In 2017, the Montreal Impact finished 9th in the 11-team Eastern Conference, and parted ways with longtime club man Mauro Biello, looking to move up the standings and back into the postseason.
Through May of this year, that change, to French manager Remi Garde -- who had formerly played under Arsene Wenger at Arsenal and had managed in the France for Lyon and in the Premier League for Aston Villa -- did not look like it was going to work out. The Impact were 3-10-0 through the first three months of the season, at one point winning just once in nine games.
But now, it looks like the team may have turned a corner under Garde, as Montreal have won four games in a row, and five in their last six games, following a 2-1 victory at Stade Saputo against the Colorado Rapids on Saturday.
The most notable change is the defense -- once conceding goals at a record pace -- tightening up. Early-season addition Rod Fanni, a veteran of Ligue 1, was missed while out of the lineup, and when he and fellow new central defender Rudy Camacho finally started playing together regularly, healthy, the boost was apparent. During the 1-8-0 run, Montreal let in 24 goals, a 2.67 goals per game average. In the current 5-1-0 run, they've conceded three goals total, a 0.5 goals per game average. Four of their five wins were shutouts.
Even as Saturday's win brings Montreal above the playoff line in the Eastern Conference, pending the outcome of the Chicago Fire match later in the day, detractors may point out that two of the Impact's wins during this stretch came against a badly slumping Orlando City team. And the Rapids have been buried at the bottom of the West all season. But wins are wins, and results against Sporting KC and the Houston Dynamo show they are capable of beating good teams, too. They will have tough games coming up, including two meetings against NYCFC, and games vs. Atlanta, New England and the Red Bulls. In many respects, those games will be true litmus tests for Montreal.
