League-best attack visits Stade Saputo
The Impact knows what to expect, on Saturday night at 7pm at Stade Saputo. Josef Martinez, who now holds the records for the number of hat tricks in MLS history with six, Miguel Almiron, the young superstar who already attracts interest from big European clubs, Hector Villalba, who was Nacho Piatti’s teammate at San Lorenzo, and their mates, led by Tata Martino, the former manager of Paraguay, Argentina and Barcelona, are in town. The Georgians’ style of play is definitely to play forward: they push up without thinking too much of what happens if the other team counters, telling themselves their pressing is good enough to win the ball back in the attacking third if a turnover ever takes place.
On the hosts’ side, the defense is a stronghold as of late for the Bleu-blanc-noir, especially at Stade Saputo. In a run of six wins in a row at home, the Impact has only conceded one goal. Will Rémi Garde’s men be able to nullify Atlanta’s strengths? Here are the three keys to the game on Saturday night.
- Take risks at the right time
Atlanta United does not hesitate to leave spaces at the back to support the attack. Full-backs and central midfielders are free to move into the opponent’s final third to provide options for Gressel, Villalba, Almiron, Martinez and Barco – who is suspended by his club at the moment. This kind of strategy plays directly into Montreal’s strengths: as we know, the Impact’s talented wingers know how to take advantage of spaces left open. The Bleu-blanc-noir will have opportunities to propel forward, but will have to calculate when to do it, particularly with the last week’s cumulative fatigue in the legs.
- Limit service to Martinez
The Venezuelan striker scores when he wants: with his head, with both feet, on crosses, on breakaways, from outside the box… Half-chances become excellent chances for the blond devil. With one goal per game on average this term, Martinez was blanked from the score sheet only six times in 2018: Atlanta only won one of those games.
- Play as a unit
Atlanta is very good playing in behind defences. Their transition play is quick, effective, simple, dangerous. They are able to find their powerhouses early and to let them exploit the opponent’s unbalanced positions. The solution? Keep a compact block, which the Impact did successfully in the first 45 minutes at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, back in April. Now, we’ll have to do it during the whole game.
