Post-game press conference CF Montréal vs. San Luis

Laurent Courtois

Q:It’s as simple as that, a victory, one goal, and an assist. What do you think of Tom Pearce’s performance tonight and his first start at home?

LC: I’m very pleased. We knew he could bring that to our game. He was able to be effective tonight, we can see that he’s a little short physically too, but in addition he defended well, I thought, more forward. It’s really a great first performance.

Q: A bit surprised to see him perform so well in his first home game?

LC: We didn’t necessarily expect him to score straight away, but we did expect him to give us several chances on goal, and I think that with a little more lucidity, we could have duplicated those situations, but it’s good.

Q: It’s been a bit difficult in the midfield recently, and today it seemed to go much smoother regardless of who was in there. What kind of adjustments did you make and what did you think of the overall performance in the middle of the park?

 

LC: Zero Adjustments. They just performed. It’s better when they connect that when they don’t.

Q: In the last few weeks, we’ve often seen it on social media, but the fans have been complaining a bit about the players’ behavior, especially defensively. But really, this match, your team’s collective and defensive performance, was remarkable. Perhaps the most accomplished this year. What do you think?

LC: A bit like the question before, today they delivered and that’s good. We’ll see if we can deliver next time. We haven’t changed a thing. We did the same thing. We talked about the same things and made zero adjustments. We just kept the same language, and today, it was fluid.

Q: This is the first time you’ve been able to start Matias Cóccaro and Josef Martinez up front. What did you think of their chemistry? How did you feel they connected? Is that something you’ll be repeating again?

LC: Very positive things because they have profiles that complement each other, but at the same time, they also have different backgrounds and difficulties in defending continuity together. But yeah, it’s definitely maybe the best time we’ve seen them together.

Q: Would you say that tonight was one of your best games in terms of attacking soccer?

LC: In my opinion, it was correct, really from both teams to be able to play, because when there’s a team that just comes to defend and doesn’t try to win the ball, it’s difficult to play well. So today, we had a team that really wanted to catch the ball high up and that gives us opportunities with a bit of quality and lucidity. But they did some good things.

Q: In the last few weeks, we’ve often heard that the players chose one half, and it wasn’t a complete game. Tonight, I think we played well in both halves.

LC: I thought we panicked a bit at the start of the game for no good reason, and at the end, I thought our front three was a bit tired and scattered from the first half. And so, apart from the wobble at the start of the first half and at the end of the first half, I thought it was coherent for the bulk of the game. There are teams who come in and really want to close everything down and lock everything down, and knowing that we want to get through their line, it’s complicated to break. And as I was saying today, a team that really wants to be aggressive. It takes two to make a good match.

Q: Basically, what you looked at as a coach for the video for the San Luis team, does it represent what you saw on the pitch today?
In terms of your own assessment of the video in relation to San Luis?

LC: I’m very limited. I have the arrogance and limited simplicity that as soon as we do our own thing, it doesn’t matter who we’re up against. So, of course, the staff, we told the players how we saw the opposition. Now, I’m just looking at how we’re going to do things, regardless of the opposition.

Q: Laurent you said there were no adjustments tonight, but we did see Bryce Duke come on more as a number ten in the defensive phase and leave two points for Cóccaro and Martinez, and we did see that Duke can be even more open to putting himself between the lines with this freedom. Is this something we could revisit? Because at the start of the season, you also played with a freewheeling ten.

LC: We mainly had a goalkeeper press. It’s been a while now that we’re getting into a two-man diamond phase to press high. It depends on who, but it’s true that it’s maybe the only time we make an adjustment in relation to the opponent. After that, the game depends on the profile. It’s true that from time to time, we prioritize one of the three a little more between the lines. In this match, Bryce found the right moments, the right places, and the right timing to do it. It was interesting, but we didn’t necessarily play with a ten this game.

Q: I have a similar question about the forwards, or a midfield pairing we haven’t often seen together between Saliba and Choinière, with three very mobile elements. Was the aim to get them to switch between each other and move around a bit more, or what was that the goal?

LC: They have the ability to find space between the lines and find the right one. I’m not a fan of too much rotation, too much of anything, but as soon as you’ve triggered something and there’s a space to project into or a line then of course it’s fluid and it’s asked for and allowed. They did it well. As I said, at the start of the games, I thought they were forcing it a little too much, but it became much more natural afterward.

Q: Have you heard from Nathan yet? How is he doing?

LC: Yes, he gave us quite a scare. His head was spinning, and everything’s fine, but he’s still under surveillance because we’re afraid that sometimes it’s afterward that it happens. But apparently, for the moment, we’re touching wood. Everything’s fine, just a little dizzy, that’s all.