MONTREAL – The Montreal Impact may carry on playing a version of a 4-1-4-1 formation this Saturday, as Ignacio Piatti has been ruled out for the crucial matchup at Orlando City SC, this Saturday at the Citrus Bowl (7:30 pm ET, MLS LIVE), where Montreal could clinch a berth in the Audi 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs if New York City FC fail to win on Friday. The status of Didier Drogba, meanwhile, remains a question mark.
Piatti is still back home in Argentina, where his father fell ill a week ago. He will miss a third straight game, but he could soon return.
“He will not re-join the team in Orlando,” interim head coach Mauro Biello told reporters on Thursday. “We hope that he’ll be back in Montreal in a few days and that, perhaps, he’ll be available for the game in New York [next Wednesday].”
Drogba, for his part, will be in Orlando. But the Citrus Bowl’s turf field may pose a problem for Drogba, who doesn’t want to pick up another lower body knock – a toe injury delayed his Montreal debut back in August.
The Impact trained on one of their training center’s turf fields on Thursday. Drogba was the first to get back into the indoor facilities.
“With Didier, he trained today [Thursday],” Biello said. “I’ll talk to him, see how he feels, but in the end, we’ll make a decision after training tomorrow [Friday], in Orlando.”
Should Drogba be excluded from the starting lineup, Dominic Oduro seems to be the likely option up top. Orlando could be eliminated from the playoff picture with a loss combined with a Toronto FC win or tie this Saturday against the Philadelphia Union. The onus is on the Lions to push forward in a bid to save their season, which could leave plenty of space for Oduro to blast into.
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Piatti’s absence, meanwhile, could encourage Biello to return with 4-1-4-1 on Saturday. Biello has inverted his midfield triangle twice, in a 1-1 draw at San Jose and in Montreal’s 2-0 win over D.C. United last Saturday.
“The different systems, with or without Nacho specifically, have been very important for us,” goalkeeper Evan Bush said. “Nacho is a guy that can play that 10 position by himself, and do it very effectively. Without him, we need to be a little bit more creative, so we’ve kind of switched it up a little bit without him, and we found success against San Jose and again in the last game. We’ll see what we’ll do this weekend. We haven’t really locked down exactly what we’re going to do yet, but we’ll be going into the game and be prepared.”
