The Fire return home to host CF Montréal, currently in the middle of a six game road trip to start their season, in their only home afternoon start of the season. The home team is still searching for their first victory of the 2024 campaign after conceding a goal deep in second-half stoppage time in Columbus last week, while Montréal remain undefeated, with a draw and two victories to their credit.

CF Montréal

Overview

2023 Results: 12W-5D-17L, 41 pts, 10th in Eastern Conference, 36 GF, 52 GA (-16 GD)

Key Offseason Signings: Matías Cóccaro (ST), Josef Martinez (ST), Ruan (RB/RWB), Joaquin Sosa (CB)

In 2022, CF Montréal (or were they Club de Foot that one season?) under then-Head Coach Wilfred Nancy turned heads around the league by playing a beautifully methodical possession-based system in a league where play has overall been defined by quick moments in transition and goals off counterattacks, on their way to finishing second in the East (just one win shy of a Supporter’s Shield title). One of the heads they turned was that of Columbus Crew General Manager Tim Bezbatchenko, who paid a transfer fee to bring Nancy from Montréal to Columbus ahead of the 2023 season.

Montréal replaced Nancy with Hernán Losada, and then were surprised to see Nancy’s tactical system discarded in favor of a high-speed transition setup – exactly the style of play that Losada had used in his previous gig in the dugout for D.C. United. That, plus squad changes (Montréal sent away a number of key players from the 2022 run, including former Fire homegrown Djordje Mihailovic) saw Montréal finish in 10th place in 2023, out of the playoffs.

Montréal responded by bringing in Laurent Courtois from Columbus’s MLS Next Pro side, where in his two years in charge, he became one of the only coaches in that league to have his team play a consistent style as they made the MLS Next Pro Cup final in both years, winning the title in its inaugural 2022 edition.

Courtois’s system with Crew 2 was similar to Nancy’s (both in Columbus and while at Montréal), but we haven’t seen much of it to date: While the Crew have lead the league with nearly 60% possession while Nancy at the helm, so far this season, CF Montréal have had the ball just 41.7% of the time, last in MLS even as the team has gone undefeated in its first three matches, notching two victories and a draw.

The takeaway is that Courtois has been pragmatic in changing the team’s game model as his side spends the first six matches of the 2024 campaign on the road. So far, it’s worked: On average league-wide, MLS teams around four or five victories out of their 17 road games, and Montréal already have two three games into the season.

Still, the team hasn’t looked especially convincing, despite their record, and you have to wonder if it might be a case of luck and opponents underestimating a team that has seen a significant overhaul in the offseason.

Tactics and Starting XI

Even if Montréal’s possession numbers haven’t been what many expected from Courtois’s system, we’re starting to see hints about the directions the Frenchman wants to take his team.

His squad was willing to absorb pressure from Inter Miami, patiently playing out of the back rather than contenting themselves with a quick clearance as a runner bombed down the field. It wasn’t consistent, it wasn’t every play, but it was clear evidence that the new Head Coach is bringing new ideas and is willing to be patient to see them bear fruit.

Still, in the attacking third, CF Montréal seems content to get numbers in the box and score goals opportunistically: Two of their goals against Miami came from set pieces, and one of their two goals against FC Dallas a week prior came off a fast break. That may be in part because the player Montréal brought in to pull the strings in the #10 central attacking midfield position, Dominic Yankov, has had limited minutes as he’s come back from injury.

Regardless, it means that CF Montréal are a difficult opponent to describe tactically, as player availability and the continued infusion of Courtois’s ideas into the game model take time.

If one thing has been constant over Montréal’s three head coaches in the past three seasons, it’s been the formation: The team has played three center backs, two outside backs that typically function as wingbacks, and an attacking trio – either dual strikers fed by a single central attacking midfielder, or two wingers flanking a single striker.

With striker Mahala Opoku out with an injury and Yankov only seeing limited minutes so far this season as he recovers from a knock, Montréal have mostly been playing the latter formation, giving the squad a nominal 3-4-3 formation, with new addition Mattias Cóccaro getting the nod up top, likely blanked by former LAFC homegrown Bryce Duke and Montréal native Jules-Anthony Vilsaint.

In the central midfield, many expected Designated Player and Kenyan international Victor Wanyama to start alongside homegrown Mathieu Choinière, but so far this season, Wanyama has been relegated to making appearances off the bench as Choinière has been paired with fellow Montréal-area native Samuel Piette.

Ruan, the 28-year-old Brazilian, acquired in the offseason in a trade with D.C. United, has unsurprisingly been the choice at right wingback, but on the left, Courtois has surprisingly been giving Ariel Lassiter, projected to be the fourth or fifth best option at striker, starting minutes in the left wingback position ahead of other options including former Fire player Raheem Edwards. After a less-than-stellar outing in their season opener, Lassiter has played well in his new position, looking stronger after each game.

Montréal’s center back depth has been tested early this season: Joaquin Sosa, brought in on the offseason from CF Montréal’s sister club Bologna in Serie A, had projected to be a starter on the back line but has been injured in the early going, as has George Campbell, another possible starter. With those two out, Joel Waterman and Gabrielle Corvo were joined by Fernando Álvarez on the back line ahead of Jonathan Sirois in net.

So far, it’s mostly worked, with CF Montréal having allowed only three goals in their first three games of the 2024 campaign, though the team has allowed opponents 40 shots (15 ont target) through the first three matches.

Players to Watch

Matías Cóccaro: Signed from Argentine side Huracán, the 26-year-old Uruguayan striker was brought in to provideo offensive firepower to a team that managed just 36 goals in 34 matches last year. The former Uruguay youth international has looked like a good signing for a TAM-level player, having provided a goal and an assist with seven shots (four on target) through Montréal’s first three matches. With Opoku sidelined with an injury and Josef Martínez looking more and more like a bench contributor who can provide limited minutes, Montréal’s success or failure on Saturday may well run through Cóccaro.

Mathieu Choinière: The 25 year-old native of Québec City became the first CF Montréal player to rise all the way through their academy ranks to become a first team contributor.  The midfielder has played every minute so far of Montréal’s 2024 campaign, notching an assist alongside five key passes. It’s early, but he’s looked like one of the best players on the squad so far this year – especially impressive as he remains on a highly cap-friendly homegrown deal. With many projecting him to be a below-replacement level MLS player, he looks primed to significantly exceed expectations this season.

Chicago Fire

Classic Misdirection

Last week, I suggested that Klopas was trying to misdirect Wilfred Nancy and his staff with what he said in press conferences, both after the game against Cincinnati and in the middle of the week. I was correct. Kind of. I’d said that the feint was in suggesting that the Klopas wouldn’t play a three man back line away against Columbus.  He did not, reverting to the familiar 4-2-3-1.

What he did do was play it coy when asked about Tobias Salquist, the Danish center back that the Fire acquired in the offseason. He essentially repeated what he’d said several times – that it takes some players time to adjust to this league, heavily hinting that it would be a while before we saw Salquist making a start.

Well, Salquist went the full 90 minutes last Saturday and looked pretty good doing it, tying Chase Gasper (who also looked strong in his first actual start for the Fire) with eight clearances in an overall strong defensive performance. His performance wasn’t perfect – seeming to have some minor communication issues with other Fire defenders – but overall, it’s a welcome site for the Fire, as fan speculation had been growing about whether or not Salquist would turn out to be a disappointment.

Oh Captain, Ex-Captain

Salquist’s emergence couldn’t come at a better time for the Fire because the other half of the Fire’s centerback pairing, former team captain Rafael Czichos, was once again the weakest link of the Starting XI. At home two weeks ago, a careless giveaway led directly to one of Cincinnati’s goals and last week, he could not convert a promising ball in the box. Well, fine: You pay your centerbacks for what they do at the opposite end of the pitch, not their goal-scoring prowess, but he once again was a net liability defensively.

Simply put, he isn’t playing to the same standard that we’ve come to expect over the past few seasons for one reason or another. Regardless of whether Czichos’s dip in form is short term or part of a permanent decline, he really no longer seems like a lock at starter, and if Carlos Terán is looking 90 minutes fit – or even something close to it – there’s a strong argument to be made that Czichos should be given a rest on Saturday.

Fabi on Fire

The other German on the Fire roster, on the other hand, is having a magnificent start to the 2024 season. Over the Fire’s first three matches, Fabian Herbers has been one of the Fire’s best players – both in individual moments and in consistency. From 2019, when he joined the Fire, he has been an off-the-bench option and, more recently, a utility player.

At the start of the 2024 campaign, though, his play has been significantly elevated: He scored his second goal of the season against Columbus, giving him three goal contributions three matches into the Fire’s season. Is it sustainable over the course of a full season? The numbers are stacked against Herbers, but so far, he’s clearly made a case for himself in the Starting XI – at the very least, he’s made it so that there can’t be a rational argument for taking him OUT of the Fire’s XI.

How Will The Fire Line Up Against Columbus?

Realistically, the Fire have spent the most time practicing a 4-2-3-1 formation and that is likely how they’ll line up, even against a third team in a row that plays three in the back.

Chris Brady will start in goal; Hugo Cuypers, still searching for his first goal for the Fire, will start at striker. Xherdan Shaqiri and Brian Gutiérrez will both start. The question is whether Maren Haile-Selassie or Chris Mueller will start alongside them (and, more significantly, how Gutiérrez and Shaqiri, both more creators than direct threats, will play in practice). Haile-Selassie has played well so far, and Mueller’s speed makes him an explosive option as a substitute, so the former will likely get the nod.

Behind them, Kellyn Acosta will start, and it’s hard to make a case that he shouldn’t be partnered with Herbers.

Chase Gasper played a very strong game against a good Columbus side, and although the team will doubtless be stronger when Andrew Gutman returns from injury, a few more matches like that and the Fire will likely be in a position of strength at left back that they haven’t seen in years. Allan Arigoni has played well on the right, and will get the nod again on the opposite side.

At center back, Salquist’s first outing clearly deserves a second, and… Czichos may well start, but really, if Terán is ready, the upside is greater, and the possible downside smaller, than giving Rafa another outing for the time being.

This is a lineup that should be able to beat Montréal at home. Will it be enough to deliver the Fire their first victory in red at Soldier Field since their 2-1 victory over the L.A. Galaxy on August 13, 2005? We will soon see.