Ignacio Piatti hasn't done much in MLS this year. That's a bit surprising since he was a darkhorse MVP pick heading into the season after impressing in the last few months of 2014 for the Montreal Impact.
Piatti has, however, been very good in CONCACAF Champions League play for Montreal thus far, and let's go ahead and state the obvious: It's clear that Frank Klopas & Co. have, justifiably, put more weight on that competition than early-season MLS results. We'll get to see, tonight in the second leg of the semifinal at Alajuelense (10 pm ET; FoxSports 2, UniMas in US | Sportsnet 360, TVA Sports in Canada), if that balance of priorities pays off with a trip to the final.
Piatti and Montreal have struggled in league play for the simple reason that they've not been allowed to play their preferred style, which is best described as "all-out counterattack." It's been a trademark of Klopas' teams, first in Chicago and now in Quebec, and this chart from late last season is fairly illustrative of that point:
Two of the guys involved in that play (Felipe and Marco Di Vaio) are gone, but that's stil the Impact's preferred style, and it's where their best player remains at his best.
He should get his chances in Costa Rica to pull off some similar magic. Since Montreal are protecting a 2-0 aggregate lead, they'll be content to pack it in and hit on the counter, where they're both more comfortable defensively and more dangerous offensively.
Piatti's ability to connect passes on the run is what allows for that and why, even if he doesn't make good on his MVP potential in 2015, he'll still be one of the league's most important players.
More Reading:
- Impact coaches drop in on Alajuelense for peek at Ticos' "mentality, attitude" (4/7)
- Impact calm, focused in Costa Rica with 90 solid minutes needed to reach final (4/7)
- Impact return to full health ahead of second leg (4/6)
- Is a 2-0 lead safe? What CCL history tells us (4/3)
- Salvadoran Joel Aguilar named referee for second leg (4/1)
- Montreal take positives from first leg, know there's work to do (3/18)
