CF Montreal will be under new leadership against the visiting New York Red Bulls on Saturday afternoon.
Montreal (1-6-0, 3 points) parted ways with head coach Marco Donadel after dropping its home opener 2-1 to the Philadelphia Union last weekend. After just over a year in charge, Donadel boasted the worst win percentage of any of the 11 managers in the club’s history.
Philippe Eullaffroy, who directed Montreal’s academy from 2014-20 and rejoined the team this year as an assistant coach, will take the helm as caretaker manager.
“I’m not gonna reinvent the wheel,” Eullaffroy said when asked about his tactical philosophy at his first press conference. “What I want is a very dynamic team playing with a lot of boldness and respect of the game plan.”
He has the unenviable task of rescuing the team from the bottom of the MLS table. Montreal hopes to earn its first home win in considerably speedier fashion than last season, when it was winless at Stade Saputo until June.
The only team Montreal has bested this year in league play are these same New York Red Bulls (3-2-2, 11 points), winning 3-0 on March 8.
That defeat dealt a blow to New York’s early season momentum. After winning their first two matches, the Red Bulls have since won just one of four in MLS play.
Their most recent outing was a 3-1 win Wednesday over Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Round of 32. Head coach Michael Bradley singled out the efforts of academy product Julian Hall, who scored his second brace of the season.
“It’s not just the goals,” noted Bradley, who secured his first win in the competition. “(It was) his ability to lead our press, to set the tone for everybody in terms of how aggressive we can be to step up and go after the other team.”
The 18-year-old has seven goal contributions (five goals, two assists) through seven MLS matches.
Montreal might be without defender Brayan Vera, who did not train on Tuesday, and former Red Bulls midfielder Wiki Carmona, who scored a brace against his old team in their March meeting. Midfielder Hennadii Synchuk has also picked up an apparent injury.
–Field Level Media
