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12 seasons in the MLS, that’s the how long the pizza loving forward has been in this league. It is sometimes easy to forget the passage of some players. Oduro is known in the league for his speed but it is important not to forget his 63 goals and 32 assists in 336 games (his best season was with the Crew scoring 13 and 4 assists in 34 games). In the past few seasons he’s been on the decline which is normal with age but this season he was told by coach Garde that he was not in the plans.
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Given the lack of depth with Anthony Jackson-Hamel making his way back from injury and loaned out players Nick DePuy and Michael Salazar, Oduro may get a chance to prove Garde wrong; I would not want anything else but that for him. In the match up on Saturday, Oduro was making his way into the game prior to the second goal by the Montreal Impact; the moment shift made Garde change his decision. Hopefully for him, he can get minutes in the match up on Saturday since he is the only depth in the forwards for the time being.
On the business aspect of things, it is easy to understand why Garde made this decision at the beginning of the season but on a personal side it is hard because Oduro is a lovable respectable player. Oduro interacts with the fans and is always all smiles; he is the type of player that people fall in love with. Moreover, he has been in the league and team for a substantial amount of time and it is heartbreaking to see him in this situation.
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Going into rivalry week and the home opener for the Montreal Impact I don’t doubt that we will see Dominic Oduro active on social media as he always is. He has always been very vocal before a Toronto FC match up in getting the fans and media pumped up for the main event. Oduro was acquired by the Montreal Impact in 2015 via trade from Toronto FC and there is no better way to make the team that traded you away pay by scoring an important goal against them.
Dominic Oduro bleeds bleu-blanc-noir and I am hopeful he makes his space in the lineup or finds his role. If anything all we can wish for him is to find another landing spot in the MLS and support him in his future.