MLS weekend preview: TFC have to be cautious of last-place Montreal, Sanchez

First, it was Lionel Messi. Then, it was Robert Lewandowski.

Now, a 3rd main identify in worldwide soccer from the previous 20 years is about to grace BMO Field along with his presence this season when star ahead Alexis Sánchez and CF Montreal tackle Toronto FC on Saturday.

Montreal made main headlines when it signed Sánchez to a free agent contract in August. It was a daring transfer by a determined membership who at present sits in final place within the Eastern Conference (second final within the league) and is tied for the third worst attacking document in MLS (simply 34 targets in 27 video games).

Sánchez, Chile’s all-time prime scorer, arrived in Montreal with a really spectacular resume, having scored 198 targets throughout an 18-year spell with a variety of high-profile European golf equipment, together with Arsenal and FC Barcelona.

But he was coming off three quite nameless seasons in Europe through which he scored eight targets mixed for Inter Milan, Udinese and Valencia. At 37, Sánchez has additionally slowed down a bit, and he has but to make any form of substantive influence in MLS. The Chilean legend is and not using a purpose or an help in his eight appearances for Montreal and has been restricted to only one shot on track.

One cause behind Sánchez’s lack of manufacturing is as a result of he’s been deployed in a a lot deeper position as a No. 10 playmaker, quite than as an outright striker or winger. He additionally didn’t get pleasure from any form of coaching camp along with his new staff and was as an alternative thrown into the deep finish of the pool right away and needed to both sink or swim.

Sánchez and his teammates haven’t at all times been on the identical attacking wavelength as nicely, in accordance with Elias Grigoriadis, co-host of The Ball is Round Montreal podcast that covers the MLS staff.

“He sees the space, but it doesn’t mean everyone else does, right? He has the quality to make a play. But it doesn’t mean everyone else does. So, it’s almost like everyone is trying to catch up to him,” Grigoriadis opined.

Despite Sánchez’s early struggles in MLS, Toronto coach Robin Fraser insists he nonetheless poses a harmful menace.

Fraser was an assistant coach with the New York Red Bulls when growing old stars Thierry Henry and Juan Pablo Ángel had been on the membership, and he remembers how they nonetheless managed to have an effect on the pitch.

“I’m sure [Sánchez is] not the same player he was years ago, but in my experience with older players, the interesting thing when I watch them is that these players find ways to reinvent themselves because you lose a little bit of your athletic dynamic ability. And then all of a sudden, they become very good passers and really good readers of the game,” Fraser stated.

“Thierry became one of the best final passers I’d ever seen, and when you think of him, you think of him marauding down the left side, coming in scoring goals, right? And his last couple years [in New York], he was one of the best passers I think I’ve ever seen. And when I watch Sánchez, I see a lot of the same.”

One TFC participant who is aware of all about Sánchez is defender Benjamin Kuscevic, as the 2 have performed collectively for Chile’s nationwide staff for eight years.

Kuscevic will little doubt be conserving shut tabs on his countryman in Saturday’s 401 Derby match which is the second and closing assembly of the common season between the bitter Canadian rivals. They performed to a 0-0 draw at Stade Saputo in July.

“Obviously, he’s a very important player in the world. He’s one of the most important players for our national team,” Kuscevic stated.

Elsewhere in MLS this weekend:

• Two of the largest names in worldwide soccer of the previous 20 years go head-to-head on Saturday when the Vancouver Whitecaps go to Los Angeles FC. German icon Thomas Müller not too long ago inked a contract extension with Vancouver, having scored 9 targets and tallied eight assists this season. South Korean legend Son Heung-Min has six targets for LAFC in 2026 and is tied with Lionel Messi for a league-leading 13 assists.

• After enjoying his final sport for Argentina mid-week, Lionel Messi returns to motion for his MLS membership when Inter Miami hosts D.C. United on Saturday. Messi scored on a stunning free kick final weekend, however the Herons nonetheless got here out on the incorrect finish of a 2-1 highway loss to the Columbus Crew. With a league finest 21 targets and 13 assists, Messi seems to be destined to win an unprecedented third consecutive league MVP award.

• After a poor begin to the MLS season, St. Louis City has remarkably turned issues round due to a 17-match unbeaten run in MLS (19 throughout all competitions). A win or attract Sunday’s residence match vs. the LA Galaxy would enable St. Louis, who hasn’t misplaced since May 3, to tie the New York Red Bulls’ MLS document for the longest unbeaten streak throughout all competitions (20 video games in 2016).

• Nashville SC continues its march to wrapping up the Supporters’ Shield (common season champions) when it visits Austin FC on Saturday. Nashville sits in first place with a club-record 60 factors and is the one staff to have already clinched a playoff berth. With seven video games left within the season, it’s making an attempt to interrupt Inter Miami’s single-season MLS factors document of 74 set in 2024.

• Teenager Cavan Sullivan has been in superb kind for the Philadelphia Union, scoring seven targets and registering 9 assists in his final 10 video games. The 17-year-old additionally turned the youngest purpose scorer within the historical past of the U.S. males’s staff when he scored in his nation’s latest 3-0 win over Mexico. Sullivan will try and hold his sizzling streak getting into Saturday’s residence match vs. Real Salt Lake.

• FC Dallas sits second within the Western Conference, stage with St. Louis and simply three factors again of entrance runners Vancouver. Dallas can probably transfer right into a tie for prime spot within the West with a highway win over Charlotte FC on Saturday. Dallas is unbeaten in six video games with only one loss in its final 10 outings to drag inside attain of Vancouver, whose uneven kind over the summer season has opened up the race for tops within the West.