MONTREAL – The injured Marco Di Vaio didn’t enjoy the Stade Saputo matchday experience on Saturday, and it had nothing to do with the parking fees.
Not only did the Impact suffer a 3-0 drubbing by Sporting Kansas City, but supporters chanted former head coach Marco Schällibaum’s name. And that, Di Vaio said, “wasn’t good” to hear.
Di Vaio had a message to deliver on Monday morning. When MLSsoccer.com asked the Italian about his hamstring injury, he embarked on a two-minute reply – he spoke to the media for more than six minutes in all – during which he called for respect for head coach Frank Klopas’ work.
“And I’d also like to remind everyone that the last 10 games last year under Schällibaum [2-7-1, including the MLS Cup Playoffs] were like the first 10 games this year [1-6-3, including the Amway Canadian Championship],” Di Vaio told reporters in French. “We made the playoffs, yes, but we didn’t do well in the last month [of 2013]. We had lots of problems last year as well.”
The problems carried over and reached a new low against Kansas City. It prompted Impact owner Joey Saputo to tweet that “changes will be coming.” Asked to comment the tweet, Di Vaio maintained that Saputo can write, say and do what he wants as club president.
“Then, if the club wants to change something, okay, we wait for the decision,” Di Vaio said. “It won’t be us choosing those changes. In those moments, we can do better.”
According to the veteran forward, it’s up to the players to react, take their responsibilities and find a solution. Could the solution be a trade? Maybe, Di Vaio replied.
Frank Klopas, who said he hadn’t spoken to Saputo since Saturday, argued that you don’t make changes for the sake of making changes ten games into a season.
“For now, it needs to be the right pieces not only for now but also for the future,” Klopas said. “That’s not always so easy, because maybe you’re looking to add some guys, but the other team's looking to get guys that you don’t want to move.”
While trade rumors linked Vancouver and Montreal on Monday morning, every Impact player was at Complexe sportif Claude-Robillard for training. A Montreal spokesperson told MLSsoccer.com that the club had no comment on the rumors.
Olivier Tremblay covers the Impact on MLSsoccer.com
