Jamiro Monteiro has the skill to play as a No. 10, and that's why Jim Curtin slotted him into what became a 4-2-3-1 shape last week. Monteiro had a lot of space to work with and provided excellent defensive help on the wings while shadowing Samuel Piette, one of Montreal's key ball movers.
The biggest issue Monteiro had was speed of play. He tended to put his head down during his first touch and take extra moments before finding openings that allowed the defense to recover shape. Additionally, he didn't show the instinctual eyes for Haris Medunjanin that Curtin and his staff preach. As good as Monteiro and Bedoya are on the ball, Medunjanin is the team's quarterback and when he's in space, it's best to get him the ball and find a gap in which to hide until he feeds you.
In these two clips, we look at how Monteiro's excellent intelligence when closing the ball down and high work rate helped Philly keep the Impact from generating opportunities even when the visitors broke the first line of pressure.
