By FRANCO PANIZO
HARRISON, N.J. — Conceding a late equalizer was not the way the Montreal Impact had hoped to finished things, but not even that was enough to stop them from feeling good about what they had accomplished.
The Impact saw their perfect record in the CONCACAF Champions League come to an end on Wednesday night, as late strike from Connor Lade saw the New York Red Bulls grab a 1-1 draw in their rainy and cold Group 5 finale at Red Bull Arena.
Lade’s goal put the a small dent in Montreal’s otherwise strong campaign in group play, but the struggling MLS club was still plenty pleased with remaining undefeated in the tournament at 3-0-1, finishing atop the group, and moving on to the knockout rounds of the competition next spring.
“You want to be able to close games out, so we weren’t able to do that, but I think we’re still feeling very good as a group, winning the group and then advancing,” said Impact head coach Frank Klopas. “That was one of our goals before the season started: winning the Canadian Cup and advancing in CCL. I think that was very important.”
While the Impact are more than delighted to advance in the Champions League in a year that has seen them post the worst record in MLS, the club knows it has plenty to do over the winter in order to keep this tournament run going in 2015.
Montreal will first need to bolster its roster and few, if any, positions are safe from potentially being upgraded after a poor season like this. The Impact do currently have several capable and talented players in their squad, but there is a pressing need to improve at a number of positions.
That is especially the case at forward, where a big void will be left behind by the retiring Marco Di Vaio, and defense, which is third-worst in goals allowed going into the final round of MLS regular season games this weekend.
“I think getting up to speed with all the cap space that might be available depending with guaranteed contracts. I think that’s going to be a big factor,” said Klopas. “We have to evaluate the whole season and see where the areas we need to strengthen, because we do need to improve the team. We’ve given up a lot of goals and I think that we need to address it. It’s not just one or two guys, I think it’s the overall mentality of the group.
“Some of the additions we made late in the season – bringing in certain guys like (Ignacio) Piatti and Dilly (Duka) – they made the team a lot better. … We still have to address certain areas that I think we need to improve on, but also bring guys in at the right age that we can build continuity within the group because I don’t want to be changing players (every year). It doesn’t help.”
Secondly, the returning Impact players will need to try and stay as fit and sharp as possible. MLS teams are at a disadvantage in the knockout phase of the Champions League because their season starts not long before the matches get underway. Clubs in other countries like Mexico, meanwhile, have already been playing since January and are usually in mid-season form.
It is a tough challenge for Montreal, but one that Klopas believes they are prepared to tackle head on.
“I think the key is with the offseason program that the guys have to follow,” said Klopas. “We’re going to do a lot of testing before they go to see where they’re at and we’re going to monitor and make sure that they do certain things in the offseason and I know the fitness coach Paolo (Pacione) does a fantastic job with that.
“We have the ability today to log into the computer and track what they’ve been doing, and I think it’s a must because it’s a big disadvantage to be out three months for the players and then within four weeks to come in and play a game.”