Kenny Cooper Signed By Montreal Impact
Kenny Cooper is the newest member of the Montreal Impact. The club announced that they had signed the MLS veteran on Sunday afternoon.
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The Baltimore, MD native has spent eight seasons in the league, scoring more than 75 goals in his time with FC Dallas, the Portland Timbers, New York Red Bulls and most recently the Seattle Sounders.
Cooper was waived by the Sounders earlier in April and immediately the Impact were rumoured to be interested. Montreal was in dire need of a striker, after breakout star Cameron Porter went down with a serious knee injury.
As I outlined in my article last week, about how Frank Klopas should perhaps change the team’s formation, Cooper is a welcomed addition to the squad. His presence gives the Impact another dependable, proven goal scorer to take some pressure off of Jack McInerney and the midfield. Additionally, Dominic Oduro will now probably exclusively be used as an outside midfielder, where I think he is most effective.
Next: Reviewing The Montreal Impact's Draft History
The 30-year-old spent his youth career at none other than Manchester United. He was a part of Man U’s senior team from 2004-2006, but never made it into a match.
In 2006, Cooper came across the pond and signed with FC Dallas, where he was very successful. In his four seasons in the Lone Star state, the American had 40 goals in 90 matches.
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In 2009, he went back to Europe, playing with 1860 Munich in Germany. He failed to regain the form that put him on the MLS Best XI the year prior and came back to the league in as a member of the Portland Timbers in 2011.
Since then, he had a great 19 goal campaign with the New York Red Bulls in 2012, before moving back to Dallas the following year and then on to Seattle the season after that. Perhaps Cooper will find some stability with the Impact, as he has spent the last five MLS seasons with five different clubs.
All in all, I think Kenny Cooper works best as a second striker. The 6’3″, 210 pounder’s aerial abilities will definitely help the Impact, who failed to score a goal off a set piece in 2014. However, Klopas’ 4-2-3-1 formation doesn’t leave room for a second striker. I think he will be coming off the bench to start the season and maybe be given the opportunity to take away McInerney’s job.