Over the next two weeks, MLSsoccer.com will take a look back at the 2014 season that was for all 19 clubs in Major League Soccer, starting with the Montreal Impact and ending with the MLS Cup-winning LA Galaxy. We'll also take a peek at the two new clubs coming in, and pour one out for departed friends Chivas USA. You can find the 2014 Year in Review for each club HERE, the club-by-club history of MLS HERE.
2014 record: 6-18-10 (28 points); 38 GF / 58 GA (-20 GD)
The Montreal Impact came into 2014 hoping to shake off their late-season collapse from the previous year.
They said it...
Midfielder and team captain Patrice Bernier:
“There was a malaise – that we never fixed – related to the previous season. Sometimes, when you win, it turns out fine, but we started losing. We started doubting and we lost confidence.”
Goalkeeper Evan Bush:
“Alessandro [Nesta] and Davy [Arnaud] leaving left a big void, for sure. … Looking forward to the offseason, that’s something that needs to be addressed as far as what guys will step up in leadership roles. … You need that, but you also need guys to step up when things are going poorly to kind of right the ship in the locker room by saying things.”
Center back Matteo Ferrari:
“I’m sure that the group can be solid. I don’t think they’re going to change 10 players again. They can’t. There’s a group, already, they know each other. They just have to add some players.”
But the Impact’s struggles bled over – and lasted all season.
The Impact didn’t win until late April and recorded just six league wins all season – all in their Stade Saputo home. Their sole away win came in CONCACAF Champions League group play, at El Salvador’s FAS.
The Impact's only sustained success came in cup competitions. They won their second straight Amway Canadian Championship, using a stoppage-time penalty kick to propel them past second-division Edmonton in the semifinals, and reached the CCL quarterfinals.
But that was it. In MLS, they finished last, had the worst attack and defense in the Eastern Conference and rarely entertained. The arrival of Argentine Designated PlayerIgnacio Piatti may have offered hope, but there is a steep hill to climb for head coach Frank Klopas and the Impact in 2015.
Best Moment of the Year
This year again it once again came in the Amway Canadian Championship. Montreal's win against Toronto FC wasn’t as spectacular as last year’s 6-0 drubbing in the semifinal second leg, but it was more meaningful. They beat their archrivals 2-1 on aggregate in a nervy ACC final, lifting the Voyageurs Cup in their own ground and gaining entry into CCL. They are set to face Mexican side Pachuca in the quarters in early 2015.
On May 10, Sporting Kansas City came to Stade Saputo and annihilated the Impact, beating them 3-0 and passing them to death, much to club president Joey Saputo’s displeasure. In the entire game, the Impact completed 174 passes. Sporting KC’s Oriol Rosell completed 160 by himself. In Montreal’s defense, they played with 10 men from the 17th minute on.
Best Goal
Marco Di Vaio has seen it all, so it’s not often that, upon seeing a teammate score, he raises his hands as if to say, ‘What just happened?’ But he did on June 29 against the Houston Dynamo when Jack McInerney, with his back to goal, somehow hooked a Justin Mapp cross over goalkeeper Tally Hall, onto the far post and into the net. Even McInerney struggled to explain what had happened. No one complained.
Team MVP
Andres Romero was the Impact supporters’ whipping boy in 2013. Not so much in 2014; Romero’s defensive work rate spiked, he looked happy to come to work – his wife and twins only moved to Montreal from Argentina last winter – and he scored six goals from his wide position. Romero faltered late on, scoring only two in his last 20 games, but he did enough. Honorable mention goes to Mapp, who provided a team-high eight assists before getting injured in mid-August.
Best Move
It has to be Piatti. Montreal supporters waited and waited and waited for the Designated Player who, through August, finished off his Copa Libertadores run with San Lorenzo in Argentina before joining the Impact. But their patience was worth it, as Piatti transformed the Impact with his spectacular yield of four goals and one assist in six games before knee tendonitis deprived MLS fans from more highlights. They are no doubt hoping for his speedy recovery from offseason surgery.
Quotable
“2014 was a difficult year, and I don’t want to go through another MLS season like this one. We’re not a last-place team, and we will not be a last-place team. Our objective for 2015 and the next years is clear: make the playoffs and do well in the playoffs.” – Montreal Impact president Joey Saputo, addressing the club’s season ticket holders after the season
Three Offseason Needs
1. Addressing the spine of the team:
This is how Klopas describes his needs for a starting center back (maybe two with
Heath Pearce
moving to Orlando, but the solution may be Homegrown), a No. 8 and depth up front behind McInerney, who may be given a chance to fill Marco Di Vaio’s big, big shoes. The work has started: Klopas also wanted a No. 6, which he got in
Marco Donadel
, and waiver draft pick-up
Nigel Reo-Coker
could be the No. 8 that drives the bus.
2. Finding consistency at left back: Montreal fans know just how difficult this has been for years, and 2014 was no different. Klopas started seven different left backs, while Hassoun Camara made the right back position mostly his. It’s probably no coincidence that Montreal conceded more goals built on their left side than on their right.
3. Getting Ignacio Piatti healthy again: Montreal’s Nick De Santis is adamant that Piatti will be back early in 2015, but Impact fans have become cynical when it comes to recovery times – see Nelson Rivas and Adrian Lopez. Montreal will build around Piatti for years to come. They can’t afford an extended convalescence.
