Laurent Courtois
Q: In the world of soccer, a defeat like that at home puts a certain amount of pressure on the coach. Do you feel you still have the confidence of your CF Montreal team now?
LC: Give me a few days, the whistle just blew so I don’t know. But I don’t see it, on the contrary, as you said, it’s still a key element tonight, so maybe we’ll see.
Q: Tactically speaking, what happened in that game? Particularly in the second half, when I think we almost shook things up a bit more.
LC: The second goal was a joke, and then afterwards we thought we’d made the personal or tactical adjustments to be able to turn things around, but when you lose your discipline, it becomes complicated. It also exposes individual errors which are just as heavy in the defeat tonight as we can talk about the coach, and individual stuff which is poor.
Q: What did you have to say to the ultras at the end of the match when you went to talk to them at the end of the game?
LC: The least I could do was to be there and listen to them. I listened to their pain, that’s all.
Q: After a game like that, it’s generally said that there are two possibilities: either you’re at the bottom, or you can take off again. Cincinnati next week is one of the best teams in the league, what were the words you gave your players?
LC: That the most difficult part would be to to stand in front of the microphone and explain to you guys that there’s a five-goal gap between our two teams, which I don’t believe at all. Maybe individually but collectively and tactically, I don’t see it. It’s hard for me to speak positively, even if I’m also aware that both the first half and what we saw at the start of the second half led us to believe that there was plenty of room for improvement.
Q: We saw more movements and more of you guys finding the half space, which is what you wanted with Bryce and Caden, but it’s still looked like that final ball and shot wasn’t there. Is there something on in your group that you think could unlock that? You didn’t have a proper nine today, do you think maybe that could have made your life a little bit easier today?
LC: I think when we didn’t break the pressure, the half space is from the center back was what we were missing in the first half. The second half we lacked finding the width and creating those overloads out wide to create more space and create those shot opportunities. The elements that you mentioned were also factors, but we put the emphasis a lot on the transition and the shape during the transition. In the second half, both the third and the fourth goal is clearly what killed us.
Q: There’s a report tonight that Matias Coccaro was late for a training session on Thursday, I’d like to know if the report is correct and if his not being dressed tonight came as punishment?
LC: There was an internal element with Matias, we dealt with it internally. I try to do what I say, but I prefer not to comment too much because I made a mistake last time by opening it up a bit too much. Whatever happens internally, I’ll try to keep it internal.
Q: I think just a few days ago, your president said he thought the team was improved and missed the playoffs, that would be hard to digest. Yet tonight we all saw a fragile team with a lack of confidence. Do you have any explanation as to why they were so fragile and so lacking in confidence?
LC: The difficulty in transition and a big part of it is your structure. When you’re in transition and in the moments of crisis you concede, I’ve often found them, especially in the second half, lacking ideas against a deep block.
Q: The two newcomers, Caden Clark and Jaheele, how did you find them? I want to know your impression.
LC: Very interesting.
Q: Were they practically the best two players today, or close to it?
LC: Fresh air, spontaneity, heart, ideas, some flaws, but it’s good and positive. It’s very good.
Q: It’s often said that in central defense, you need a certain stability to form automatisms, and here we see a central defense that changes quite often. Can you explain why this is happening?
LC: It’s a combination of a lot of individual errors in the first part of the season then there were quite a few injuries and absences. Today, we found that we could create a little more advantage in these half spaces in front of their first line or next to their first line, so we tried to make a few more offensive adjustments in this area. Between form, missed performances, and injury we’ve navigated through all three and it’s clearly not there yet.
Q: Question on Grégoire Swiderski who was at the game tonight, I think he’s currently on trial with the club, what can you tell us about his presence at Saputo Stadium with the club now?
LC: He’s free and on trial. That’s all.
Joel Waterman
Q: What happened tonight? In your opinion, how do you explain this result?
JW: They were better than us. And in every aspect. That’s it.
Q: What was said in the locker room right now?
JW: Nothing was said. There’s nothing to say. It was silent. We just move on to the next.
Q: We’ve seen lots of changes in central defense this year, and you’ve been playing in the middle of the central defense and on the right as well, how tough is it to adjust from game to game and change your colleagues every time?
JW: We’re just trying to find the right balance and trying to find the right guys who are in form and want to play for this club. It’s tough, but we’re just trying to find the right system and players who want to play and who want to get to the playoffs.
Q: Can you build on something in a game like this? Can you take something and apply it next week?
JW: No, we can’t, it’s a game that I just want to forget about. We’ll obviously go over videos, and some of the goals that we let in were soft. The final pass and we could have also had a couple goals that we didn’t finish. The game’s all about details which we say repeatedly. It’s a game I like to forget and just move on.
Q: Do you feel like there’s a lack of desire right now from certain of their colleagues?
JW: It’s not that they don’t want to play for this club, but we see it in guys body language. We see it in our in our energy. I didn’t think that was that bad tonight. I think the tactics were a little bit off but it’s not the coach’s fault. New England played well too, we must give it to them and give credit where its due. I think we took them lightly knowing where they are in the standings, and we try to forget about that. Everybody wants to play for this club, but we must show up on gameday.
Q: Laurent said that five to nothing doesn’t represent the gap between you guys and them. Do you agree with that? As one of the leaders of the leadership core, how do you get everybody back on track from a game like this in the coming days?
JW: I mean, those small moments in the game where I think we could have scored. Like I said, the final pass in the first half, goalie made a couple good saves, and Lassi Lappalainen had a couple chances that he could have scored too. That’s the difference between a close game and a final game blowout. As one of the leaders, you just got to bring everyone together and flip the page. Like I said, it’s a game that we need to forget about and if we can take anything from it, it’s that we can’t show up like this in front of our home fans because they deserve better. We take a break and go to Cincinnati next week and then we’re back at home. We must rewrite the story since there’s eight games left.
Samuel Piette
Q: A defeat like this at home often puts pressure on the coach from the club’s top brass. Do the players still have confidence in Laurent Courtois?
SP: In any case, I do, but you’d have to ask the others, but the feeling in the group is yes. I think New England were very good tactically tonight. I think they were better than us, but I don’t think it just comes down to the coaching of how we prepared for the game. I think we were all bad tonight and individually we didn’t do enough. The goals took our legs away and then I think we came out well in the second half, but we missed chances. When you end up with three, four or five goals, at some point you must stop the bleeding. In the end, we’re the players who play, we’re the players who are on the pitch, so I take 100% of the blame for what happened tonight, in all honesty. It’s inexcusable, I’m sorry for the fans and for the club. The club deserves better at such an important time, with so few games at home, you owe it to yourself to win. I’m not even talking about New England’s position in the standings. We know that in this league, the bottom can beat the top and vice versa. It’s a game where we had to get the three points, and we all know all the results, it’s inexcusable.
Q: We’re used to seeing teams who come here and are a bit passive and stay at the back. What made the New England Revolution today, they were a bit rough, and they were able to attack places, was there anything that made the difference?
SP: For me, the feeling on the pitch was that the first goal gave them wings, in all honesty. I think we came out well and we’d started the game well, and then that first goal which came out of nowhere did them a lot of good. Even though what I felt on the pitch in New England was that they wanted to attack us, they wanted to come and press us, we were still able to find the attacking players, whether it was Bryce Duke or Caden Clark in between the lines, behind their midfield, or in front of their defense. So that’s what we did well. Then we lacked a bit of quality or the ability to choose the right final move and we were also unlucky in the end, whether it was a cross or a shot. After the second goal, it cut our legs from under us, and we were with our heads down. I think we came out well in the second half, we created chances for ourselves. There’s was an opportunity for Lassi Lappalainen, and I won’t put the blame on him, on the contrary, I think he came on very well and was perhaps the best player on our side tonight, but it’s clear that if he scores that goal it puts us down only one goal. At the end it ended up five-nil and it could even have been six or more. To answer your question, the first goal gave them a boost and a lot of confidence because when you score that first goal away from home, it gives you a big confidence boost.
Q: How are you feeling personally tonight, after this evening and this 5-0 defeat?
SP: I feel humiliated. I honestly don’t feel good. I feel bad and I feel bad for the fans. I feel bad for the people who were here at the stadium. It’s been a long time since we’ve played here, and of course, as I mentioned, we’re at a very important moment, so we’re the first ones who want to win. A result like tonight affects us. It’s difficult because, at the end of the day, we’re at home and we know it’s a game we can take. The crowd was there, it’s another sold-out game. Right from the start, we felt that the crowd was behind us. We want to do it well for the club too because we know how much they wants to be in the playoffs, and I think that in all honesty, even though the results weren’t there tonight, I think we have the quality to be in the playoffs and now it’s a question of finding solutions. Of course, we could add more fuel to the fire and point fingers at everyone but that’s not the way to get out of a game like this. We’ve got a big challenge ahead of us against Cincinnati and it’s up to us to find solutions. In the end, it’s a sport and it’s my job, but it may be one of the worst feelings you can have when you lose a game, especially in a big game like this. In all honesty, tomorrow I’m going to my parent’ house to celebrate my son’s fourth birthday and I would have loved to have gone after training in a good mood, but of course, I’m going to think about the second goal and the defeat, I’m going to have that in the back of my mind. It’s difficult, but the fans need to know that we’re not indifferent to a result like that. At least I’m not, personally.
Q: What was the conversation like at halftime? Like you said, you started the second half with the front foot and much better showing, at what point in the half did you really feel like the skills tipped their way and the dam broke and there’s nothing you could do about it?
SP: At halftime we changed something tactically, we pressed differently. We want more into it for 4-4-3 with the ball and 4-4-2 on the defensive side to be able to press better. It worked well even though that’s not the formation we are used to and haven’t used a lot this year. We started the second half well, but when you’re chasing the game and putting more bodies forward, you’re more exposed at the back. They create chances here and there, but nothing crazy. I came off and had a good feeling because the guys coming in are fresh and we had brought in two guys at halftime that were also fresh and new blood, I would say. Then it’s just one of those that when you concede the third goal, I don’t remember how it was, it cuts everybody’s legs from under them. Your down 3-0 at home, it’s a big mountain to climb to be back and especially in the moment where you need to win. We said it before the game that we wouldn’t be content with a tie, we want to win, and we want the three points. You must score for goals in a short period of time which is super difficult. I think that third goal killed us for the rest of the game.
Q: You said that you’re all still behind Laurent Courtois now. The coach can only do so much because you’re the ones on the pitch. We often see players in clubs who get together without the coach or the staff who have a meeting all together and look each other in the eye and talk about it. Is now the right time to do this? There are eight games left in the season and you must move forward. As captain of the team, is now the time to call that kind of meeting?
SP: It’s not a bad idea, we’ve done that before this season too when things were going badly in May. The first thing, I think, is for everyone to look at themselves in the mirror and then we can start talking collectively because we need to do better. I think these solutions also must come from the coaching staff, because given that we’re still with the coach and the coach is with us, I think we must do this together and not start playing our own style and neglect what the coaching staff is asking of us. I think these solutions must be found together and I think the first thing is simply to look at ourselves in the mirror, me first. See what we did well tonight, but above all, what we didn’t do well. I don’t think that lack of effort was to blame for this result from the outset. Of course, at three zero or four zero, you still must put in the effort but it’s more difficult. I think we were all poor tonight technically because we lost a lot of balls and didn’t manage our defensive situations very well. We want to get the win, but we can’t forget to defend either and I’m not just talking about the defenders, it starts with the front line. So yes, every man must look at himself in the mirror and then regroup. We need to go back to training tomorrow morning and then find solutions together. We’ve got a big game against Cincinnati, but we’ve got to get back to basics and do the simple things right.
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