Impact Look to Improve on Set Pieces in 2015

One area the Montreal Impact need to improve on in 2015 is scoring from set pieces. If the Impact want to challenge for the playoffs, hitting the mark from dead ball situations is a must. As Olivier Tremblay noted in 2014, the Impact became the first team in the MLS in the last five years not to score from a set piece.

With the new additions they are looking to reverse this trend and turn a weakness into a strength in 2015. The arrival of Bakary Soumare and Laurent Ciman, Montreal should pose a more athletic and technical threat from different set-pieces situations.

Specifically, Soumare is 6'4 and will help provide an aerial presence on set pieces, something that he has shown with the Chicago Fire and the Philadelphia Union. But outside the actual set-pieces strategy, the Bleu-Blanc-Noir seemed to lack the belief and aggressiveness needed to be dangerous in the opponents' box.

With a plethora of talented players, there should be no excuses to be able to deliver quality crosses when needed. Scoring zero goals in 2014 on set-pieces is alarming but it is difficult to find a precise number that would constitute a good number of goals scored off set pieces.

Montreal can also take advantage of Enzo Concina's input, a veteran central defender with a vast coaching experience in Serie A with Napoli and Inter Milan. Set piece failures were a big factor in the Impact's doom during the 2014 season. One might say, it was more indicative of a team that was pre-disposed to continue the slump of 2013.

So can the Impact improve from set pieces in 2015? ... they can't be any worse.

Nigel Reo-Coker sends in a free kick against Montreal in 2013