He hasn’t started a game in nearly a month and that probably won’t change when Montreal hosts Portland Saturday at Olympic Stadium. Midfielder Patrice Bernier‘s last start came onMarch 31, when the Impact suffered a 5-2 road loss to the New York Red Bulls. Bernier, 32, played for a decade in Denmark, Germany and Norway before returning to his native city, and isn’t chafingabout his backup role.
“I train and the coach [Jesse Marsch] puts out the lineup,” he said. “After that, if you’re on the pitch, then great. Ifyou’re not, you hope you can contribute a half, 20 minutes, whatever it needs to be … I’m going on what I do during the week. After that, if I’m called up then I just have to showwhat I have.”
Bernier is also the only Montreal native on the roster and played for the Impact when it was in the minor leagues. As one of the few Impact players fluent in French andbecause he played in Europe, just about every day he’s asked about not starting. As he stated, that decision is up to the coach.
“I just think that the chemistry in the way the teamis now has been good,” Marsch said. “Patrice, his professionalism and understanding in how to deal with all this has been great, and he’s still a leader within our team,there’s no question about that. I know that when we call on him he’ll be ready.”