The first-year head coach expects the Impact to be competitive in their first season and has been aggressive in trying to sign high-profile players like Anelka and Del Piero.

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After months of being tight-lipped about his plans, Montreal Impact coach Jesse Marsch is happy that he is finally able to share some of his ambitions for next season.Just over a week after the Impact began to build their team through the MLS expansion draft, Marsch told Goal.com that he would like to acquire two high-priced European players - Chelsea's Nicolas Anelka and Juventus' Alessandro Del Piero."We did meet with Nicolas Anelka. The discussions were very good. I think there was great potential for a good fit and I think there still is," Marsch revealed to Goal.com in an exclusive interview. "I think the organization is open to committed to spending major dollars to bring in good players."As he tried to plan around November's expansion draft, Marsch explained that he asked members of the Impact organization to keep information guarded because he didn't want other Major League Soccer clubs to have an idea of the players he was aiming to select.Montreal used its first pick to select Brian Ching from the Houston Dynamo. The club has also added LA Galaxy goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts and Philadelphia Union midfielder Justin Mapp."I wanted to be smart about not letting teams know what we already had in our arsenal," said Marsch. "What it meant is that is some of the enthusiasm over player signings was put back until we had the draft. Now that the draft has passed, we've been able to announce more about players and you see the momentum and excitement building. "Earlier in the year, Marsch admitted that the Impact pursued Del Piero over the summer. Montreal wanted to bring in Del Piero in January but the 38-year-old wanted to finish out his last season with the Old Lady."Yeah, those discussions were had more over the summertime, I thought those were good discussions as well but some of those broke down because it wasn't going to be possible for him to get here until maybe the summer," Marsch explained. "At that stage, he would be 39."However, Marsch expects that Del Piero will continue to look at MLS as a option."He would wind up saying that LA or NY were more of his focal point [after the initial conversations]," the coach said.Marsch fully expects the Impact to be competitive in its first season in MLS. While he acknowledges that the team will continue to be aggressive in trying to sign marketable players, he stressed that he wants to build a well-rounded team.Marsch's strategy could be seen in the expansion draft where he declined to take a big name such as the Union's Freddy Adu and focused on mainly defense and players with some upside. The coach named Justin Braun and Sanna Nyassi as guys who have top-level potential in MLS.He believes the Impact already have a competitive, hard-working team."We are focused on the process of becoming a good team," said Marsch. "The energy and the work we put in everyday, that's what's going to make us a good team. Not who we sign."He added, " You can't cut corners and think that if you bring in certain guys and do something here and there, that you are automatically a good team. It takes time. I have sworn to honor that process."One of the bold decisions that the Impact have made so far was selecting longtime Ching, 33, who threatened to retire if he was selected by the team. He has remained steadfast in wanting to see out his career with the Dynamo. Marsch understands Ching's position but he also felt that the organization needed to pick a player who is still seen as a top commodity in MLS."There are other teams in the league that are interested in him and Houston has shown interest in having him back," said Marsch. "I have said all along that I want to do what's best for Brian Ching but I also have to do what's best for this organization."Marsch said that at this stage it's "too hard to tell" if Montreal fans will be seeing Ching in Impact jersey next season.One area where Marsch has taken some small amount of criticism is the team's lack of known Canadian born players. Marsch said that some of the team's current Canadian players will remain on the roster and team president Joey Saputo has focused on developing young local talent.According to Marsch, Saputo has invested heavily into the team's youth academy and within the next two or three seasons, he would like to see local players on the roster. Montreal is a city known for its pride in its French traditions and the coach is fully aware of it."As an organization, we want to honor the community," said Marsch. "That includes Quebec players and Canadan players."He stated the three Canadian clubs - the Impact, Toronto FC and the Vancouver Whitecaps - have a responsibility to help improve the country's national team."We want our talented young players to develop here," said Marsch.One current Canadian national team player that the Impact are interested in bringing on board is former star Patrice Bernier. The 32-year-old midfielder, who currently plays for Danish club Lyngby Boldklub, launched his career with the club during its NASL days and is strongly considering a move back after playing almost a decade in Europe."He's a good man and he's said that he would like to come back and help this franchise," said Marsch. "I think the discussions have been good and I think we've made a commitment to him on many different levels and we'll see how it pans out. "As for his own personal transition in the Quebec way of life, Marsch, who hails from Wisconsin, said that he and his family have hired tutors to try to become fluent in French. The former Chivas USA and Chicago Fire midfielder says he tries to practice the language whenever he can but admits he still has a way to go."Unfortunately most people realize my real language is English," Marsch said chuckling.