Rémi Garde's team will be taking on FC Dallas on Saturday evening at the Toyota Stadium in Dallas. The Montreal Impact come into this game in 10th place in the Eastern Conference standings as they are 7 points off Orlando City who hold the last current playoff spot in the standings.
It has been a very turbulent season for Joey Saputo's team as they seem to be lacking quality on the pitch. In terms of player movement they lost many crucial veteran players like Patrice Bernier, Hassoun Camara, Laurent Ciman, Blerim Dzemaili as well as young starlet Ballou Tabla. They did bring a few interesting players like Saphir Taidir from Bologna, Rod Fanni, Jeisson Vargas and Michael Petrasso to name a few. Even so, it now seems clear that the Impact lost more than what they gained in this past transfer window.
It now remains to be seen what the future plans of the team will be for the remainder of the season as there have been many rumors indicating that Montreal's star player Ignacio Nacho Piatti might be traded away in coming weeks. Piatti might not have the same international prestige as past Impact stars like Alessandro Nesta, Dider Drogba and Marco Di Vaio but the fact remains that he is one of the best players in the entire MLS.
Nacho Piatti is the current Montreal Impact top scorer in the league as he has scored 5 goals so far on the season which is one more than his teammate Jeisson Vargas. It will depend on what the potential return would be but trading Nacho Piatti away would be a sign that Saputto wants to restructure his entire team. Playoffs might still be a possibility for the Impact but it is clear that they need some on-field help to achieve this.
The coming games will be important for Montreal as it will be interesting to see what Joey Saputo will decide. Will he bring in new players for a playoff push or will he trade away some of his best players in an attempt to rebuild his squad (which would inevitably take a few years of suffering?) Time will tell...
Jean-Luca Mascaro (@Calcionews89)
