The Forward Press MD 20 - ATO vs ITO: Mentality (and almost nothing else)
Welcome to the Forward Press for Matchday 20, which was a thrilling come-from-behind victory against Inter Toronto! Gabriel Antinoro and Gustavo Leal had the mics for this one; however, before we get to that, I’ll begin with a quick recap of the Cavalry press conference from matchday 19, which was a quick and dirty affair anyhow.
Cloutier pegged their poor start and roster fatigue as the reasons the team fell to Cavalry in such convincing fashion, but he also said they played much better in the second half. Leal then took the chance to speak and was given one question by the ever-generous Calgary media. Like Cloutier, the gaffer also expounded on the fixture congestion, citing the fact Atleti had played three times in seven days, compared to Cavalry, who had the week off. He acknowledged that Ottawa played poorly and that Cavalry was the better team overall, but argued that the extra rest was a defining factor in the result.
Moving along to the happier affair later in the week, Antinoro was first up, and as usual AJ Jakubec started things off by asking for the winger’s thoughts on the match and the comeback:
“It’s a bit annoying, because it’s not like we are coming back from situations where the other team was better than us . . . it’s kind of [like] we give them the game in the beginning, we start not the way we want, and we have to fight after. But I think it shows a lot about how we are, we will never give up. They could have put four past us in the first half, and we would have never given up . . . we know the quality we have in the locker room, when we all focus, when we are on the same page . . . I’m very proud of the game we played, except for the first fifteen minutes.”
It’s all well and good that we are winning, but preferably we do so without needing to score a 98th-minute winner every time! Gord Smith then asked him about the mentality that allows for such turnarounds on seemingly a regular basis (that was Ottawa’s FIFTH overturned deficit of the season):
“We are the champions, the team changed a lot, but we are the champions. I think that the guys that stayed have that mentality [from last year]. We know what we did to get here, to earn what we did, and the new guys that came in too, they realized soon that whoever is here has to be here to win, and to win trophies. Third place is not enough, second place is not enough, we are here to win games . . . We are the champions, we have to protect what’s ours. We will lose games, a lot of things have changed . . . each year the league gets more even, but at the end of the day we are champions until the final . . . At the same time, we have to impose that mentality since the first minute. Once we do that, it will be very, very hard to beat us.”
The rest of Antinoro’s questions were fairly uneventful, so I’ll quickly summarize those that merited inclusion. Gord Smith’s follow-up focused on the differences between Mejía and Leal in terms of match preparation during the week, and Antinoro replied that Leal was a little more focused on individual performances within the broader context of the squad. He said that Leal makes sure to have one-on-one sessions with each player to go over their performance from the previous week and to identify areas of improvement. While the team’s performance still comes first, something Antinoro was quick to clarify, this also tracks with Leal’s philosophy that individual battles carry the day. He was also asked about Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau’s blistering purple patch, which continued this week with his sixth goal in five games, and Antinoro jokes that he hopes Chateau keeps eating the same food!
Gustavo Leal then had the mic and opened with his thoughts on the team’s spirit:
“I think that the guys believe that we can do good things, so they never give up searching for victory. It was not the first time that we won in the last minute, so I think that we are generating this spirit in the dressing room that we cannot give up, that we need to fight until the last minute because we can win. This game especially, I think that the first 15, 20 minutes were so hard for us, but [that was also due to the] merit of Inter Toronto. After that, I think that we had all the control of the game, we created more chances than them, and in the end, I think that the victory was fair.”
Clearly there is something in the water in Ottawa! The coach was then asked about the changes he made in the second half:
“It was not the first time that the win came from the bench. Against Supra away this happened, and then this game Sergei [Kozlovskiy] came in and Roni [Mbomio] went to the right side, and then we made some changes, and it was better in the second half. I [tell] the guys all the time that everybody needs to be ready, because I don’t know who I need for the next game, for the next 45 minutes, for the next 90 minutes, or three minutes like Ralph [Koury] today”
Leal then elaborated on those tactical changes (playing with three versus four at the back, overloading a particular wing, and so on), but he also insisted that any actual adjustments were rather more trivial than one might expect, because the players already know how to adjust more globally in a given situation.
Finally, Gustavo had a few words to say about Chateau’s play, but also the squad as a whole:
“His behaviour is so good. He’s a player that fights all the time, and when we have one guy like him, everybody fights also. I think that he is in really good form, but it’s not just about him, because every game someone gives a good pass for him to score. I think that this victory is for the group . . . the whole group is doing their job so well, the defence has improved a lot . . . the individual players are developing.”
Believe it or not, Ottawa are in their best-ever run of form at this point in a season, and long may it continue! Ottawa next take on Pacific FC at home on Saturday the 5th at 4 PM, so be there with CCSG as we sing loud and proud for our boys! 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.
