CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES
Montreal’s Marco Di Vaio is making a strong case for MVP this season.

The Montreal Impact has become one of the best clubs in Major League Soccer through a number of ways, especially on the field. They have built a club that is in the hunt for the Supporters Shield (best team in the regular season) and could very well win the MLS Cup this year.

Marco Di Vaio has become the best striker in the league, and he's done it all by himself. He is a poacher who finds himself in the right place at the right time — scoring a league-leading 18 goals already. Di Vaio has gone offside 67 times this season. That means he has gone offside every half-hour on average — that's three times a match.

When you have a player who is willing to cut through the defense like Di Vaio is, it adds an extra element to your attack. Defenders get nervous, having to constantly play him offside. That's only going to make it more difficult to defend against Montreal. On top of that, he hits the net with his shots 50 per cent of the time, meaning there isn't much leeway when he does get in a scoring position.

Montreal has a good crew of depth players. MLS is a notoriously difficult league to build squad depth in. Through manager Marco Schällibaum, the club drafted well and has come up with some smart depth players in young striker Blake Smith and former Wigan Athletic defender Adrian Lopez Rodriguez. Some people forget they have MLS-calibre players off the bench too, with Sanna Nyassi making only 10 starts, but adding a bit of speed to the lineup.

Montreal has been able to sign fantastic players for cheap as well. With only two Designated Player spots filled, the club has still signed former AC Milan defender Alessandro Nesta and veteran defensive midfielder Patrice Bernier for peanuts. Designated Players are usually star players that don't count to the overall salary cap, allowing clubs to bring in big names on massive contracts. You can sign three, so the fact Montreal have only signed two (Di Vaio and midfielder Hernan Dario Bernardello) shows they don't need overly skilled players to be this good.

That is really indicative of how well built this team is, after only being in existence for one year. Credit goes out to owner Joey Saputo (yes, the dairy tycoon) for being so efficient.

Looking ahead, Di Vaio has said he might retire at the end of the season. If that happens, you still have two DP slots and a club where players will really want to play. The Impact has been a model for any MLS club to follow, at least on the pitch.