One More Time(Quarterfinal)

So, a lot of people are drawing parallels to the Gulls championship season of 2009. A bad start, followed by the team beginning to work well together as well as a striker finding his form and scoring at nearly a goal a game.

Well, it’s certainly something no one would criticize people for saying around these parts because frankly it’s all true. Gone is the shakiness that characterized our early games and lacklustre offense. That’s been replaced by (mostly) calm actions on the field and yet another striker in blue hitting the net nearly every time. Gerba has 13 goals in 15 games, almost bringing him to a goal a game on average. If you count just what has happened since his coming out party in Baltimore, he has started scoring at what nears out to a goal every hour on the field.

The timing for both the good run of play of Ali (Zherba) Gerba as well as the team as a whole can certainly not be beat. It seems that gone are the days where Montreal would start hot and fizzle out. I, and I would hope many others, prefer this style of season to one that Montreal was known for merely a few years ago. Gone are the days of total defense interspersed with the odd goal or two. I haven’t watched a game afraid of no goals being scored by the Gulls.

If you have any knowledge of IMFC, you know just how strange and alien a feeling that is for us here in Montreal.

But don’t mistake my praise of our offense as taking something away from those who toil away in the back and middle of the field, making sure our goal is protected. Our defence is as solid as it’s ever been historically, the big change in Montreal was just finally having a working offense to go along with our indomitable defence.

This past quarter-final series versus the top-ranked Austin Aztex(from Texas…get it?) was what I like to see as a tale of two teams. The first leg which took place Wednesday at Saputo Stadium was a game in which the Gulls demonstrated their newfound offense built on the back of Ali (Zherba) Gerba, where he scored yet another effortless brace against yet another helpless team. In an interview that took place weeks before the game Marc Dos Santos had gone on record saying how Ali (Zherba) Gerba was not playing as good as he could be. Notably the Maestro said Ali had to work on his aerial game.

It looks like he did. An effortless header early on in the game set the tone of the match, which ended with yet another 2-0 win over the poor saps from Austin.

In the second leg of the quarter-final, there was certainly some action. There was a total 5 goals in the match that I will surprisingly label as Jordan’s game. Now at first blush you might think I’m even crazier than usual. That might be, but to anyone who had the pleasure of watching the game was treated to by an amazing individual performance by our beloved Phantom of the Pitch(NEVER FORGET) punctuated by a confident and effortless save on an iffy penalty call early in the game. This stellar play by Jordan was backed up by yet another(shocking, really) set piece goal scored by (surprise) Ali once more. Yet another header and display of passion from Gerba. In his own words, Marc Dos Santos has made the game enjoyable for him once more, something that he had apparently lost. A goal and flamboyant celebration by Eduardo “Old Man River” Sebrango was the final nail in the coffin for Austin, extending the Gulls’ aggregate lead to 5-2.

All this sets up another, sure-to-be-spirited matchup between our Gulls and Carolina’s Caramilks, which begins this Thursday night at Stade Saputo.

Now onto more interesting things. Those of you attentive enough to watch the video of King Ali’s goal may have noticed that in front of CXIV, there was not banner at all. And those of you who were too lazy to click one of my many(2) hyperlinks, can go back and click the first one.

See? Nothing there.

That’s because not even 5 minutes into the game, BEST security once again came into the section to take it down, by any means necessary.

Surely they were in the right though? Surely they had a justifiable reason and surely the banner was so obscene it should be taken down.

Well, take a look for yourself, courtesy of BallonRondMTL:

Ghastly, isn’t it?

The justification for a planned charge of the section by BEST security, overseen by our friends from the SPVM, for the removal of the banner in question was that “it’s hiding the ads”. Golly, BEST security, I’m sure Metro Grocery is glad you came into section and pushed people with handicaps and ejected members. That’s really positive publicity for them. The reason for the forcible removal of the banner? They asked and no one complied. Well, BEST, it’s kind of hard to hear a guy field level asking politely to take it down, over the din of 300 people screaming.

Those astute viewers out there might have realised that all ads in front of section 114 are legible, and that one of the two affected companies have their ads plastered all across the section.

But it’s not like it’s named after Metro or anything. Oh wait, it totally is:

If only there was some sort of small indication of the sponsor...

Apparently BEST workers were under orders to uncover the ads “or else” but that hardly seems like a warrant to do whatever is necessary to whoever. Another highlight of the whole 15 minute scuffle was when one police officer was asked what she was doing in the middle of the section while shit was hitting the fan.

Her response? “I don’t know.”

I’m sure glad it was a well thought out and precisely executed idea.

Also, credit to the club for channelling MC Skat Cat and taking two steps back(sweet reference, right?) by moving the ads from a fence in front of 114, back to attaching them directly to 114 and the whole stand itself:

2009

 

2010-Le12e Joueur.ca

 

See you Thursday.

 

Mountreal Roundup #4

So, a bit has gone on since the last match, where the Gulls quite rightly(but somehow surprisingly) beat AC St Louis 3-0. A goal from Reda in under 20minutes, and a goal from the now returned and much loved Antonio Ribeiro mere minutes after being subbed into the match were the highlights of the night.  This late goal by Ribeiro sent quite a clear message: that he is always someone who gives it his all, and he played like a man determined to show everyone that he never should have left in the first place(We’re looking at you, DeSantis!). And as his performance shows, you cannot stop a determined soul. You could see his joy after the match as he ran up to the kop, in front of  a 3-foot high banner of his likeness to celebrate his triumphant return. Welcome back, Antonio.

It was also quite a treat to have a strong contingent of supporters come over from the fledgling ESG, to take back some ideas to support their team on the prairies, FC Edmonton. Nice guys, with quite a bit of potential. I can see good things coming from Edmonton in the future, if everything is allowed to grow.

The feather in the cap for me that night was while waiting for the ESG on Crescent Street, running into parents of AC St Louis keeper Alec Dufty. They were so genuinely nice and appreciative of the atmosphere at the game, I couldn’t even manage to smack talk these kindly oldish people. Shocking behaviour for me, I know.

To bolster our hot-and-cold offense, the Gulls signed Marco Terminesi to a contract today.  A young(ish) Canadian with an unfortunate past, Marco last scored 6 goals and got 4 assists in 700 minutes with the Thunder. Hopefully he is match fit and able to make a difference right away.

Seeing as Nick is a fan of Latino Gang movies, he lives his life according to the phrase “Blood in, Blood out”(google it) Tyler Hemming, as of today, is outta here! The much maligned, often unused midfielder was the victim of a strong midfield that he could not crack. Here’s hoping he does well in Austin(with, shudder, Sakuda.)

And all this is in anticipation of one of the bigger matches we’ll play all season, a rivalry/night game, against a team we desperately need the 6point turnaround on this season versus the Whitecaps, which takes place tomorrow night. We can expect to see Jordan in the lineup(he didn’t lie to me when I asked when he’d be back. Huzzah!), as well as a possible appearance from Terminesi, as he’s been cleared to play for us. With Jordan back in nets, I feel like we should thank Srdjan Djekanovic for all his good play this season while Our LORD and Saviour, Jordan, was on the bench. You’re a good kid, Srdj, thanks a bunch.

See you all there!

Life in Marvelous Times

As of last night, it seems like it might finally be good to be an Impact supporter: A win over their budding Caramilk rivals with a late goal by Byers, followed by an intense celebration courtesy of Kop CXIV:

Coming on the heels of this electrifying Wednesday night were a few big media announcements.

PR Mayard is officially back from Charleston. Fresh off his impressive stint in Charleston where as far as I know, he formed the core of a competent Charleston Battery, where they eventually lost in the USOC to everyone’s favourite Crew, Columbus.

The Impact will be selling 1 dollar hotdogs!!! Too bad they don’t have them scheduled for a Rochester game, maybe the lure of cheap pigbutts in intestinal tubes could have enticed the Rochester Stamped up one last time, where they would once again lose in a hotdog eating contest.

Based on my pregame interaction with him last night, it seems pretty likely that Matt Jordan will be back to starting in nets “next week”.

There was also a guest appearance of Antonio Ribeiro on local Radio, but I missed it and have no idea what was said, so…yeah.

And the big one, the moment we’ve all been waiting for…the return of King Ali! He’s back, confirming both the widely held suspicions that he would come back, as well as the slip from trialist Jawad el-Hajri  back on Canada day that “Montreal already found their attackers”. If the King can get over his training/effort problem, expect big things from him and the Impact attack, with young up and comers in Reda and Mayard, learning from the veterans Sebrango and Gerba, hopefully alongside a newly-lit Byers.

We are alive in amazing times…with dollar hotdogs.

Checklist for failure:

1. Sunday afternoon game-Check
2. Rainy weather( and some would say “cold”)-Check
3. Jordan injured-Check
4. Playing against Miami-Check

I guess you can figure out how the game went.
The usual  toothless attack put about as much pressure on Miami as a light breeze, without all the intensity. Set pieces were as new traditions dictate, absolutely terrible, with zero pressure or genuine offensive chances coming about as the result of any type of set piece, excluding the penalty awarded to the Impact. I’ve never seen such a by-the-book day since we’ve started nesting in Stade Saputo. Most walked up to the game expecting the usual, and it was all there, even down to Miami FC’s time-wasting and unsportsmanlike finish. The same crap, different day.

A few things ran against the grain of this ho-hum Sunday afternoon game. The UM02 had the pleasure of being joined by none other than former Gull and current MNT player, Patrice Bernier.

Patrice in Kop CXIV

Hopefully we’ll see him just in front of 114 come MLS 2012.

So, the game may have been shit, the weather may have been shit, the crowd may have been shit, and even though it was shit overall, we were still there to see our Gulls, and we will be there again the 20th against Rochester(and at Frappé this Wednesday to watch the Minnesota away game!).