According to TSN on Monday, Montreal CF has named Laurent Courtois of Lyon, France as their new head coach. He becomes the 10th head coach for Montreal since they joined Major League Soccer in 2012. Courtois replaces Hernan Losada, who was fired on November 9.
Courtois wants to bring an aggressive and dynamic style of play to the Montreal franchise according to the Canadian Press. Last season goal scoring was a serious problem. Montreal CF only scored 36 goals. That was the fourth fewest goals scored in the entire league. The only three teams that scored fewer goals were the New York City FC (35 goals), Colorado Rapids (26 goals). and Toronto FC (26 goals).
Montreal CF barely missed the playoffs. With 41 points, they were only two points back of the New York City Red Bulls and Charlotte FC for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. There was only one Canadian team to make the playoffs this past season. That was the Vancouver Whitecaps, who finished in sixth place in the Western Conference with a record of 12 wins, 10 losses, and 12 ties for 48 points. Vancouver then lost two games to none in the best of three round one series against Los Angeles FC. They lost game one by a score of 5-2, and then game two by a score of 1-0.
