Montreal Impact 2015 team analysis: Defenders

Two weeks ago, my opinion of the defence was pretty the same of last year. Bad ! They needed to make some changes. Yes, Bakary Soumare was there and it is a very good acquisition for the Montreal Impact. Understand me here, I like Soumare as a defender but he can be very dangerous at time.

He reminds me a lot of Hassoun Camara. Let’s also keep in mind that there is a reason that the Chicago Fire did not keep him. So yes, it is a good move but he will replace Matteo Ferrari in my opinion. That being said there are a lot of questions to be answered.

First, Montreal acquired via loan the young Argentinean from River Plate: Victor Cabrera. I have to be honest with you here with the fact that I don’t know much about the young gun. But playing for River Plate is never something bad. I only hope the Impact learn from their lessons here and watched him play and did not just listen to agents. Nothing to be very excited about as we speak right now! Maybe it will be a great move but we have to wait.

Then last week,  things got pretty serious and interesting for the Impact. They managed to sign Belgium international  Laurent Ciman to a three year contract! That’s a great move by Frank Klopas and his team. Ciman is exactly the type of player the Impact needed and he is going to fill a big hole in the Montreal back line.

He is a very high calibre player and if the fans wanted Aurelien Collin to be a CB for the Impact, they got in fact a better piece with Ciman. He has proven over the past that he is a very good defender with leadership and brings passion to the game. The fans will absolutely love him! If you want to know more about him it’s right here: Getting To Know Laurent Ciman

One player does not make a team but when you add someone like Ciman, and he is not even a DP, you can say mission accomplished. He will be the general of the defence and every player will be better with him in the lineup.

The only interrogation left was at he left back position and the Impact management was able to fill that hole when they traded Felipe Martins to the New York Rde Bulls. In return, Montreal  got a young defender named Ambroise Oyongo.

The rumours were persistent for about a week and finally both team agreed to make the swap. This is a very interesting move when you think about it. For one of the first time since its arrival in MLS, the Impact will have a natural left back and not a converted right back or even a central defender. This is a big improvement over the last few years !

My defence would look as so: Ambroise Oyongo at LB, Bakary Soumare and Laurent Ciman at CB and Hassoun Camara at RB. It just seems that Montreal will have a french speaking defence. Withh Ciman and Soumare solid in the CB position, flanked by Oyongo and Camara, the back four will be playing at a completely different level than last year.

Let’s also not forget the bench players who are pretty good. I have no problem at all with giving minutes to Karl Ouimette or Wandrille Lefevre. Both have not yet to reach their full potential so playing with experienced defenders (like Ciman, Soumare and Camara) will help them. Both have demonstrated last year that they can play at the MLS level. Maybe not a daily basis like they did last year but they can be effective when needed.

As for Donny Toia, He will have to prove his worth. As per  Maxim Tissot, he is more of  a midfielder than a defender, especially when you look back at his flashes of brilliance as a winger in 2014.

I’ll give a A- at the Montreal defence right now. The Bleu-Blanc-Noir did a really good job by analyzing the situation and almost got the job done.

There is always room for improvement.