There will be trials and tribulations ahead. Phillip Dos Santos knows that full well. Every manager in the Canadian Premier League — heck, every manager on the planet — understands that handling the low points is more of a challenge than riding the wave when things are perfect.
And so it was recently for Valour FC’s GM and head coach after the latest in a series of solid training sessions for Winnipeg’s professional soccer side. The squad heads to Toronto on Thursday for its final week of training and preseason matches before the regular season opens up on April 5th in Victoria against Pacific FC.
Dos Santos likes what he sees so far with the 2025 edition of Valour FC. There is continuity from last year’s roster which played solid football after a horrific start to the season, and a mix of newcomers that includes CPL vets and promising young faces.
Truthfully, there’s no where to go but up for a franchise which has yet to qualify for the playoffs and was last in the CPL table a year ago. And yet the manager must sell the hope and promise of a new campaign while cautioning the dangers of complacency.
“I’m always cautious because you can’t sleep,” said Dos Santos in a recent chat with valourfootball.club. “You have to be optimistic but you can’t lower your guard. I want to make sure we remain confident but fully aware of the danger of not staying inside what we know will allow us to be successful.
“If we disconnect from each other for even a second, then we become very vulnerable just like any other team.”
Valour’s recent trip to the West coast saw the club post two wins against Altitude FC of League1 B.C. and Whitecaps2 and then draw CPL rival Vancouver FC — all without conceding a goal. This next series tentatively includes two preseason matches against CPL competition and a third against a League1 Ontario side.
The results can matter in building confidence but just as important are the foundational habits Dos Santos and his staff are hammering home. So far, so good.
“It’s a group that is mirroring the coaching staff,” he said. “We have a very strong desire to stay in the pack, stay competitive, be a contender in every game. We want to make sure we show up every day doing the right thing because if we do that I think our chances to win will increase. It’s about bringing it day after day after day. If we’re able to do that I think we can be a very, very good team.
“We want this to be a special year. We see what’s ahead of us and we see opportunity. There’s new hope and it’s good to see the players have that same drive, same willingness and desire that we have.”
To that end, here are five observations from a month of Valour FC camp and with the April 5th opener closing quickly…
THE BACK LINE COULD BE A FORCE
Valour conceded 1.5 goals per match last season, sixth best in the eight-team CPL. Still, 20 of the 42 goals against — close to 50 percent — came in the first 10 matches of the season. Over the last 18 games the club conceded 20 goals, or 1.22 goals per match.
Here’s the encouraging part in that area: the club has returned fullbacks Themi Antonoglou and Roberto Alarcon as well as centre back Frankie Facchineri while adding two CPL proven defenders in Zach Fernandez and Rocco Romeo.
That gives Valour proven commodities along the back line and the hope it will be especially stingy in conceding goals in 2025.
“The sense of commitment, habits and willingness to protect our goal is going to be vital for any team that hopes to win games,” said Dos Santos. “We like what we’ve seen in the preseason. The indicators have been good and now it’s about sustaining it under a different type of pressure when the season starts.”
THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR EXPERIENCE
Valour added some intriguing and familiar CPL faces to its roster over the winter with the return of Romeo — who spent the last two years in Vancouver — along with the additions of Fernandez from HFX Wanderers, winger Kris Twardek of Atlético Ottawa and goalkeeper Eleias Himaras, who made 12 appearances with York United in ’22-23 but none last year.
Add them to the existing crop of returnees and Valour can field a team deep with CPL minutes.
“I’ve always said that bringing in guys with CPL experience is an asset,” Dos Santos said. “These guys have hit the ground running right away. It’s something every club tries to do every year. It’s more so about the type of characters you bring in — guys that are competitive, that enjoy the daily grind.
“That’s one of the things we’re always hammering: if you don’t like the daily process, if you don’t like the grind then you’re going to suffer this year and you’ll be miserable. It’s such an important requirement for us.”
OPTIONS, OPTIONS AND MORE OPTIONS
We touched on the deep and experienced backline above but the same could be said at all position groups through the lineup. That’s critical in making life difficult for the club to pick a starting XI and could be massively important when the injury bug bites.
Dos Santos on that subject:
“The competition is going to be fierce in every sector, every position. That’s why I was telling the guys today the most important thing will be the collective commitment. Right now it’s easy to be committed, to be collectively engaged in what we need to look like and be as a team. But can we maintain that when the coach is making his choice and you might not be the first choice? When I get in, am I still going to be the guy that is collectively committed.
“Our collective commitment is No. 1 and if we have that it could take a team to levels we can’t even imagine.”
A HEALTHY KIAN WILLIAMS
Two years ago attacker Kian Williams was one of the CPL’s brightest new faces as he scored four goals -tying him for the team lead in that department — in his Canadian debut. Last year was a write-off as he suffered a knee injury and then complications that robbed him of a season.
As we wrote previously, he scored a goal recently in a match against the Manitoba Selects that was a flashback to 2023. The potential of more of that is exciting for a Valour squad always on the hunt for more offence.
THE YOUNG GUNS
One of the goals of the CPL is to be a developmental circuit for young domestic talent. That’s why the league has implemented a rule calling for each team to hit the 2,000 minute threshold for U-21 Canadians. Valour barely hit that quota last year, finishing with 2,013 minutes for U-21 domestics, the lowest total in the league.
Part of that was due to injuries, but the club also only had three U-21 players eligible in Abdul Binate, Joe Hanson and Juan-Pablo Sanchez — with none of that trio returning this year. The team has some legit options now with centre back Kelsey Egwu, who played with FC Edmonton in 2022 and last year was in Estonia, along with young Canadian/Romanian forward Erik Pop and midfielder/forward Myles Morgan, who comes to Winnipeg after being part of the Vancouver Whitecaps system.
Also flashing at times during preseason have been CPL U-Sports draft pick Ibrahim Chami, a 20-year-old fullback who played for McGill last year along with Lebanon in 2024 Olympic qualifiers, as well as AS Blainville in Ligue1 Quebec.
“There’s been a lot of positive signs,” said Dos Santos. “I’ve always said I want to play these guys in an organic way. We’ve got ourselves in a good spot.”