Biello making all the right moves
As a Montrealer, Mauro Biello is the kind of guy you want to see succeed.
The 44-year-old grew up in the city playing soccer on some patchy fields in N.D.G. while becoming a diehard Expos baseball fan, partly because there was no soccer team in Montreal to cheer for at the time.
He played soccer at Vanier College and Concordia University before embarking on a 19-year pro career that included 16 seasons with the Impact, who retired his No. 20 six years ago after he hung up his cleats as the club’s all-time points leader.
Now, for the second straight year Biello has led the Impact into the MLS Eastern Conference semifinals following Thursday’s 4-2 knockout-round victory over D.C. United in Washington. The Impact will play Game 1 of the two-game, aggregate-goals semifinal against the New York Red Bulls Sunday at Saputo Stadium (3 p.m., RDS, TSN Radio 690). Game 2 will be the following Sunday in New York.
The journey hasn’t been an easy one for Biello. The coach has had to make some very difficult decisions over the past couple of weeks, including leaving Didier Drogba out of the starting 11 for the final regular-season home game against Toronto FC. The designated player was so upset that he refused to suit up for the game and hasn’t practised with the team since, saying he has a sore back.
Last Sunday, Biello decided to rest eight of his regulars in the starting lineup for the final regular-season game in New England, which the Impact lost 3-0. The coach figured that with only three or four days before the first playoff game, he wanted his starting 11 rested and the loss in New England meant the Impact had to go on the road to face D.C. United instead of playing at Saputo Stadium.
But Biello is on a roll these days, including his decision to make Matteo Mancosu his No. 1 striker instead of Drogba. Mancosu scored twice against D.C. United and added an assist by unselfishly passing to Ignacio Piatti when he could have easily had a third goal himself.
“It’s my job and everybody has their opinion,” Biello said after Friday afternoon’s practice at Centre Nutrilait. “But in the end, I make decisions on what I think is best for the team. Everything is analyzed to that extent and in the end I got to move forward.
“Now we have that home game and now I want the fans to come out and support us because everybody wanted that game. We did it, we got it. Let’s go, let’s get behind this team and let’s push us to go even further.”
It won’t be easy against the Red Bulls, who are unbeaten in their last 16 MLS games (9-0-7). The Red Bulls had the league’s leading goal-scorer and top assist man during the regular season, with forward Bradley Wright-Phillips scoring 24 goals and midfielder Sacha Kljestan adding 20 assists. The Red Bulls won two of three games against the Impact during the regular season.
“New York is a good team,” Impact defender Hassoun Camara said. “They showed it during the season. But now it’s a different championship. I think that if we play with the level that we played (Thursday) I don’t know if a lot of teams can resist.”
Biello is planning to field the same starting 11 on only two days of rest, saying he might need to go to his bench earlier than usual. Drogba went for a jog after Friday’s practice and Biello said the striker won’t be considered for the 18-man roster unless he actually practices with the team.
Kudos to Impact president Joey Saputo and the rest of the management staff for backing Biello in a David vs. Goliath feud with Drogba. The N.D.G. boy vs. an international soccer superstar. But Biello is simply doing what he believes is best for his team and so far he’s been bang-on, whether Drogba likes it or not.
Drogba didn’t travel to Washington with the Impact, but showed up himself for the game and watched from a private box.
“As a coach you need the support of management and ownership, of course, in all your decisions that you take,” Biello said. “And it’s only normal for a coach to feel that support and, in the end, you take certain decisions that are what you feel are best at that moment and are best for the team.”
As for Drogba unexpectedly showing up in Washington, Biello said: “He came to support his teammates. I think that was a nice gesture to his teammates to be there for them. In the end, we were happy to see him there supporting his team.”
Biello now has the starting 11 he wants in place moving forward and time will tell if
As a coach you need the support of management and ownership, of course, in all your decisions that you take.
he makes the right decisions against a talented Red Bulls team.
“This is the best job and the worst job,” Biello said with a big smile. “No, look, when you win, obviously, it’s always a good thing, it’s always a good satisfaction to see your team perform. I credit my players and my staff that work extremely hard every day to be ready for these moments and they came through in difficult moments, and now we move forward.”
An entire city will be on board for the ride.