MONTREAL – Impact fans broke into a cold sweat last weekend, and not just because of Justin Mapp’s elbow injury.
After Montreal’s 1-0 loss at D.C. United, head coach Frank Klopas commented that Designated Player Ignacio Piatti “wasn’t at 100 percent yet.” That led to instant fears over Piatti, who impressed in six games last year but was limited due to a knee injury.
This Tuesday, Klopas tried to reassure the supporters. What he had meant, he said, was that the Argentine playmaker needed “time … to get back to the level where he was” before he got injured.
Nonetheless, Piatti took it easy this week in training. The sideline was his temporary home. He skipped most drills, including an intra-squad scrimmage on Thursday, as the technical staff explored options for Montreal’s next game, the CONCACAF Champions League semifinal first leg against Alajuelense on March 18.
It was a preventive measure, Piatti insisted, supported by assistant coach Mauro Biello’s remark that Pachuca’s players had delivered a number of blows to Piatti’s lower body. After all, it has only been four months since he got operated on.
“It was obvious that, with 10 days between games, I was going to get to recuperate,” Piatti told reporters on Thursday morning. “But everything’s all right, and I can get back to work now.”
Mapp’s four-month absence makes these words even more of a relief. Already tasked with significant offensive responsibilities, Piatti will come under even more pressure to boost Montreal’s attack.
It won’t be easy. MLS players and supporters alike only got acquainted with Piatti upon his arrival last year, but there is no element of surprise now. Opponents have marked Piatti tightly this season.
“In the other locker room, his name is on the whiteboard for sure, and everyone has to watch him,” Biello told reporters. “We saw that against D.C. As soon as he got the ball, [Perry] Kitchen and [Davy] Arnaud immediately got on him. For him, it’s an adaptation. Like every great player, he will adapt to the fact that opponents won’t give him that space.”
Not that Piatti really minds. Having learned how to play in his village with his friends, he is used to working in tight spaces. With his ball skills – which he showcased against Pachuca but not so much against United – Piatti can shake defenders off with a dribble, swerve or trick, relieving the pressure on the Impact back line and allowing the defensive block to move up the field.
“We’re still getting to know each other,” Piatti said, referring to Montreal’s several new recruits. “I like it when teammates are looking for me and I can bring them into the play in return. I’m getting my fitness back, my knee is better and the team is working well.”
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Piatti still has to get back into form, but the spark remains, which is why Klopas was reluctant to take him off against D.C. United. Piatti never really got going in Montreal’s season opener, but Klopas still gave him 76 minutes, arguing that Piatti can “make one play and change the game.”
However, Piatti and his teammates struggled to find each other with forward passes in the final third at RFK Stadium, and they didn’t convert the chances that they did create.
“It’s just about taking advantage of the chances that you get,” goalkeeper Evan Bush said. “You get two chances and score two goals and everyone says your offense is doing well but when you get 10 chances and don’t score any, then the offense isn’t doing well.”
In spite of all this, Piatti knows something about being opportunistic. Last season, he put seven shots on target. Four of those were goals.
It seems like a lifetime has passed since, but Piatti needs to regain that type of form in order to help a Montreal team that is already reeling from the loss of one of its key attackers.
