Deck stacked against hapless Montreal in MLS

Chaos has been constant in Montreal since it entered MLS in 2012. Some of it is circumstantial. 

Montreal faces logistical hurdles as a Canadian team competing in an American sports league. Contracts are more complicated to negotiate. Visas are more difficult to procure. And every season begins with a grueling seven-game stretch of away games because of the city's cold climate. (Courtois' firing came in the middle of that away streak; his team hasn't played at home since October 2024.)

Circumstantial chaos is one thing, but created chaos is another — and Montreal has no problem making its own mayhem. It has fielded wildly different lineups in each of its five games this season, leading to confusion and consternation on the field. Its owner, Canadian businessman Joey Saputo, has publicly criticized its professionalism while managing his other sporting properties. 

In a recent interview in Italy, Saputo praised his Serie A club Bologna while sneering at Montreal from afar.

"In Bologna, it [my influence as an owner] is appreciated," he said. "In Montreal, it’s not appreciated, what we do. In Bologna, they let me work, they let our club work.”

With the deck stacked against it and a hostile owner, Montreal finds itself in dire straits. The team is struggling to survive in this new MLS era.

As its Eastern Conference competitors focus on sustained progress, Montreal is just trying to hold everything together — and even that might be too big a task for the beleaguered club. After finishing last season eighth in the East, it finds itself tied for last this season.

On Saturday, Montreal will play at the Chicago Fire in its sixth match of the 2025 season. Chicago is the only other club in the Eastern Conference that has faced protracted self-inflicted struggles like Montreal's.

In previous seasons, traveling to Chicago (3-1-1) would be seen as a surefire way to earn a win and restore Montreal's confidence. But Chicago, after more than a decade of failed attempts, has finally pulled itself out of its death spiral. It signed coach Gregg Berhalter, streamlined its executive team and put together a coherent on-field plan. It looks better than it has in years.

Will visiting Chicago show Montreal that change is possible, even in the face of extreme chaos? Or will it hammer home just how far adrift the club has become?

Goalless (mostly) on the field, goalless in the boardroom — the metaphors practically write themselves. For Montreal, there seems no way to crawl from a mess of its own making.