MONTREAL — For most teams, finishing the season with the league's third-best record, playing in the Eastern Conference semifinals, and breaking both club and Major League Soccer records along the way would be cause for celebration.
For CF Montreal, it means there is still work to be done, and head coach Wilfried Nancy is already looking to get ready for next season.
"There's always the next challenge. What we're doing with the players and the staff is something we've planned and building a connection with the group that will last," said Nancy. "This is something we've worked on a lot day to day and we're really proud to see the difference between this year in last year."
Nancy implemented a philosophical and tactical transformation after taking over the team in March of last year when Thierry Henry resigned. After missing out on the 2021 playoffs, the team's offence exploded this season. Montreal ranked fifth in goals scored and sixth in possession.
"Playing in this system really challenges you to do something different, I think we all took some steps in our offensive game this year," said Alistair Johnston, who arrived from Nashville SC in the offseason and won the team's defender of the year award. "Wilfried told me, 'We want you to get in behind' and it was a really good stepping stone for myself."
Not only did Johnston have a banner year offensively, but so did the entire defensive core. Seventeen of Montreal's 63 goals came from their back line, providing depth to scoring that had eluded them in previous years.
With all this success has come a lot of attention from other teams — especially overseas — who have identified many of the club's younger players as targets for the future. Ismaël Koné almost moved to second division English side Sheffield United earlier in the season, and while the move broke down before the transfer deadline, interest remains.
There is also the matter of midfielder Djordje Mihailovic who will be joining his new club AZ Alkmaar in Holland's Eredivisie in the coming weeks.
"The people and this city, you can tell how passionate they are. My first start in MLS (with Chicago Fire) when I was 17 or 18 was at Stade Saputo and I remember the supporters have this passion for their club," said an emotional Mihailovic. "I always wondered how it would be like to play for supporters like that and I felt that passion especially the last two months."
The American international will travel to AZ Alkmaar in the coming weeks and begin training to join the club on Jan. 7 when the European winter transfer window opens.
Mihailovic may not be the only member of the club leaving as rumours have been swirling around Nancy as well. In fact, there may be a very different CF Montreal that takes the field next February to kick off the 2023 season.
"It would be nice to run it back and try again with the same squad and the same staff, but it happens that teams find success and you have to take advantage of that," said captain Samuel Piette. "I'm a bit sad because people may leave and changing a winning formula isn't ideal obviously. There's going to be a lot of unknown factors, but that was the case last year and we'll still have a core of players staying."
Houston Dynamo and Columbus Crew are reportedly interested in Nancy's services, amid speculation his contract may not be renewed at the end of the season.
Sporting director Olivier Renard put those rumours to rest since the team's post-season appearance automatically triggered an option clause in the coach's contract.
"I hope that it's wrong because there will be problems," Renard said of the rumours. "No clubs can contact our coach and especially other MLS clubs."
Since Montreal isn't participating in the CONCACAF Champions League, the team is facing a five-month off-season. Nancy conceded that it's natural for speculation to run wild while waiting for news. His philosophy is to focus on one day at a time.
"A win for me is to do better than yesterday. Winning or losing a game, I don't care about that, and I don't think about that," said Nancy. "When I became a coach, I knew that I would have good moments and I knew that I would have bad moments and navigating those every day is how you win the day."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 25, 2022.
Elias Grigoriadis, The Canadian Press
