Midfielder, striker top Rémi Garde’s wish list
Rémi Garde says the Impact needs to fill two key spots next season, but he admitted that it might be difficult to find the player he wants for one of those positions.
“We need a striker and I would like to improve a position in the midfield,” Garde said during his 2018 season post-mortem Thursday at Centre Nutrilait. “I have an idea of the profile of the player I want, but I’m not sure I will find exactly the one I want on the market. I don’t know if I’ll have to adapt or the player will fit what I need. I like the structure of the team and I don’t want to destroy that.”
The Impact will go shopping during the European transfer window in January and Garde said he’s willing to be patient — to a point.
“The best situation is to bring in the right guy at the right time,” said Garde. “I would hope he’s ready for the preseason games and I can give him the program. But if I have to wait, I’d prefer to wait a little bit if I’m not finding the guy I want. If I can get a player a month before the season, it would be OK ( because) a good player can settle in quickly. The better the player, the easier he can fit in.”
The Impact had a slow start in Garde’s first season, but a strong second half had them in contention for the Major League Soccer playoffs until the final weekend of the season.
Garde dismissed rumours that he might leave for a coaching job with Bordeaux and he said the goal is to resign goalkeeper Evan Bush. The 32-year-old, who played every minute of every MLS game, earned US$157,925 this past season.
Asked about his goal for next season, Garde said: “To qualify for the playoffs. I’m disappointed, as are the players, that we didn’t reach the playoffs. We didn’t succeed, but I think we improved as a team and I have a feeling we’re starting the next season being competitive rather than the situation we started last season.”