Andrea Poli, A Possible fix at midfield

The Montreal Impact has had an abysmal start to the season, sputtering out of the gate with a subpar, 3-0-8 record. There is an abundance of holes in the Impact’s starting 11. They lack a bonafide striker, a midfielder to join forces with Saphir Taider and Samuel Piette and a stable center back that can anchor the defense. Unfortunately, the majority of Remi Garde’s new acquisitions underperformed in the early going. Given that the new additions underachieved thus far and the gaping holes throughout the Impact’s roster, It’s not entirely shocking that the Impact has stumbled from the get-go.

A strong candidate to aid the midfielder situation could be current Bologna midfielder, Andrea Poli. Joey Saputo maintains strong ties with the Serie A outfit as the Impact brought in numerous players from Bologna throughout the years. Matteo Mancosu, Deian Boldor, and Blerim Dzemaili have been brought into the fold the past couple of years from Bologna.

The former A.C. Milan midfielder would be a solid addition to this struggling team. Poli displays versatility as he can operate as an attacking or defensive midfielder. He has the ability to play on both sides of the ball with good technical and creative capabilities. The 28-year-old also has a tremendous work rate and stamina.

In the past, Andrea Poli has been linked to a move to the Impact. The fact that Blerim Dzemaili and Andrea Poli share the same agent (Giovanni Branchini) is also intriguing. It’s not out of the equation if Remi Garde can swoop up Poli on a loan deal in the near future. However, he recently signed a 4-year contract with the Serie A team on July 1st, 2017.

Andrea Poli won 5 appearances for the Italian national team. He scored his only international goal vs. European minnow, San Marino. He’s played in Italy’s various youth national teams from the U17 team to the U21 team. He’s bounced around in the Serie A and Serie B playing for Treviso, Sampdoria, Sassuolo, Inter Milan, AC Milan, and Bologna.

The main question is, should short-term patches be used more frequently than a long-term project. Garde has made a plethora of youth acquisitions in Michael Petrasso, Jeisson Vargas, and Raheem Edwards. He has also brought in seasoned veterans in Zakaria Diallo, Rudy Camacho, and Rod Fanni. Remi Garde has a blend of youth and veteran players in the starting 11. There’s no telling what we’d see next from Garde in terms of types of players being acquired. It’s dependent on where he sees fit.

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