Daily News | Jim Curtin was blunt about benching Olivier Mbaizo for Nathan Harriel at right back in Montreal
, and his contributions to the attack that afternoon didn’t make up for it.
“When he’s playing at his max, he’s the best right back in the league,” Curtin said. “It’s early in the year. I know Olivier will bounce back from it and have a great season for us. But I thought it was important to send a message to the entire group, you know, that starting spots are going to be earned week in and week out on the field in the games, in the 90 minutes, [and] during the week of training.
And what did Curtin think of Harriel? Well, there was the unfortunate deflection of Lassi Lappalainen’s shot that looped over Andre Blake and into the net for Montreal’s goal. But other than that, Harriel played reasonably well: 69 touches, 26-of-38 passing, nine recoveries, three clearances, three interceptions, and 11 duels won out of 16 attempts.