What happens in Edmonton, stays in Edmonton.
Valour FC will attempt to shake off its poorest effort of the young Canadian Premier League season in last Saturday’s 3-1 loss to FC Edmonton Wednesday night in a first-place showdown against Pacific FC in Langford, B.C.

Critical for Valour in shaking off its second-straight loss – aside from the usual tactical and technical adjustments – will be flushing what happened in the Alberta capital mentally, too.

“A couple of the basics weren’t there,” said Valour FC GM and head coach Rob Gale in a media Zoom call on Tuesday. “What we were doing previously, which we just need to get back to that. We had a good training session yesterday and another one here today.

“It’s just correcting a couple of things, but we addressed it internally. I just felt some of the midfielders didn’t do their jobs on both sides of the ball that we’d done previously. We need more from the group in front of the back four, especially with a team that is quite direct and gambling on second balls, and set pieces… you need to do the dirty side of the game, shall we say, a bit better sometimes.

“That’s something for us to improve, especially when you’re the away team. You can’t give teams soft goals. You’ve got to make them earn it.”

Valour will be facing a Pacific side which now leads the CPL with 13 goals following a 2-nil win over Cavalry FC and a 4-2 victory over Atlético Ottawa a week ago.

“It’s a team we know quite well,” said Gale. “They’ve made a couple of additions from last year with Manny (Aparcio) and Ollie Bassett, who just got his first goal, so they’ve got a good attacking threat. It’s always a good football game against them. We try and play a similar style… it’s not quite the physical battle of some teams you face.

“It should be a good football match.”

Wednesday’s match is the second of four on the road for Valour FC before stops in Calgary to face Cavalry and a return trip to Edmonton. Resiliency has been a character trait this side has shown before, and it will be paramount again Wednesday.

“I would expect a response,” said Gale. “Different circumstances with the last two games… they’ve got to get their focus back on the 90 minutes. That’s part of being a professional footballer. No matter what’s going on around you and the circumstances that are thrown at you, when you cross that line you’ve got to knuckle down and execute the game plan. We haven’t done that the last two games.

“But I expect us to put in a full 90 minutes-plus tomorrow.”

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‘V’ NOTES

-Gale celebrated his birthday on Tuesday. Asked if he had any birthday plans, he grinned and said: “Nope. Typical road day. Training this afternoon, recovery session, video this morning, team meeting later. Nothing exciting.”

-New Valour defender Rocco Romeo, who was loaned to the club from Toronto FC, made his debut in Edmonton.

“I thought he was good, to be honest,” said Gale. “Standing the line, good in the air, wasn’t afraid to get on the ball, used the ball quite well and had a high percentage of pass completion, the tackles and challenges won… I thought it was a good debut.

“We probably let him down a little bit in front of him with the midfield and getting our pressure on the ball or our shape in tracking runners right. But we did some video work with the lads last night and I think there’s more to come from Rocco. He’s a good addition.”

-Gale’s connections with Canada Soccer as a national team coach give him a good perspective on what the women’s team is doing at the Olympics, where they’ll face Sweden in the gold-medal final.

“I’ve got to give a big shout-out to Desiree Scott. I was messaging her yesterday and the message from her was, ‘There’s more to come,’ because they ain’t finished yet,” said Gale. “So pleased for her and a huge congratulations to Bev Priestman and all the staff and the players. You throw in what those guys are going through in a pandemic and everything else and to come out and perform the way they have and get the job done has been fantastic.

“It’s hugely exciting for everyone involved in Canadian soccer. They deserve to be there.”