Know Thy Enemy: Revs at Montreal Fresh Tapped Maple Syrup Edition

Both the Revs and Montreal were fairly active in the summer window, but both seemingly made moves looking ahead to next season.

Photo By J. Alexander Dolan

Saturday will begin the second “half” of the MLS regular season…or the post Leagues Cup playoff push. Whatever it is, when the Revolution head up to Stade Saputo to play CF Montreal (730 pm EDT, MLS Season Pass), both teams will have drastic changes to the key positions.

New England will be getting back the bulk of it’s first string attacking line with Giacomo Vrioni, Carles Gil, and Dylan Borrero all returning from injuries that kept them from a lot of July and Leagues Cup play. Montreal has acquired a couple of talented youngsters but likely will lose a club talisman in the process of the summer window.

While both the Revs and Impact Foot Clan spent the summer transfer window mostly looking ahead, it’s New England that certainly can boast the most significant additions with their injury returnees and winger Luca Langoni and midfielder Alhassan Yusuf finally getting his visa paperwork sorted out.

I somehow graded the Revs the most positively for their overall summer window and now we get to see the fruits of that labor in action. New England is in an interesting spot having spent the most of 2024 dealing with two waves of injuries - one at the beginning of the year during CCL play and another essentially for Leagues Cup.

Catanese: The Odd, Yet Understandable Logic for a Revs Playoff Push

Being able to add two DP’s and two U-22 wingers into your lineup is just not something you see every day in MLS, at least not in one go. But that’s more or less what the Revs are getting their last 11 games and we’ll see if that uptick in quality will pay off in the short term while the minutes young players like Jack P and Esmir got over the last month will pay off in the long term…or whatever I rambled about last week.

Now, if the Revs are going to make the playoffs, it’s going to take some work. Sam detailed some Eastern Conference 9th place data here and Seth took a glance at a lot of remaining schedules. Thomas Pinzone had the deep dive and presented the daunting yet realistic task of the Revs making the playoffs from dead last and only four home games left.

But I think I have a slightly more bold view on the Revs playoff push. Obviously beating a Montreal team below the playoff line is important, and they need to win their four home games against St. Louis, Montreal again, Nashville, and DC United who are collectively not good.

But with a road game at RSL the following week for New England and then away to Columbus and Miami to end the year, those are a trio of games the Revs are not expected to get points from let alone win given how the season has gone so far. That means their two September road games at in-conference foes Orlando and Charlotte, Orlando in particular who have been poor at home, are vital results to get. Which makes the following statement seem slightly absurd:

I think the New England Revolution need to win all five September games to make the playoffs.

Three home games against below the line East teams and at ORL/CLT is not impossible and the Revs did win four in a row and five of six at one point in June which included a win at Cincinnati. But that’s the tall task facing the Revs. If they want to make the playoffs, that’s the kind of run they’ll need to go on. Any slip in September will likely make their Oct 2nd game in Houston a must win, which is doable as similarly to Orlando the Dynamo have been middling at home this year.

And remember this isn’t factoring in what the rest of the East does. A team like Philly just on the outside looking in could also make a run and make it that much harder for the Revs to get above them or occupy one of the play-in spots. It’s dangerous to be even cautiously optimistic about the Revs playoff chances right now, but three points this weekend at least starts the comeback trail.

Back to Montreal, I really do like the youngsters they added in Caden Clark and Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty. Yes, Montreal faces a big offseason this winter like the Revs and overall their most impactful transfers were outbound, but trading in good, young players is usually a long term plus at worst.

Helping us break down Montreal’s transfer window, season, Leagues Cup, etc., is our good friend Tom Nightingale of Canadian Soccer Daily. Be sure to check out their site for all their game coverage and the saga of Mathieu Choinière’s exit from Montreal.

TBM: It was an interesting transfer window for Montreal - reported sale for Mathieu Choiniere, trading out Toye, Lassiter, Ruan, trading in Marshall-Rutty. What was the biggest move for CFMTL this summer and is the team setting up for the short or long term?

TN: When Choinière leaves, as it seems he inevitably will, it will leave a massive hole in this team both on and off the field. Choinière is one of those players you hear described as the "lifeblood" of a team and will be hard to replace, but it's been a long and often distasteful saga that needed ending. A move to Europe is probably best for all parties at this stage.

On the incomings front, Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty is a talent but one still raw and unpolished, so while he may be impactful, expectations should be tempered. Left-back Tom Pearce looks a very solid acquisition from England and had a full debut to remember with an excellent goal and assist earlier this month.I would argue the biggest intrigue may lie with the acquisition of US youth international Caden Clark from Minnesota. If he can settle in, he could be a revelation in an attacking midfield role.

A first round knockout loss in Philly ended Montreal's Leagues Cup run, was that about the expectation for the tournament and how is Leagues Cup overall viewed in Canada?

The Leagues Cup is what it is: an Apple TV marketing exercise dressed up as competition. Canadian teams were horrible in it last year and only marginally better this year. It's a trophy to play for and every team would like to compete on all fronts, but given that CFMTL were never in with a chance of winning it, a first-round knockout defeat didn't upset many. The only goal is MLS Playoffs soccer come the fall.

Josef Martinez has only made 7 starts for Montreal this year, would a tremendous leap in production from him be enough to get Montreal into the playoffs? Who else could step up and have a big late season push for Montreal?

You often hear players like Josef Martinez described as an enigma. In the Venezuelan's case, that's an oversell: he's a quality, if declining, player who has shown on several occasions this year that he still has what it takes to produce the kind of magic CFMTL brought him in for. His "winning mentality" has caused problems in the last week or two, with a public falling-out with head coach Laurent Courtois. But both men are reportedly prepared to ensure that's water under the bridge.

If he stays fit and his fiery attitude translates to the pitch, he could be vital in the coming weeks. As for who else could be a difference-maker, CMTL actually have several of them. Around a solid if inconsistent Canadian spine, the likes of strikers Matias Coccaro and Sunisi Ibrahim and midfielders Clark and Bryce Duke all have the talents to be game-changers. Whether we'll see enough of that or not is the big question.

Predicted lineup:
Sirois; Bujag, Corbo, Wtaerman, Alvarez, Pearce; Piette, Saliba; Duke, Lassiter, Ibrahim, Coccaro

Score prediction: 1-1