Got Questions? I've got Answers by Regge : Chess Master 2013

Location, Location, Location they said. Stade Saputo is a premium piece of land for many reasons but a dozen of them come from Marco Di Vaio's boot: Goals. From Supporters' Shield contenders to MLS playoffs hopefuls, les Bleus are desperate for a win against the New England Revolution.

Top-2 finish for Montreal in the East?

Yet again, we are talking about the MLS standings. With 2 games left for most teams and 4 for the Montreal Impact, a second spot finish is still reachable. Montreal is 6 points behind the most consistent team in the Eastern Conference: Sporting Kansas City.

With 2 games in hand, Montreal could end up tied with KC, especially after the 0-0 between the Houston Dynamo and Sporting. Kansas City has 2 games left , including games against the Philadelphia and dead-last D.C. United.

Houston has 2 games to play against the Eastern conference leaders, New York Red Bulls, and D.C. United.

Montreal's 4 games include a home game tommorow against New England, away at LA away, Philadelphia at home and finally against Canadian rival Toronto.

As cliché as it might sound, every game will be a final. Luckily, the Galaxy will be without its big stars with injuries and international call-ups. Out of the playoffs picture since forever, Toronto should play for pride and have been playing much better lately.

Conclusion:
I predicted a 3^rd position for the Impact as there is no chance that Sporting KC or the Red Bulls will drop points with 2 games left in their MLS season.

What should be the strategy for the last 4 games?

Unfortunately, the Impact have lost soldiers to injuries at the worst moment possible. Too many starters have picked up knocks, players that have never really known much rest.

• Marco Di Vaio is hampered by an ankle injury but should play this weekend
• Hassoun Camara is suspended
• Jeb Brovsky is out for 3 weeks with a broken toe
• Patrice Bernier sat the game against the Houston Dynamo due to a hip injury
• Alessandro Nesta missed 2 games in a row but seems going towards a full recovery this week
• Hernan Bernardello is back practicing with the first team and will give a boost to the midfield against New England.

If you are still wondering on what should be the strategy for the last 4 games of the season? Should they play the players who have minor injuries, in order to finish in the highest rank possible or just rest them for the playoffs?

Obviously, Di Vaio wants to play Saturday but should we play him and risk to lose him for a longer amount of time? The Impact can't afford to lose "Marco" for a longer period. As Andrew Wenger did pretty well in Houston ,when he came on for Di Vaio, he might be a good option to turn to.

He created a scoring chance for Davy Arnaud and almost scored on a 1-on-1 against Tally Hall. With more minutes, results can go his way this time.

As the Argentinean DP, Hernan Bernardello, will be available for Marco Schallibaum, it gives more tactical options to the Swiss coach. With his smart positionning and strong passing skills, Bernardello will be very important for his team knowing that Bernier might be out with a hip injury.

According to what we saw at the training during the week, we will have a very different defence. With Camara out (suspension) and Brovsky injured, Davy Arnaud might play as a right back, proving his versatility to the team. The young Maxime Tissot should start the game as the left back. Montreal would end up with Matteo Ferrari as the only regular at the back.

Conclusion: Montreal and coach Schallibaum should and will use all the players at his disposal for the next games and keep his experienced players for the MLS playoffs. At least he will, if les Bleus beat the young Revolution team this Saturday, at Stade Saputo.