Impact hopes to get spark from new blood
New players may see action in Vancouver
Impact management was listening on May 10 when team president Joey Saputo sent a scathing message on Twitter that guaranteed changes would be made to the struggling Major League Soccer club.
Since then, Saputo Stadium has had a revolving door, bringing new players in and sending familiar faces to new teams.
Midfielder Patrice Bernier hopes the changes will bring a “new dynamic” to a side that sits last overall in the 19-team league at 2-7-4.
“We have four or five new players,” Bernier said Monday. “We’ll turn the page on the first 13 games.
“We learned some lessons. Now we hope the new players bring us new energy for the rest of the season. We want to get back on track.”
The changes started May 13 when little-used midfielder Blake Smith was loaned to North American Soccer League club Indy Eleven. Three days later, Collen Warner was sent to Toronto FC for midfielder Issey Nakajima-Farran and allocation money.
On June 2, veteran defender Mamadou (Futty) Danso arrived from Portland for a draft pick. Four days later, Haitian free-agent defender Mechack Jerome was signed.
On June 11, Spanish midfielder Gorka Larrea signed after a oneweek tryout. The next day, popular but little-used fullback Jeb Brovsky was sent to 2015 expansion side New York City.
Last week, the team learned that midfielder and designated-player Hernan Bernardello will leave to join Mexican club Cruz Azul at the end of the month.
On Tuesday, the Impact announced that central defender Nelson Rivas has been removed from the team’s roster. The 31-year-old defender hadn’t played in a regularseason game the last two seasons due to injuries.
Rivas played the first game of the Amway Canadian Championship final in Toronto this season and was injured again.
One positive change came before Saputo pushed “send” on his famous tweet, when 2012 first overall draft pick Andrew Wenger went to Philadelphia for striker Jack McInerney, who has been pouring in goals with Montreal.
It was a lot of movement for a team that took criticism for making no off-season signings, other than bringing in new coach Frank Klopas. That was despite a second-half collapse in 2013 that saw the Impact nearly miss the playoffs after dominating MLS for much of the season.
They hope the changes, plus the anticipated signing of Argentine midfielder Ignacio Piatti as a designated player, will salvage a season whose bright spot so far was winning the Voyageurs Cup and qualifying for the CONCACAF Champions League.
“It’s like a new start,” said centre back Matteo Ferrari, who is back after missing a month with a calf injury. “I know in the league we are in a deficit and the standings aren’t nice.
“It’s also true that last year at this time we were first in the standings, but in the second half of the season we won one, maybe two games. So maybe it’s difficult to think about, but we can start from the beginning again and see what happens.”
It starts Wednesday night when the Impact visit the Whitecaps in Vancouver (10 p.m., TSN, RDS, TSN Radio 690), followed by a home game Sunday against Houston (7:30 p.m., TVA Sports, TSN Radio 690).
Klopas does not reveal his starting 11, but there is a chance that Nakajima-Farran and Larrea will see action in Vancouver.
The success of making changes will likely be determined by how quickly the newcomers adapt to the team and, in some cases, the physical MLS style of play.
The Impact used the two-week break since their disappointing 4-2 loss at home to D.C. United on June 11 to work with the new guys. They had two-a-day practices last week while soccer eyes were turned to the World Cup in Brazil.