HARRISBURG, PA – FC Montreal is on the road for the first time in USL, with a game against the Harrisburg City Islanders on Saturday, 7pm, at the Skyline Sports Complex.
After two consecutive losses at home to start the season, this trip might be exactly what the team needs.
Harrisburg has also had a rough start, with two losses and seven goals allowed.
The Bleu-blanc-noir has had trouble scoring goals since the start of the season, unable to find the back of the net in two games so far, but the coaching staff is expecting things to get better this weekend.
“It’s frustrating not to be able to score,” says midfielder Yacine Ait Slimane. “It’s been two weeks that we work on this aspect of the game and I see that it’s better. We were stressed in the first games, more reserved. But now, we are more comfortable with the ball.”
“We have to provoke more,” explains head coach Philippe Eullaffroy. “We need a will to attack the opponent with the ball at our feet. We lack personality in the final third and we worked hard to fix this.”
In the last game, FC Montreal seemed to be in control for the first hour, even if they were trailing 1-0 at the half. It’s after Franck Zoue got a red card that things became more difficult.
“The content of the last game was relatively good, until we fell to 10 men,” said defender Janouk Charbonneau. “If we keep in mind that we played well for the first hour, we are confident that we will have a better performance in Harrisburg.”
After two games, 21 different players found playing time. But for Philippe Eullaffroy, this is not just about a rotation and give playing time to every player.
“We are not in a situation to give playing time to everyone,” explains Eullaffroy. “We are at a level where only the best will pass, first to have their name on the game sheet, then to be a starter, and finally to sign with the first team. We give fairly to those who give on the field. Those on the 18 list on game day deserve to be there.”
We can expect more changes again, but nothing that will not follow the philosophy of the head coach.
The game will be available on www.impactmontreal.com/fcmontreal.
FC Montreal will be back home for its game on Saturday, April 25, 2:30pm, on the synthetic turf at Stade Saputo, against the Richmond Kickers.
