As the Montreal Impact get set to host the New York Red Bulls in the first leg of the MLS Conference Semifinals, Didier Drogba's remains out with a back injury.
MONTREAL —Didier Drogba's attempt to be fit in time for the Eastern Conference semifinal first leg has come up short.
Drogba’s playing status was still unknown Saturday afternoon, as the Montreal Impact began their final practice before taking on the New York Red Bulls Sunday at Stade Saputo in the opening leg of the Eastern Conference semifinals. However, news broke on the east coast early Sunday morning that the striker would not suit up for the contest.
After running for 30 minutes on Friday, coach Mauro Biello told reporters at Stade Saputo that Drogba still felt some pain in his back, a problem that has been nagging him over the past two weeks. The Ivorian didn't take part in the first 15 minutes of training, which was open to the media, and whether or not he participated afterwards was not divulged.
Only two days since the Impact beat D.C United 4-2 in the opening knockout round of the playoffs, the Impact have sold over 15,000 tickets for Sunday’s opening leg and are still hopeful of selling out. To have announced that Drogba would play a part in the game would have certainly provided a significant sales boost, but at the same time the Impact wanted to keep the information from the Red Bulls, who finished the season first in the East for a second consecutive season, as long as possible.
Even if Drogba had been available, he would have likely begun the contest on the bench and come on in the latter stages of the second half, especially with the current form of fellow forward Matteo Mancosu, who has five goals and five assists in only eight starts, including two goals and an assist against D.C in midweek. And if there’s one area where the Red Bulls have looked fragile, even on their current 16-game unbeaten streak going back to the beginning of July, it has been managing the last 15 minutes of games.
“They’re going to come out strong, and they’re going to play the game they’re used to playing and that’s playing very high, aggressively, and we know too that this team, in playing in this way, have had a lot of difficulties at the end of the game in terms of the goals that they conceded, so that could become something that we use in the way that we play,” Biello said. “We have to manage the game well. To press for 90 minutes is difficult and if we’re able to manage the momentum the game and have possession we’re going to find openings.”
The game provides many challenges for Biello and his team, the biggest being that the Red Bulls are well rested after securing a bye in the first playoff round. The Impact meanwhile only had two days to recuperate from their last game and will therefore will have to be smart about using what energy they have. As much as they will want to put the Red Bulls under pressure, pushing too hard in the first half could set up a disastrous situation in the second. They’ll have to slow the game down, and to do that they’ll need to show quality in possession, like they did against United, but with the Red Bulls’s high tempo and high pressing style of play, it’s not going to be as easy to achieve.
“I think a lot of teams have had an idea of how to approach them but it hasn’t worked in the last two, three months,” said goalkeeper Evan Bush. “If we come out and play against D.C, where we were able to connect balls and play out of tight spaces, there’s going to be space for us. The first leg of a two-leg series is always interesting. Sometimes it’s a bit slower than you would think, but I think New York is going to want to keep the pace as fast as they can.”
The Impact have however been in this situation before. Last year, after beating Toronto FC in the opening round of the playoffs, they only had two days to prepare for the Columbus Crew, and managed to win that game 2-1.
“We had that experience last year, managing the bench will be important, tired legs, managing the momentum and making decisions at the right time will be key against a team that is fresh and that’ll be the challenge,” Biello said. “For us it’s about managing the game in the right way with our players, possession doesn’t always mean going to goal, it could mean resting at the right moments. For us, if we’re able to do that, and save our energy, while we have the ball, and recognize when are the moments to go forward.”
Although the Red Bulls possess the top scorer and assist man in the league (forward Bradley Wright Philips with 24 goals and Sacha Klejstan with 20 assists) Biello identified defensive midfielder Dax Mccarty as the most influential player for the Red Bulls, who’s ability to cover ground and distribute helps the Red Bulls get players forward.
“That the key player for me,” Biello said. “With his capacity to free up space for the others it’s someone who we have to survey very closely.”
Possessing the second-best attack in the league with 61 goals scored, the Red Bulls have also found a lot of joy on set pieces, even though they don’t possess a great deal of height in the box. Coach Jesse Marsch, whose set pieces were a major point of criticism when he coached the Impact for one season in 2012, has adopted many creative corner kick and free kick routines, many of which involve trying to disguise their intentions.
“It’s an interesting team in that regard because it’s not the typical team that just swings balls in to 6’4, 6’5 guys,” Bush said. “It’s a team that always has something up their sleeves when it comes to set pieces and a guy like Dax Mccarthy gets on the end of a lot of crosses so we need to be aware of all their trickery and all those things. Even our 5th or 6th guy (in the box) need to be aware, because sometimes the cross goes to guys you don’t expect and they hurt you.”
Although the Red Bulls are on 16-game unbeaten streak, with the away goals tiebreaker coming into effect this round, the Impact don’t necessarily have to win in order to progress. But for the first leg, Biello said he won’t be settling for a 0-0 draw.
“This will be a series for me where scoring goals is going to be important,” Biello said. “If we can hold them off here and score and we know that we can score over there.”
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