CF Montreal vs Toronto Post-Game Press Conference

Laurent Courtois

LC: Once in the second half a little bit more relaxed, we tried a little bit more, but we have to create more situations in the box and although we had a few, we can do a lot more, that’s for sure.

Q: Tonight, we came up against a team that was a little timid, perhaps because of what was at stake. As you’ve often said, it’s a young group. It could have been a little inhibited by, um, by what was at stake in the match, because it was a tie with Toronto. It was a game that could propel us into the playoffs. It’s pretty tight in this league. The derby too. Maybe it’s also a feeling of revenge after the first leg, when we lost 5-1. Can the youth of the group explain this game one?

LC: I think the guys really wanted to do well. I really think they wanted to. The ideas were clear, the state of mind was there and I think we were prepared for these eventualities. We made a mistake on the goal, and I’ll have to see it again. After that, it’s difficult to really exert pressure because they rotate a lot around the pitch, so it’s not easy to keep them in check because they don’t try to play forward too much, but more on the flanks and laterally. And they didn’t create much apart from those moments when we were a little too exposed. But in the first half, we didn’t get the game going enough, we didn’t create enough problems and we didn’t create enough chances. And despite everything, if you stay at zero-zero, we know we’ll have a little momentum in the second half and we didn’t give in. We’re a little short tonight and, as I keep saying, we’ve got a few chances with a little more. I spoke to a couple of players to get their impressions. So, we all feel that yes, we could have done better in the first half, in the second half, even if there’s always room for improvement. Not only did we create, but there’s a great team in front of us and we can’t all go out and attack. I’m sorry we’re not serving more. I think we all agree that our forwards need to be in the box to try and create something, and we know that something can happen quickly, but we didn’t succeed tonight.

Q: It’s a controversial game , I think some people even came to talk to your players before the game. There was a long episode in the room at the end of the match on social networks, and you can feel the disappointment among the fans. What message would you have for them after losing to Toronto at home?

LC: It hurts because we really wanted to repay their support, their sacrifice and their backing.  If we wanted to give them something good in terms of victory, we didn’t succeed. The difference is that this time, even if we didn’t create enough and we didn’t create until such and such a minute into the effort, I can’t reproach my players with anything and everyone fought hard and everyone in the dressing room is miserable. So in that respect, I can’t fault my players. Now, as I said in the dressing room, not only do we want to repay the fans for what we couldn’t do today. But on top of that, there are other games for the Leagues Cup. There are still nine games to go, and if we want the time of day, if we want to make amends, it’s to give everything we’ve got to try and grab that playoff spot, because it’s within reach.

Q: We came out in the first half, and it was a physical game. There were a lot of stoppages, a lot of jerky sequences. How do you deal with that when the rhythm is a bit jumbled like that?

LC: We were warned that the teams who come to play with us here now will try to cut the rhythm a bit and gain time and make the match as long as possible now. This is all the truer as soon as they open the scoring. So, it was more a case of trying to keep the ball for us, so we didn’t have to defend. And well, we need to be prepared, we need to mentally tell ourselves not to concede the second goal, and these are scenarios that can happen again, and how we can grow from tonight. I repeat, there will be other teams who will come to close the game and jerk us around, and we mustn’t lose our cool and our composure, and we must create situations like we did a few times, even if it wasn’t enough.

Q: Towards the end of the game, they were in a very low block, but it’s felt like once you I switch to that back four and you had more forwards on the pitch. It felt like you really did find the spaces that you couldn’t find earlier in the game and earlier in the second half, is that food for thought for you going forward? Do you see a change in shape in the future? Or is that really on a need for basis?

LC: We had two scenarios: whether Toronto was going to try to be really aggressive like they usually do and we wanted to put the pace up top and see if we can hurt them and the other version was more what happened this time which was really compact and really patient and we were debating whether to put it an extra man in the midfield to create more overload essentially. So yeah, then the back four is something that we think about this is something that we experiment and really have an eye on and that could be an option in a future for sure.

Q: You talked in the first half about the need to get the game moving a bit more. In what way is that on one side? What was missing? Was it the mental side? Was it tactical? In what way did we need to get a bit more going to play faster?

LC: Yeah, it’s the transmissions from the back line to try and create shifts either on the sides or to be able to come back a little more centrally. We talked about two ways of doing it, either being very spread out to try and create overloads with Raheem Edwards and Ariel Lassiter or Joel Waterman and Ruan, or being a little more central with two center backs and Joel incorporating himself into the two midfielders and the equivalent with Joaquin Sosa in these half spaces, and in the first half we didn’t manage to do it and we were a little too shy. And then in the second half, not only did they do it a little better, but we’d also have liked Jonathan Sirois to be a little more involved to try and get a little more of an advantage on the flanks. Because, against a long block, regardless of the formation, it’s still on the sides that you try to get guys out of their zone to create shifts and create crossing situations, which we didn’t manage to do enough of.

Q: You talked about being able to move Lorenzo Insigne in particular, and Jonathan Osorio was able to get a lot of possession, which meant you and your team were chasing the ball. Are we used to having people in possession at Stade Saputo? Did that bother you and how did you counteract it at half-time?

LC: Yeah, it’s rollouts where they pull away from the crowd and fall into a dead corner, and then they pretend to play forward, but they recycle down the flank. And the problem is that if you take advantage too quickly, then he can really play forward and hurt you. And if you do it a little too slowly, that’s a lot of distance for our forwards to cover from one side to the other. We managed it a little better in the second half, but there’s also the technical quality on the other side, and when you’re sending a lot of people forward, you have to be clinical in the way you counter-press when everyone’s up front. So it’s not easy, it’s not an easy situation when you’re losing and you’ve given up a lot of energy, it’s hard to defend.

Jonathan Sirois

Q: How do you get out of that game when you take one shot at the 40ᵉ minute mark It’s a goal and then nothing?

JS: This sure is frustrating, It’s part of my job. To be honest today, I was powerless in that situation. Defensively, we’ve been criticized a lot lately, but I think we pulled ourselves together and put in a good performance today. I think we got caught out in an action where we weren’t perfectly aligned, and then we paid for it in cash. That’s the reality of the situation. Toronto followed their game plan. I think that’s what they wanted to do from the start: stay organized, compact, and then be difficult to penetrate. Then it was really us who were a bit lacking in going after the organizer.

Q: Do you feel like the shooters captured the importance of the game tonight against Toronto?

JS: Yeah, absolutely. I think they did. We’ve talked about it a lot in the last few days. There are our fans who came yesterday too, who talked to us about it. We reiterated that today as well, seeing the fans in the stadium for the warm-up, the national anthem. Even at the start of the game, I think we all understood the magnitude. I think you could see it in the intensity at the start of the match. I think it also showed in the second half and in our counter press we suffocated them quite a bit and, I think, crossed our half, maybe five or six times. We were all over the place. It’s a shame because on the one hand you look at the performance, then you think you’re in control, but you come out of here with a loss.

Q: Obviously, the next MLS game is just over a month away. So, you’re kind of stuck with this defeat in MLS. Moving on to the Leagues Cup. What can you work on? And what would you like to improve? How do you want to use this competition to come back stronger in MLS?

JS: I think it’s a question of fine-tuning and perfecting all the little details that need to be improved on the defensive side of things, to maintain the consistency of the last few games, where we’ve given our opponents a little less chance, where we’ve stayed a little more solid, but also offensively, to create a lot more chances. I think we’re all aware that we want to score more goals, both at home and away. So, these two games at least, because I wasn’t aiming for much more, but these two games should serve as a springboard for us to be able to continue our progression, so that once we’re back in MLS, we can string together the last nine games left to go and pick up a lot of points.

Q: The coach mentioned earlier that when there’s a low block, he’d like to see you a lot more between the defense and try to spread the play a bit more. At one point we saw you being asked to get into that, how do you feel about it? We haven’t seen it yet this season, even though it’s something you wanted to implement from the start?  How do you feel about that?

JS: Yeah, you know, when it comes to the game, it goes pretty quickly. It’s about trying to spot situations before they arise so that I can insert myself into a moment where everything seems fluid. That’s the most important thing. After that, in a team like Toronto today, which doesn’t press very hard, I didn’t necessarily see the point in getting myself inspired to create a back four. But I could have done it anyway. I think it might have led to something different. I think that’s why, in the last fifteen or twenty minutes, the coach asked me to play higher up the pitch, but it’s still the case that when a team already has the lead, then stays backed up and backed up, then defends almost at the top of their 18 meters. You saw it, I think at the end, but at one point I was almost in the opponent’s zone. So I don’t know if it’s still useful at this point. But I do think it’s something the coach wants to insert. It’s up to me to work on it, to try and integrate myself more during the match, even if the team isn’t necessarily pressing, just to maybe provide different solutions in possession. So it’s up to me to continue to progress in that system, and to mature in that respect.

Q: Could you elaborate on your reading of Toronto’s game as a defender, we seemed preoccupied by the possibility of an Off-Game. Maybe we were too focused on Insigne and what was going on behind him. How do you want to interpret this play?

JS: Honestly, it happens extremely quickly. From what I remember, because I haven’t seen the replay yet, but from what I remember, you know, it’s Bernardeschi going inside, left foot, and then we know how dangerous that can be. It’s something we’d talked about defensively, before the game, so you know, I think we were all expecting a bit of a cross situation, especially a cross to the far post like we’re used to getting. But you know, I think he took out a pass to Insigne, who went behind Fernando Alvarez’s back. It was a brilliant move on his part. I think the two of us on the one hand were MAYBE too preoccupied with the cross and then Bernardeschi, and then maybe we let Insigne go too much. But because once the pass has gone through, and then he himself looks to take his touch and then cross to the second, it becomes complicated. It’s defending in front of your goal. Even if Ruan I think does it, maybe he puts it in his goal too. It’s an extremely difficult situation. So from that point of view, it’s a question of trying to MAYBE prevent the action from happening in the first place, to close down the carrier or to cut off Insigne’s passing angle, because after that, it becomes very difficult.

Samuel Piette

Q: As we saw, it was a complicated match. A quick word from you and it’s the first to have set an example of going above and beyond the call of duty. The coach said so too. He might even have liked to have more. I can only imagine how frustrated you were after that match. But why wasn’t there more?

SP: Yeah, it’s frustrating because, on the one hand, you’re not necessarily put in danger except for the goal. I need to review the action there.  I don’t really know what happened, but overall we’re not in too much danger. I think we’re still in control, but I think that if they’re in control too, with a fairly compact block that’s hard to break down, I think that’s precisely what we lacked. Maybe some movement from certain players to unzone them. Ideas like that. But I found that, yeah, we were MAYBE a bit static and a bit ahead of them, so it’s a shame. And I think in the second half we picked up the pace a bit. We showed some will. I think that desire was present throughout the match. But in the end, it was always the last pass, the last cross, the last shot that we missed tonight. We came close on a few occasions, but yeah, it’s been a night where it just won’t go in. So, there are games where you’re going to create a lot more chances and then you’re going to put them all away, and games where it’s going to be the opposite, games where you’re going to create a few and then you’re going to put them away. So you know, in the end Toronto, I think they had a shot or two, an opportunity and they put it in. So, in the end, that’s soccer too, isn’t it? it’s not always perfect. So, it’s frustrating because I think we deserved better, but at the same time, yeah, there are things we need to do better, that’s for sure.

Q: It was a pretty physical match today. As I was asking Laurent earlier, the pace was very hectic in the first half. How do you, as captain, talk to your boys?

SP: For me, a match like that, where it’s pretty intense, a lot of aggression, a lot of fouls, a lot of stoppages, I think it’s simply a matter of staying focused. But yes, I think it hurt. A little bit to the rhythm, to the rhythm of the ball circulation or at a certain moment, you find your bearings. Once I was out for two minutes, which was the first time that’s ever happened to me. Honestly, two minutes is a long time. But at the same time, a match against Toronto is always like that. There’s a lot of aggression, and I think, as I said, we responded to that. I think we won a lot of duels, a lot of second balls.  But yeah, it’s precisely this repetition of moving the ball around, of speeding up the game at times, of taking the spaces left by them, that we perhaps didn’t do so well, especially in the first half.

Q: probably not without knowing that people had upset faces in the stadium. There’s still a lot of disappointment on social networks that the team captain had a message from the players about you for the fans who left the stadium

SP: Yeah, it’s disappointing, for sure. As you know, I think I said after the game of when we go back to Toronto, We’re the first ones disappointed. The faces are long in the dressing room too. We wanted to bounce back from the last game against Toronto. We knew how important that game was for the fans, for the club, but also for ourselves. I mean, before that game, we were ninth or eighth, same number of points. But again, I know that the last time we played Toronto, it was really a lack of desire, of desire, of commitment but tonight, I don’t think that’s part of it. So I think we were there. After that, we weren’t perfect technically or tactically either, but I understand that and we’re very disappointed. I think we picked up a good point in New York. We wanted to keep that momentum going. I also think we had a record at home, potentially a record for the longest unbeaten streak, and to stop all that against Toronto. That hurts. You know, we don’t like Toronto, we don’t want to lose to them. Unfortunately, this year is the second time, so it hurts a little more than any other team.

Q: Today, as you mentioned earlier in English, it’s difficult in midfield. What is expected of your midfield pair in the construction of the game? So, from time to time, we feel that it’s a bit more difficult to build in the middle, and that’s been the case since the start of the season in fact. How would you explain that?

SP: I don’t think it’s been difficult since the start of the season. I think there have been games where we’ve been very good. But at the same time, I think that when you’re fighting against a team that knows that you’ve got players like me and Mathieu who like to have the ball, who like to get out from behind, well in the end, the opposing team concentrates on blocking the midfield and we saw that today, I think the way out was really alongside Joel Waterman or with Insigne who defended maybe a little higher and was able to get into his back and then get out. So you know, you can’t just bang your head against the wall and then persist in wanting to get out of midfield because that’s what you want to do. You have to find a solution too. And I think it took us a while to find it, but at some point we did. But afterwards, when Joel has the ball and moves forward, that’s when we have to find a solution. That’s when you have to create certain movements that we lacked tonight.  So you know, I don’t think it was complicated in midfield in the sense that we lacked quality of desire or connection, it was just really difficult. Then sometimes well that’s what teams will do and you’ll find what the opposing team lets you because they’re blocking that.  Every match is different, every game is different. It’s a bit the same against Red Bull. We played with three men.  It’s a slightly different pattern, but I remember games where we had no problem getting out through the middle in Miami, here, at home, others. But I don’t want to get into that.  But to be honest, I think Toronto were very well prepared tactically, and we found a few loopholes in their game, but it was really in the final third that I think we were lacking.