What happens when you bring a Swiss FIFA Coaching Instructor to an MLS club, throw some former Italian Serie A players into the mix and stick them in Canada? This was what the 2013 Montreal Impact were about to discover!
A season that was overflowing with such promise and potential ended in utter shambles for the now ex-Montreal Impact coach Marco Schällibaum. The appointment was met with high praise from almost all corners of the MLS, despite the man having no experience whatsoever in North American soccer. His credentials were extremely respectable on paper, having worked as a FIFA Coaching Instructor in Asia for the past several years following a long and successful tenure coaching in the Swiss leagues. Possessing the ability to communicate in four languages alone was deemed as vital for a diverse Impact squad and, combined with his experience, seemed solid enough reasoning for his appointment. Yet the season would end disappointingly in a brawl at the conclusion of a first round playoff exit for the Impact, and weeks later with the sacking of Schällibaum and the hiring of Frank Klopas. So what went wrong for the 2013 Impact, and is Schällibaum responsible for their fall from grace?
It began well, very well – the Impact had the opportunity to become the first Canadian club in MLS history to, dare I say, be mentioned in title talks in a league dominated by southern rivals. They had claimed a position in the upper echelons of North American football for the first four months of the season and had sounded their arrival to what appeared to be a legitimately successful season.
Unfortunately, the June 29th 4-3 loss to the Colorado Rapids can be deemed as the start of their downward spiral, soon to be followed by draws in the next two fixtures against perennial bottom feeders Toronto FC and the Goats of Chivas USA. These matches of course pale in comparison to the 4-0 demolition at the horns of the New York Redbulls which was to come in the next match, a club who were considered the Impact’s major rival in the Eastern Conference at the time.
Finishing 5th place in the Eastern Conference might be deemed as a success to such clubs as the aforementioned Toronto FC or Chivas USA but this is the Impact after all, a club who at one point were in the pole position. In fact, the second half of the season was so disappointing that the Impact were only capable of securing five wins out of their final 20 fixtures in league play.
Asides from a thrashing of their own against the Houston Dynamo and a convincing victory away at the New England Revolution which appeared to signal the end of their slump, the Impact went on to complete the season with just four goals in their final eight matches. Who was to blame for this inexcusable slide from title contender to playoff hopeful? Was it Marco Schällibaum? Was it that his lack of discipline and resulting suspensions, persistent throughout the course of the season, were harming his club?
The truth is, Schällibaum’s much-publicized absences due to suspension had very little to do with his club’s struggles. Despite being suspended on four occasions for a total of five games, only one match in which he was absent from resulted in a loss. Their largest victory of the season, the 5-0 win over the Dynamo was one such match. In the aftermath of one of his many suspensions, this one his June 1st ejection against Sporting Kansas City, he declared he needed “to control [his] emotions.” Marco Schällibaum, you utter nothing but the glaring truth – except that your presence was irrelevant to the success of the Impact. If anything, they were more likely to lose with Schällibaum at the helm. Oh, and by the way, that game he was discussing getting ejected from? It resulted in a 2-1 victory for the Impact.
The most convincing rationale for the disastrous second half of the campaign has nothing to do with Schällibaum – merely exhaustion of the players themselves, both mentally and physically. With the key players of the squad averaging in their mid-30’s and with the addition of the CONCACAF Champions League for the first time in the history of the club, it could very well be that the Impact just burnt out.
For example, is it a pro or a con that one of the players tied for most appearances in all competitions is 37-year-old Marco Di Vaio? It’s not like the other options up front were comparable to the former Italian international, but either it says an awful lot about his fitness levels or a lack of opportunities to rest him (He did muster 54% of his team’s total goals over the course of the year too might I add, good for just over a goal every two matches and living up to his Designated Player hype).
The Montreal Impact simply looked flat as the season progressed; there is no other way of putting it. They were less aggressive, less exciting, less clinical and altogether quite disappointing – the 1-0 defeat at the hands of Toronto FC on the final match day being a fantastic example of their inability to play their own brand of football. Whether this was Schällibaum’s fault or exhaustion’s, we do not know. There is truly no straight answer in regards to the 2013 Impact’s dismal anti-climactic end to the season. Too many people were left scratching their heads. Regardless of the final result in Houston on October 31st, Schällibaum deserved to be sacked for his continuous unsportsmanlike conduct, an embarrassment to his club and league. His rage was on display often in 2013 and judging by his team’s frequent erring displays, I don’t completely blame him.
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