “I have full confidence in our team and the way that they will respond to our staff – and I have full confidence in our staff.”
Loans, a “case-by-case basis”
Earlier this week, club representatives were quick to deny a report that the president of Italian club Livorno was considering a loan deal for Impact defender Alessandro Nesta during the MLS offseason.
The kind of players Montreal have attracted could, however, eventually lead to loan offers from overseas. Mike Sorber feels that such deals have to be thought through with an open mind, but on a “case-by-case basis” according to factors such as who the player is, what his situation is like and which club is making an offer.
“Other clubs might have different philosophies, and we haven’t really faced that yet,” Sorber told MLSsoccer.com on Wednesday. “It may be a situation that comes up, and it’s something that we’ll have to discuss and figure out what the best plan is.”
