A preseason loss to Nashville SC Wednesday in Florida was the third consecutive match the Montreal Impact failed to score a goal and third 1-0 scoreline in a row.
But Bojan Krkic said now is not the time to panic.
“We hope that we don’t score now and [then] score when we need to score, especially next week when we start the official games,” he said, referring to the Impact’s opening match of the 2020 Concacaf Champions League at Deportivo Saprissa (Feb. 19, 8 pm ET | FS2, TUDNxtra 1 in US; RDS, TSN in Canada)
New manager Thierry Henry, too, is focusing on the positives of a group trying to grasp a new way to play.
“Whenever we tried to play, we possess the ball in their camp, we created some awesome chances,” Henry said.
Bojan said he’s seen a progression during preseason of that understanding of Henry’s tactics.
“If you see the games we played, we create chances,” he said.
Defensively, Henry said the Impact “were a bit passive” on the goal Nashville scored when Dominique Badji headed in off a corner kick for the late winner.
“You have to give them credit for that,” he added. “it was a great jump and a great header.”
Henry said, with an eye toward the CCL opener Wednesday, he pushed his players as much as possible when it came to minutes in the closed-door scrimmage. He said, for a second straight game, he liked the energy players brought off the substitute’s bench.
“The guys that come on every time bring something. You saw last 10-15 minutes we had the ball … the same against Orlando, it was a bit better,” Henry said. “But we will have to start like that and be a bit better.”
There is one preseason game remaining — Saturday night against the Tampa Bay Rowdies at Al Lang Stadium. Then, the Impact will leave for Costa Rica for a tricky first leg encounter with Saprissa at the stadium known as the “The Monster’s Cave.”
“When we play at Saprissa, there won’t be any excuses because they’re 10 games [into the season], because it will be sunny or whatever,” Henry said. “At the end of the day, it’s game we need to go out there and perform, be a bit clever on what we need to do.”
Bojan expects the raucous atmosphere at the 23,000-seat stadium will bolster his team.
“I think are working for that game," Bojan said. “We know that it’s going to be a good game, especially there with the fans, with the crowd. But I think for us it's better to play in that kind of stadium than today for example, nobody was here. It’s like no emotion. For sure, we’re going to be there, we’re going to be fighting, we’re going to do our best to get the better result for us.”
