Olivier Tremblay covers the Impact on MLSsoccer.com
Alessandro Nesta? Gone for good. Adrian Lopez and Nelson Rivas? Both gone for some time still. No wonder center back Wandrille Lefèvre sees this preseason as the ultimate audition.
Three games into the Montreal Impact’s camp, Lefèvre has been given 205 minutes already to show his worth, including a full 90 in a 3-0 loss to New York Red Bulls where, third goal aside, he performed admirably.
“I can see in his face that he trusts me, and I can feel it on the field.”
- Wandrille Lefèvre on Matteo Ferrari
In this audition, however, Lefèvre realizes that his margin for error is slimmer than Matteo Ferrari’s or Hassoun Camara’s. But head coach Frank Klopas also advised him that an opportunity is there for the taking.
“It’s important to put yourself in situations where you can feel pressure during training camp,” Lefèvre told MLSsoccer.com by phone from Orlando, Fla. “Then, it won’t be a surprise when three actual points are at stake. I feel this is an exam, an audition. I can earn a spot. I’m still nobody in this club, in this league. It's up to me to prove myself.”
To keep proving himself, rather. The 24-year-old was a silver lining on Montreal’s late-season free fall. As every game became more crucial for the playoffs race, Lefèvre displayed astounding composure, a potential mine field somehow turning into optimal conditions for the player to grow.
Lefèvre says he’s added improved heading abilities to his list of defensive qualities – “my chasing every ball, my aggressivity and my tackling” –, but he’ll also stick to his on-the-ball beliefs, likely reinforced by his training at the Impact Academy.
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“I try to play as freely as possible offensively, and I have to try not to fall into the trap of wanting to do too much,” Lefèvre said. “At my position, you need a good first pass, but I’m not the creator that’s going to unstabilize everyone with one pass. If it happens, fine, but in the end, I must remember that’s not my job.”
Lefèvre still pulled it off for Sanna Nyassi’s game-winner against Fluminense last Wednesday, and those long, accurate balls out of the back could become a trademark. When Matteo Ferrari and Alessandro Nesta played together, they would trust each other with countless passes, looking for gaps to slip such passes in. The pattern may continue.
“I know [Ferrari]’s method: he doesn’t want youngsters to become overconfident,” Lefèvre said. “But I can see in his face that he trusts me, and I can feel it on the field. When his path for a first pass out of the back is blocked, he enjoys giving me the ball so I can deliver it, because he knows it's one of my qualities. Someone like Matteo doing that is a great show of confidence. He doesn’t need words.”
