Phillip Dos Santos knows the situation isn’t necessarily ideal.

After all, in a perfect scenario he would have been given more runway right from the start of a season to make sure Valour FC takes off under his tutelage.

But professional soccer doesn’t always present perfect opportunities gift-wrapped with a bow on top and a piece of celebratory cake for everyone. Sometimes those chances come with the vice already squeezing the life out of a season and with the pressure mounting by the day – just as they are for Dos Santos and his charges as they travel to Toronto for a pivotal match Sunday against York United FC, the very team they are chasing for the Canadian Premier League’s final playoff spot.

Still, there’s something with the squad that he can build on quickly. As much as Valour FC has struggled recently with just a win and a draw in its last 11, former GM and head coach Rob Gale had also assembled an intriguing roster that back in July was atop the CPL tables.

Dos Santos was introduced to the media Thursday afternoon https://valourfc.canpl.ca/article/i-want-them-to-realize-that-theres-part-of-that-responsibility-in-them-but-also-go-with-confidence-that-were-still-in-the-run-valour-fc-announces-new-head-coach-gm and in a in a 30-minute Zoom call was engaging and introspective about the right here and now and the future.

“There’s still a big belief that the playoffs are something tangible, something that we want. It starts on Sunday,” Dos Santos said. “It’s hard for me to judge what was before. I don’t want to get into these things and these discussions. Those are things you assess as you’re here. But the mandate is to still get above that line and then once you’re in that playoff system and structure it’s game on when you arrive to the playoffs.

“Now, we know we’re in a good position because we have a game in hand and we play York this weekend. It’s a position where everything is on us to make it. I don’t think it’s fair for me to step in and just see it on the short-term. I need to look at the bigger picture, so it’s going to be about how does the team progress? Where’s the next gear? Where can I bring something different that’s going to trigger maybe certain behaviours that the team needs.

“It’s all part of the assessment to be made. I’ve watched a lot of the games, especially after the talks. We’ll do the work with the staff… we’re here to maximize the potential of the players and I think that’s our job as the coaches.”

Now, while measuring the impact Dos Santos might have on salvaging this season will come in the next month or so, his introductory press conference did provide plenty of insight on his decision to accept Valour’s offer, his coaching philosophies and other insights.

Here are some of the highlights from that session on Thursday:

-While Dos Santos has extensive experience as a coach and administrator at the MLS, USL and NASL levels – as well as with various Canadian men’s national teams – he has never been a head coach before. He was asked if the Valour job was appealing because the opportunity came with both the head coach and GM titles.

“It was clear in my head that I wanted the next move, I wanted to have this opportunity. There were discussions with clubs from other leagues in the past that made me realize that in the near future it was time for me to take that next step.

“It has nothing to do with the coach/GM (title). I’m a coach. I like to coach. I understand the general manager side of the job. A lot of times in leagues that operate with smaller structures very often the head coaching job will come with the GM job, so I’m Ok with that. It’s familiar ground for me because I’ve been around those types of structures. But it was really about getting to the next step.

“With eight pro teams in the CPL and three in the MLS it’s a market where it’s interesting, but it’s very hard and competitive to get in and so I felt this was the time for me.

“I believe I’m a better person, at 43, for this job. I’m more prepared, more experienced. I’ve seen more, not only in the job but also in my management of people, in how to go and get the maximum out of individuals.”

-There’s a curiosity about Dos Santos as a new head coach as to what his philosophy might be. He was asked about that during his media conference and gave an honest and forthright answer.

“I was talking to the staff about that… I think there’s a utopia as a coach. You go in with an idea – ‘I want to be an exciting team that plays football on the front foot, has the ball.’ That, for me, is a cliché. Every team wants to do that, every coach wants to have that.

“The game has evolved in a way where you need to prepare your team to deal with the high moments and low moments of the game. If you just step in and prepare your team to be that front-foot team and high-pressing team that is active on the counter-press and is active on the ball, that’s good. But there’s moments in the game where you will be lower; the opposition will have the edge on you. Now you need to know how to defend in that situation, you need to know how to exploit spaces in that situation.

“I want a team that understands the fluidity of the game, that, yes, wants to take the initiative of the game, wants to be on the ball, wants to be aggressive on and off the ball. But, first and foremost, a team that is disciplined and understands the moment they’re in and what to exploit and how to counter the opposition – a team that has energy.

“I remember talking to someone to recently… you guys are familiar with the ‘Twilight’ saga? When you look at someone and you see the vein (in their neck) pumping and you see the energy of wanting something and really feeling the person… that’s what I want to see in the players. Playing with energy, with those types of behaviours that are aggressive, that are hard to beat, that are hard to play against, that every day you play Valour you’re up for a game, for a fight. That’s what I want us to be about.”

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-Dos Santos takes over a Valour squad that is missing co-captain and centre back Andrew Jean-Baptiste and now also its leading scorer in Austin Ricci. Worth noting, it’s a squad that served up a valiant effort – and one of its better performances of late – in last Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Cavalry FC.

Still, it has just one win and a draw against nine losses in the last 11 matches.

“I looked at the players and I think there’s quality in this group. There’s a mix of age and maturity. There’s a foundation that has been built. I don’t think you can come in with an approach where you just tear apart that foundation, you have to build on that. We need to have the humility of understanding what was good, what has worked for the team and what we can add right away in order to be successful in the short term and then what we want to build going forward.

“The team needs to find that stability, that rhythm and go step by step and not try to just break foundations that have been good. When it comes to that the club has something in place and there’s value there, so we’ll go progressively with it.”

-Valour has amassed 17 wins, eight draws and 28 losses since its first match in 2019. The new boss was asked what makes him the right fit for the job here and what has to happen to take that next step to compete with the CPL’s powerhouses like Forge FC, Cavalry FC and Pacific FC.

“When you talk about the right guy on a job like that you have to think about what the club wants and what is the profile they’re looking at. What was asked of me was to come into an environment and try to make everyone around better. That’s what I’m here to try and do. I don’t want to enter into comparing, I don’t think it’s the way to go about it. I’m driven, I’m passionate about what I do. I have a clear idea of how I want to go about things and I think you need to be firm on what you want to build here. When this was presented to Wade (Miller, Valour FC President & CEO) I think the board members and Wade saw a fit and that’s how I want to go about it. That’s what I believe in. You never know who is the right guy until he gets on the job and he makes things happen.

“It’s a very competitive league. There’s teams that have been consistent… you’re talking about Forge and Pacific, they’re tough teams to play against, we understand that. But there’s something they’ve had and it’s continuity, it’s finding rhythm and being able to connect wins and that’s what we need to do over here. I’m a methodic guy who understands the realities of the sport. I know how to get the maximum out of individuals. I believe in that and I have to go with the confidence that we’re able to take the team to the next level and we’re able to go to that next level.

“One thing is me believing it, that’s one part of it. It’s important that in the culture of this organization players, staff, everyone involved also believes in it. We’re in the business of dealing with people and that’s part of my job – making sure we all embrace that and we try to get to the next gear.”

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-Dos Santos had never been to Winnipeg before until flying in Wednesday night. He’s a family man and still called Vancouver his home base after working with the Whitecaps as an assistant coach to his brother Marc before the franchise made a coaching change there this summer.

“Never been here. That’s the crazy thing about this job. Sometimes you just have to go by faith. It’s a feeling, it’s something that speaks to you and you can’t be afraid. I’ve been around, I’ve moved around. I’ve been to places where everyone would say, ‘You’re crazy to go there’ and they were the most-enjoyable ones. And I’ve been to places where people say, ‘It’s amazing, you need to go’ and I got out of it saying I wouldn’t go back. You never know. You have to go with faith, you have to with confidence.

“I remember talking to people and I said, ‘It looks fast, but there’s something inside me telling me to go and grab the bull by the horns.’ That’s what I want to do here.”