A TOUGH BLOW FOR IMPACT
Bush’s fantastic saves in vain
Coach Mauro Biello probably had another sleepless night after the Impact’s charter flight landed in Montreal late Sunday night.
The Impact’s hopes of making the MLS playoffs suffered another blow Sunday afternoon with a 2-0 loss to Atlanta United in front of 43,502 fans at the spectacular new Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
It’s amazing what US$1.6 billion can buy in a stadium that includes a giant video “halo board” that provides 63,000 square feet of screen in a circle below the retractable roof. There’s also a giant window at one end of the stadium through which you can see the downtown skyline. Atlanta United owner Arthur Blank — who also owns the NFL’s Falcons — is even giving soccer and football fans a break at the concession stands, charging $2 for a soda or bottle of water, $2 for a bag of popcorn, $3 for a slice of pepperoni pizza and $7 for a 20-ounce beer. Imagine that.
That’s all good news for a city with a strong soccer culture and solid youth programs that is falling in love with its expansion MLS team, setting a league record for single-game attendance when 70,425 showed up for Atlanta United’s 3-3 draw with Orlando City last weekend. Atlanta United improved its record to 14-8-7 Sunday and is unbeaten in its last six games (4-0-2), while the Impact fell to 11-13-6.
After Argentinian star Hector Villalba scored in the 28th minute for Atlanta United on a spectacular long-range kick, the team’s PR staff felt compelled to make an announcement to some media members: “A reminder, there is no cheering in the press box.”
The local media must have got the message because there was no cheering after Jeff Larentowicz made it 2-0 for Atlanta in the 73rd minute.
The bad news for the Impact is they now trail the New York Red Bulls by three points for the sixth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with only four games left in the regular season — including two on the road, where the Impact has a 3-7-5 record. The Red Bulls also hold a game in hand.
Sunday’s game wrapped up an eight-day emotional rollercoaster for the Impact and coach Biello. It started last Saturday night when the Impact lost its fourth straight game, an embarrassing 3-2 loss to expansion team Minnesota United at Saputo Stadium. That was followed by a report Nick DeSantis, the club’s former GM and current vicepresident of international relations and technical development, blasted the players at practice the next day and, that evening, team president and owner Joey Saputo sent out a statement saying: “Our team’s latest performance has clearly fallen short of our expectations and those of our members, supporters, and city.”
The Impact responded with an impressive 5-3 road win over Toronto FC on Wednesday night, followed by Sunday’s loss in Atlanta to a team that was simply superior. The score could have been worse if not for some spectacular saves by goalkeeper Evan Bush, including one in the first minute. The Impact failed to get a shot on target in the first half and were outshot 6-2 for the game.
“It’s a very good team,” Bush said after the game. “To me, it’s one of the top two teams with Toronto right now in the league and it was a tough task for us.
“I think for stretches we did pretty well,” he added. “I think we had chances to even the game when it was 1-0 and we didn’t take advantage of it. A team like that, they’re going to make you pay.”
Before leaving Montreal for Atlanta on Saturday, Biello admitted he hadn’t slept after the loss to Minnesota.
“There’s not much sleeping going on, but that’s part of the business,” Biello said before practice Saturday morning at Centre Nutrilait. “Sometimes, the best thoughts come in the middle of the night and it’s important to write some notes down sometimes when you get those thoughts.”
Biello was probably writing notes again after getting home from Atlanta.
“I know what this job entails ... what the consequences are, what the rewards are if it’s good,” Biello said Saturday. “You take your blows and you move forward.”
The next game for the Impact is Wednesday night when New York City FC visits Saputo Stadium. That will be followed by back-to-back road games in Colorado next Saturday and Toronto on Oct. 15, before the regular season finale at home against New England on Oct. 22.
That game on Oct. 22 could also be the final one in the playing career of Montreal captain Patrice Bernier, who will retire after the season to take a coaching job with the Impact Academy. Bernier’s first game with the Impact came way back in 2000 against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds in the old A-League.
Bernier understands the passion the Impact management team has, including Biello, DeSantis and technical director Adam Braz, who all grew up in Montreal — like Bernier — and also played for the Impact.
Bernier delivered a pregame speech before Wednesday’s game in Toronto.
“I had to pass on that message that there’s a history and there’s people that work hard to make the machine go forward, not just on the field,” Bernier said Saturday. “So when we play on the field we don’t just represent ourselves, we represent the club, the fans, the city and we weren’t doing that very well.”
If the Impact misses the playoffs, that loss to Minnesota will be one that haunts them during the off-season. This was an emotional eight-day span for the club and it didn’t end well in Atlanta.
You can expect Biello will have some bags under his eyes Monday morning.
I think we had chances to even the game when it was 1-0 and we didn’t take advantage of it.