Mahala Opoku
Q: It’s been a while since you scored for Montreal, and you don’t usually go this long without scoring. Do you think it’s because of your form or tactics?
MO: I would say that I haven’t taken my chances. I got some chances that I could score, and I didn’t take them. I’m not going to say that maybe I don’t get enough playing time or anything like that, I just haven’t taken my chances.
Q: You’re a happy guy in life, and we know you to be a guy that’s always smiling. Do you think you’re able to bring a smile to the face of your teammates in this difficult period?
MO: It’s always good to stay positive even when things are not going your way. So, for me, I always try to stay positive and try to help the people around me. When things are not going our way, we have to stay positive and work hard to get where we want to be.
Q:You’ve come off the bench a lot since returning from injury. First of all, how do you feel fitness wise? And do you feel like you’re fully 100% back? And secondly, do you think that maybe the reason that you it’s difficult to get those goals and get those assists is because you’re coming off the bench and you don’t have time to grow into the game? How do you feel about the way you’re being used right now?
MO: To answer your question, I would say that as a player, you have to object with anything that comes your way. I’m trying to get used to everything that’s going on, including coming from injury and reading the intensity of the game. In training or in the game, I’m trying to get back to where I used to be so I can help the team in any way I can. In terms of how I feel mentally and physically, I think I’m good right now, and it’s getting better.
Q: How did the staff prepare you guys for this Mexican team that we don’t know a lot about? And what do you know about this this club that you’re going to face tomorrow night?
MO: We watched a couple videos of them, and how we can hurt them and how we can protect ourselves from them, too. So it’s though for me personally because I don’t know much about them, but since we started watching videos about them, I got to understand and have more ideas about the team that we are playing against tomorrow.
Q: How would you like to characterize the mentality of the locker room right now? Are you guys still concentrated on the task at hand, or are you a bit sad and down because of the last few results?
MO: We lost the last time and so that one is gone and we are ready to face the task that’s in front of us. We were a bit sad about last game, but we’re not done yet. There’s some more games there and there’s another game opportunity for us to win and to get back to ourselves. We are just working hard at it and staying positive to be ready for tomorrow’s game so we can show the fans that we’re here and we’re trying to make things right.
Laurent Courtois
Q: Looking back on the game in Orlando or maybe the last few recent games, what’s the conclusion that you and your staff have drawn about being exposed to the counter-attack and leaving yourself that vulnerable when you’re in possession, because you talked about it in the post-game press conferences, but after looking back on it, what’s the conclusion and how do you address that?
LC: We were surprised with the way we go caught on the first two goals, but I would take the third and the fourth goals as something that has happened too many times. We addressed the ones that surprised us and figured out how that happened, and was it really situational? Then there are two other goals that are more about phase recognition and also mistakes that individuals make over and over, but how do we put ourselves in the situation? The element of limiting the turnovers when we’re spread out is a big work in progress in our team.
Q: With recent results and the team’s current situation, do you think the solution could come from the mercato, which is still open at the moment? And if so, is there a position that you’d like to see fixed, if you will, to improve the team?
LC: It’s not true that we’re going to solve everything with a summer mercato. It’s more a case of, as I said, trying to find the elements on which we clearly know we need to improve and work on. Let’s say, for the parts and elements that allow us to move forward, we’re currently going to make the most of them. After that, for something a little more in-depth, we won’t be able to do that this summer.
Q: If I may raise it again, I’ll ask the question differently. Do you think it’s possible to achieve great things with the squad as it’s currently built?
LC: This is a year of transition. Whether you’re aware of it or not, it’s a year of transition in so many respects, on the style of play, on the basic overhaul of the squad we want to have so we can build for the future, and there are lots of elements, whether it’s tactics or mentality. We’re in a transitional phase, and we’ve shown with one move that we can actually do some good things, but we’ve also shown our limitations, whether it’s the coach, the squad, injuries, absentees or a whole host of other reasons. So it’s nothing more and nothing less than what we knew at the outset. After that, some of us are a little too high when things are good and some are a little too low today when things aren’t going well, that’s none of my business. I’m plotting the direction I want to take with the club, and we’re continuing to move forward. Tomorrow, we’ve got a great game to play, and I hope the lads will put their best foot forward, and that’s that.
Q: The aura of a defeat on Friday and Tuesday’s game is coming very quickly. What did you want to see from your players as they returned to work this weekend? And did you see it? What did you ask them? What do you see so far in the preparation?
LC: You mean since we got back?
Q: Yes, right.
LC: it’s not easy. It’s all about looking after the players who were most involved in the defeat, looking after the mental injuries, and doing as much recovery as possible. We’ve been able to work with the players who were a little less involved and try to prepare as well as possible to be competitive tomorrow. But today is the only day we’re really going to be synchronizing all our efforts together. But overall, it’s been two fairly distinct groups, and we’ve each had a slightly different set of views.
Q: And how do you prepare for a Mexican club that hasn’t played much since their league opened? Did you start watching videos before the Orlando game? What’s it like preparing for an opponent like that?
LC: Whether it’s the competition or the opponent, it’s a bit of a different context, which is good, even if we didn’t do what we wanted to do in Orlando. So I hope that tomorrow we’ll realize how lucky we are to be up against a team like this. A three-four-three formation and a very positional game with the quality of rotation and combined play that’s a little different from the styles we come up against in the MLS which is really qualitative. I think it’s going to be two teams that want to play with the ball, and that’s going to pose problems. Also, I think it should be an open game.
Q: The subject of the last few days, the last few hours in the world of soccer, has been drones and spying on the opponent with Team Canada. Did you ever hear of this in MLS Next Pro and then in MLS Next? Spying on opponents with drones, hiding behind shrubs, or whatever, where it doesn’t touch at all what you’ve seen?
LC: You won’t see me hiding behind a shrub. I’ve got so much to do on my own, in front of my own yard or computer. I don’t have time to go into a shrubbery. You won’t see me there.
Q: Just a follow-up question, in your career as a player or coach, have you ever heard of this? Have you ever been a victim of or heard about this kind of espionage? Just in general, is this something you’ve already experienced in your career?
LC: Yes, I’ve heard stories like that. The problem now is that we live in a world where all it takes is for you to be accused and you’re already very guilty. So I want to be very careful but of course there have always been stories, whether it’s the old school generation or now with drones, that some people do weird things. But there you go, I’ve never been able to verify or hear that the truth. It’s just rumors. Just like there are a lot of rumors in other sectors.
Q: Let me come back to CF Montreal. Every time you talked about Tom Pearce and Dawid Bugaj in the last few weeks, it seemed to be more of a long-term thing. I was a little surprised to see them in action on Friday. What was your assessment of their game? Did you send them into the fray earlier than you would have liked?
LC: We try to be consistent with the players who are in place, but from the moment there’s a first half that you’ve seen and I’m sure you’ve reviewed, because you do your homework, reviewed and analyzed the game, we thought it was also a time to be able to give opportunities to other players. So there’s the idea of working with existing players. But a scenario like Orlando, where you get to that point at half-time. While we’re at it, we might as well give opportunities to newcomers and younger players.
Q: Did you like what they showed you during their short stint?
LC: It’s as if they were in pre-season, with their pace still a bit European. So it’s encouraging.
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