Behind Enemy Lines: Three Questions with Mount Royal Soccer

1) What kind of adjustments do you expect to see following the Sporting KC, Montreal game a couple of weeks ago?

Luckily for the Impact, Frank Klopas has been doing adjustments all season long. Now that you think about it, this might not be a good thing but the new Impact head coach has fielded different types of starters. Before and after the 4-0 loss to Sporting KC, a few players were able to get inserted into the lineup.

The back-line was rejuvenated with Karl W. Ouimette starting alongside Matteo Ferrari, Jeb Brovsky coming as the starting left-back and Hassoun Camara switching between the bench and the right-back position. Though, as it started last week, the Impact's practices have been closed except for the last 15 minutes for media availability. So it's pretty hard to know what tendencies to expect.

Tactically, the coach has the big decision to play Marco Di Vaio and Jack McInerney at the same time ,something I expect. But as a unit, the Impact just needs to play simple soccer which has lately translated to a counter-attacking style of play.

2) After a slow start to the season, what does Frank Klopas need to do with the team to turn them around?

He needs more time and more players. He needs Marco Di Vaio to be 100% healthy and efficient in front of the goal. Did I say that he needs more time and more players?

The ``character`` that brought so much to the club last year needs to find its way out of the shoe box it is in. This team gets demoralized so quickly that it's starting to be predictable and easy to beat. The good news is that injured players like Rivas, Lopez and Bernardello are close to making it back to the squad,a boost as big as influx of brand new players.

Klopas is not alone in this endeavor. Sporting Director, Nick De Santis failed to strengthen the club during the off-season and has said to be active to get a DP-type offensive midfielder to help the team. (Ignacio Piatti of San Lorenzo)

3) What's going to be the biggest strength for the Impact against Sporting KC? The biggest weakness?

Biggest Strength : The Counter-Attack

The team has the capacity to quickly find space between its adversaries' lines and pounce on small chances. With the speedy trio of Di Vaio-McInerney - Felipe, Klopas has the players that can find themselves behind enemy lines in a flash.

The Impact's passing quality adds an extra threat to deliver passes to hungry strikers.

Biggest Weakness: The Counter-Attack

The only thing with a team trying to "counter-attack its way through a game is that it needs to be extremely efficient as per scoring goals. As soon as the Impact is a tad inefficient, you can see the game shift the other way very quickly.

Actually both scenarios describe what happened against Sporting KC last time. The Impact had a few chances to take the lead early in the game. It eventually crumbled under the pressure of a better team in all aspects of the game. You might survive against D.C. United circa 2013 but not against the rest of the league.