It wasn’t the work that Justin Éthier and his assistants lacked after the performance of the Rouge et Or offensive unit, which accumulated just 146 yards last Saturday in Montreal.
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“Montreal dominated us and we have to improve a lot,” summarized the Rouge et Or offensive coordinator. “Nothing worked, Montreal had a great defense and they played fast.”
Arnaud Desjardins was slow to make decisions on certain occasions; the recipients could not free themselves; the running backs struggled; and the offensive line couldn’t control the Blues’ defensive front even when they only sent three players under pressure.
“The whole thing didn’t work,” explained Éthier. We have the personnel to run well, defend well and pass well, but nothing has worked. Arnaud had to run far too often. The Carabins took away his first option.”
The ground attack is having a difficult season. “The ground game is part of the solution,” admitted Éthier. It’s not ideal to abandon the ground game so early in the game, as was the case in Montreal due to the scoring gap, but it’s not an aspect we’re neglecting. We want to make an impression in every game on site, but we can’t run in second place for long.”
The absence of center back Étienne Amyot and porter Kalenga Muganda, who played a game between them, does not help the Rouge et Or’s cause. “We have a good group of porters. As a central defender, Alexis Forest performs well and understands what we are doing, even though he doesn’t have the physicality of a central defender. He’s capable of being physical.”
Glen Constantin also wants more consistency on offense. “The offense has been slow to find its rhythm since the start of the season,” said the head coach of Rouge et Or. “It will be important to get into the playoffs with a more well-rehearsed offense.” There is no shortage on both the players’ and coaches’ sides Mission.”
A whole soap
After training on Wednesday, the players in the offensive unit were made to sweat by Ethier, who made sure that their performance in training could not explain his milk flow. “The boys had a good training session, but there were things internally that I wasn’t happy with,” he said. I have my own way of saying it and expressing myself because I want to make sure the message is understood. The players have a good attitude.
Like Constantin, Éthier liked that the players held a meeting on Tuesday to which the coaches were not invited. “It shows leadership and I am happy with their decision. Everyone wants to improve.”