MONTREAL — If the Montreal Impact are going to turn their season around, now is the time.
The 10th-place Impact (6-8-6) play five of their next six games at Saputo Stadium, beginning with a meeting Saturday night against seventh-place Orlando City (8-8-6).
It is a match-up of struggling teams, with Montreal coming off a pair of losses that included a 4-0 drubbing by the New York Red Bulls last week. Orlando is in a 1-4-3 funk since mid-June.
"It's a key game for us against a team that's right in front of us," Impact coach Mauro Biello said this week. "We need to bounce back.
"We need to get back on the winning track. We've had injuries. We've had guys away with their national teams. We've had up and down performances. Now we're getting a lot of players back to full health. Now it's time to start performing and executing and getting the team to where it should be."
After Orlando, the Impact travel to Philadelphia next week and then play four straight at home, including twice against Bastian Schweinsteiger and the Chicago Fire.
Anything other than a run of positive results — wins or at least draws — could compromise Montreal's chances of reaching the playoffs (top six in their conference) for a fourth time in six MLS seasons.
The Impact are 2-4-2 in league action since June 10 and were largely outplayed in their last two outings, including a 2-1 loss at home to Dallas two weeks ago.
Scoring has bogged down with star midfielder Ignacio Piatti missing time with an adductor injury, although the Argentine came in as a second-half substitute against New York and played in the MLS all-star game this week. The defence has also struggled.
"Defensively, we're a bit out of sorts at the moment but when you look at the goals (conceded), it's pretty black and white what needs to be done," said left back Daniel Lovitz. "It's a matter of guys putting their heads down and focusing on their role. And doing that on both sides of the ball."
Orlando brings plenty of firepower up front, but the third-year club has had its own struggles. It will be a second game for U.S. international Dom Dwyer, who was acquired July 25 from Kansas City for an MLS-record US$900,000 in allocation money, which could rise to $1.6 million with bonuses.
Dwyer played up front with Canadian striker Cyle Larin, the team leader with eight goals, in a 1-1 draw last week at Atlanta. Brazilian star Kaka scored only his fourth goal in 15 games.
"We've got to keep it tight defensively," said Impact assistant coach Jason Di Tullio. "We expect them to go pretty direct with Larin and Dwyer, with Kaka underneath.
"We need to keep it pretty compact and make it hard for them to penetrate us. And when we win the ball, take care of the it and give our fans some emotions."
A key question is who will start in goal. Backup Max Crepeau got the call last week ahead of regular starter Evan Bush and had good and bad moments in a one-sided loss. If Crepeau starts again, it could start a full-blown goalkeeping controversy.
The Impact injuries are not completely over for the Impact, as centre back Kyle Fisher is out with a concussion while rookie midfielder Ballou Tabla has a sore knee, but Piatti looks to be back at least close to full health and veteran Marco Donadel has returned from treatments on a knee.
Swiss international Blerim Dzemaili has four goals and four assists in 10 games since joining the Impact in May, but has played only five times with Piatti, the team scoring leader with eight goals. Having that combination together could get the offence back on track.
Biello may elect to give at least some playing time to newcomers who have joined in the last two weeks, including left back Shaun Francis and defensive midfielder Samuel Piette — the Repentigny, Que., native who signed on Thursday after a transfer from Spanish club CD Izarra. Piette played against Francis when Jamaica beat Canada in a CONCACAF Gold Cup quarter-final two weeks ago.
Another recent addition, Romanian centre back Deian Boldor, has been idle since April and is still getting into game shape.
Bill Beacon, The Canadian Press
