The Forward Press MD 16 and VCup QFs - ATO vs HFX/SUP: Adjustments and Poor Starts
Welcome to the Forward Press for CPL Matchday 16 vs HFX Wanderers and the Voyageurs Cup Quarterfinals vs Supra du Québec! Two topsy-turvy matches, with wildly different outcomes, but a significant through line. Let’s begin with that 2-1 win against Halifax, which saw ATO go down 1-0 before an hour-and-a-half rain delay hit just after the half, after which Atléti scored two goals to flip the script. Gabriel Antinoro, who assisted Ballou Tabla’s winner, had the mic first, and he gave his thoughts to AJ Jakubec on the match:
“We want to play the whole game well, not just the second half. I think that's our biggest thing right now; it’s what we are working on. I don’t think we started the game well again, [it was] not as bad as last game, but again it was one play that gave them a chance . . . we could’ve won by more . . . you just wish sometimes you could make your lives a little simpler.”
I’ll get back to that in a moment; it’s a recurring trend. Moving ahead, Antinoro was shifted from playing as a 10 to a winger in the second half after 45’ of being a non-entity, and saw a significant improvement in his impact, culminating in that assist. Gord Smith questioned the youngster on the switch, and Antinoro replied that it was less about where he wants to play (although he likes to be in the middle), but where the space was, and out wide presented him with more chances to make a difference. He also stated that Mejía helped him to be comfortable anywhere, whether it be at winger, as a playmaking midfielder, or even at wing-back.
Speaking of the former Coach, Antinoro was also asked about the similarities between Mejía and Leal’s systems. Like his teammates before him, and Leal himself, the winger stated that the two philosophies don’t differ that much. Leal prefers his teams to play very offensively, and to be the protagonists―they want to tire their opponents out and to constantly push forward. Sound familiar? Antinoro did mention that while Mejía preferred a slow build-up, Leal is a little more comfortable with playing the ball long if necessary.
Leal was ceded the mic after that, and once again his first question was for his general thoughts on the match:
“It was the first time [a rain delay] has happened to me . . . [we took the time] to find some solutions for the players . . . we made some videos and showed the players. We [made] a new plan . . . usually you have two days to do it, but today we had one and a half hours . . . I think that it was good, because after the break our team was a [different side]. We had total control of the game, and we were so good.”
An interesting insight into what went on in that delay for sure, and Leal was quick to give even more detail about what he saw:
“We saw that in the first half that we had a lot of players trying to play to feet, and not playing to space. We changed it in the second half, and we asked Emi[ano García] and Nicolas [Fleuriau Chateau] to play against the [HFX] centre-backs and to attack the centre all the time, and Gabi [on] the flank doing the same . . . we need[ed] to find the spaces. They will be there all the time, we just need to find the correct space to play [in], and I think that in the first half the space was in the deeper [half], but we were trying to play between the lines. In the second half we showed them in the dressing room about this space, and we were better. If the opponents closed the deeper space, we will try to play between the lines.”
From what I can gather, “deeper space” refers to playing more vertically with long balls to stretch the defensive lines that way, whereas “between the lines” refers to playing horizontally, going side to side with passes and slowly breaking down the opposition lines. If this interpretation is correct, what Leal is saying is that he noticed that the vertical space wasn’t being exploited properly in the first half because the team wanted to pass slowly around the back and were ignoring the opportunities to go long. The staff were obviously quick to pick up on that weakness, whatever it may be, because their changes and instructions worked a charm.
Speaking of needing changes to work a charm, they were required again not three days later, when ATO went into the break against Supra in the cup quarter-finals down 2-0, and 5-1 in the aggregate. The team managed to claw back a 3-3 draw thanks to a brace from hometown hero Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau and a stoppage-time goal from Ballou Tabla (again), but fell 6-4 on aggregate. Leal had the mic afterwards:
“Yeah, for sure not the result we were waiting for tonight. I think that the first half was not good, but the attitude in the second half was much better, so I think that we can use this game to see some things about some behaviours to take the best decisions that we need to take to focus in the league . . . I think it will be so important the decisions that we will take in the next games, and tonight was good to have more clarity about some points”
Unfortunately, having a poor first half has been a recent trend for Leal’s outfit, with the last three matches all seeing Ottawa trail at the break. The match before that, they were up 1-0 after 45’, but two quick goals from PFC coming out of the gates for the second half led to a 2-1 deficit before heroics rescued the three points. The match before THAT, Leal’s first, they conceded two minutes after going up 1-0, leading to that 1-1 draw against York 9/United/Inter Toronto.
Looking at it this way, perhaps there is an issue with the team’s mentality to start matches and after restarts. I hesitate to lay the blame at anyone’s feet, given Leal took over midseason and has only had five matches to make an impact. However, given the rocky nature of the season thus far, any concerning trends must be evaluated and snuffed out immediately if there is to be any hope of salvaging something from a season in which the league is a two-horse race, and Ottawa are now out of the cup.
Looking ahead, ATO play Supra again at the weekend, this time in Laval. Leal was asked about playing the same opponent twice in such a short window:
“It’s good to forget about this game today and think about the next game . . . I think that if we have the same attitude from the second half in the next game, we will have a better result.”
Let’s hope so. CCSG will be making the road trip down to Laval to support our boys this Sunday, so be there, etiher on the bus or by driving up yourselves! The match kicks off at 12 p.m. noon, so be there or be square, one way or another! ATO then return home three days later on Wednesday, August 19th, against VFC. VAMOS!
About Alexander:
When he isn't busy playing or watching sports (or going to school), Alexander is managing his Atlético Ottawa database, which he started in 2020, and tracks everything you can think of about the club and its players. He also runs a BlueSky account dedicated to analyzing and rating CPL and NSL players using statistics, CPL by the Numbers.
