New CF Montreal head coach Laurent Courtois aims to offer dynamic style of play

CF Montreal has hired Laurent Courtois as its new head coach.

Courtois spent the last two seasons as head coach of Columbus Crew 2, the reserve team of Major League Soccer's Columbus Crew.

He was named the MLS Next Pro coach of the year in 2022 after leading Columbus to the league title. The Crew 2 also reached the final this past season.

CF Montreal has scheduled a 10:30 a.m. ET news conference Tuesday to introduce Courtois.

"I'm honoured to be joining the club and embarking on this new adventure in Montreal," Courtois said in a statement released by the team. "I'm very proud of this responsibility. I'm looking forward to working with everyone at the club and contributing to the team's success.

"I want to continue the development work begun with our young players, while offering a dynamic style of play and emotions to the fans." 

The 45-year-old from France is Montreal's 10th head coach since the team entered MLS in 2012.

He succeeds Hernan Losada, who was fired on Nov. 9 after Montreal finished two points short of the playoff cutline with a loss on the final day of the regular season.

The defeat capped a run where Montreal claimed just six of 27 available points in its last nine games.

Road struggles

Vice-president and chief sporting officer Olivier Renard said his decision to fire Losada had more to do with how the team played and how players developed than the fact the club missed the post-season.

Montreal finished 10th in the Eastern Conference this past season with 41 points and a 12-17-5 record, including a 2-13-2 performance on the road. Only Toronto FC was worse away from home at 0-13-4.

Montreal also ranked fourth-last in the league with 36 goals.

Losada, who had one year left on his contract, coached Montreal for just one season after replacing coach-of-the-year finalist Wilfried Nancy last off-season.

Renard noted Courtois has accumulated a wealth of coaching experience "that demonstrates his ability to implement our sporting project with young players in MLS.

"We are confident that he will be able to replicate his past success with our club's core team and young talent, while helping us to achieve our objectives by reviving a desire to win both at home and on the road throughout the season.

"In addition to his knowledge of the league," continued Renard, "he possesses leadership, communication and teaching skills." 

Nancy led Montreal to its best season in MLS in 2022 but left to become head coach of the Crew last off-season. Columbus won the MLS Cup this year.

Courtois's playing career spanned from 1998 to 2014, with stops in France, England, Spain and the United States.

After finishing his playing career with L.A. Galaxy II in 2014, he joined the club as an assistant coach.

Courtois returned to France to coach French club Lyon's academy from 2015 to 2018 before taking a job with the Crew's academy in 2019.