They’ve put four weeks of training into the rear-view mirror, and now it’s all eyes forward in Valour FC’s push toward the opening of the 2022 Canadian Premier League season.
The club heads out to Victoria, B.C. on Monday – not just for a change of scenery and a break from the frigid conditions here – but for three preseason matches in the build-up to the opener on April 10th in northern Alberta against FC Edmonton.
So now seems as good a time as any to evaluate what’s been done and what is on the horizon for Winnipeg’s professional soccer side.
Here’s what you need to know as the squad heads west:
PROGRESS REPORT
Valour will embark to B.C. with all but two players currently with the team, as defender Andrew Jean-Baptiste and midfielder Raphael Ohin will remain in Winnipeg to rehab injuries – Jean-Baptiste still recovering from offseason knee surgery while Ohin is dealing with a lower-body injury.
Also travelling with the club to Victoria will be triallists Caden Tomy, Aaron Hidalgo-Mazzei and 2022 U-Sports Draft pick Jacob Carlos. Third goalkeeper Evan Barker will not make the trip.
“I like our progression and I’ve said it multiple times,” said Valour GM and head coach Phillip Dos Santos. “In preseason you always want to lay down a fitness foundation and we always want to prioritize the tactical acquisition and making sure the guys understand how we behave on the field. Then it’s about reinforcing that so that they do it almost without thinking.
“We’ve had four very good weeks of training. A few setbacks with an injury or two, but that’s part of the process. We’re happy where we’re at right now with the team.”
INTERNATIONALS UPDATE
Valour is still waiting for the arrival of Chilean forward Walter Ponce and Colombian midfielder Daniel Ascanio, both signed, and possibly one more international player. Ponce and Ascanio were not expected to be in Winnipeg for the opening of camp, but the hope is they will be with the squad before the opener in Edmonton.
“There’s good news coming with guys joining the team, guys that we’re waiting on for paperwork,” Dos Santos said. “All of that is important so that when we arrive on the 10th, we’re ready to go. We know that it’s a long season. It’s all building blocks.
“Every day that passes means we’re a bit closer (to having Ponce and Ascanio here). That’s how I see it. We’re hopeful that in the next couple of weeks we’ll have some positive news. It’s a process. We’re still in the window and so we’re waiting on that.
“The good thing is they’re training, they’re keeping fit, and I feel like when they get here they’ll just hit the ground running and when they start working with the team.
“There’s going to be an adaptation process with them understanding how we want them to behave in the different situations on the field. We want to have them here and then we’ll go day by day, week by week.”
GETTING CLOSER
Asked if he felt Valour FC had all the pieces it needed in place, Dos Santos added:
“We’re there. Once AJB (Jean-Baptiste) gets back, once we have everyone in that we initially targeted and signed… we’re happy. We feel we’re doubled in every position.
“We have depth at every position and that’s what we worked for. It’s not a surprise. It’s something we targeted. We went into the offseason with a clear idea and model that we wanted to bring to this team and an identity that we wanted to build and we recruited accordingly to that.”
THE VICTORIA SCHEDULE
Valour will tentatively play its’ first preseason match on Tuesday against York United, followed by contests against Pacific FC and Vancouver Whitecaps 2 of MLS NEXT.
“It’s good to play games,” said Dos Santos. “The real test is when you start to play games, when you start seeing against real competition how the guys react, how they apply. Here at training you’re doing things, but you’re always playing against each other, and they both get the same message and they almost understand how the guys in front of them are going to behave in relation to a certain situation.
“So now it’s good to do it and test ourselves against good competition, against a team or two we’ll play against this season. I’m looking forward to that.”
THE BATTLE FOR JOBS
The preseason games won’t just be about tactics and fitness, as it will also be a chase for the Valour FC coaching staff to continuing tinkering with ideas for a starting XI.
“When you start playing there starts to be a separation, you start to get closer to what the team could be like on the 10th and so on,” said Dos Santos. “You see how guys are responding and, yes, it’s a competitive environment. You have to make the guys aware of that every day. Players that at their best at any given time are the ones that are going to be on the field to help the team win. We need to remind them of that and when you start playing games that’s when that separation is made. Who’s ready to go? Who’s acquired more in a short window of time? Who’s ready to apply and help the team in the different moments? Only games evaluate that.
“It’s a healthy competition. We have a lot of options this year and games allow you to view who responds better to certain things and who is in a better moment. Football and sports are about the moment. You can go into a preseason thinking that Individual A, when you pencil in your lineup, should be in the lineup. But at the end of the day every season is a new season, every week is a new week and whoever is going to be better at any given moment is most likely going to play.”
ROCK ‘N ROLL FOOTBALL
Dos Santos has used the term a few times in camp as a hint as to the attacking style he wants the squad to play in ’22. Asked to explain it further he offered this:
“We understand that we have to out-work the opposition. We have to take joy and pride in defending and when we get the ball we also have to value it, but in a way where we’re not overly conservative. We’re trying to attack the spaces and we’re trying to always threaten the opposition.
“Even if sometimes it looks chaotic it doesn’t matter. I want our players to understand the more you’re in the opposition’s face you make it difficult for them and the better chances you’re going to have to win. That’s what I mean when I talk about a ‘rock n’ roll’ game. I don’t want us to be passive. I want us to be extremely aggressive on and off the ball and I feel the pieces we have here have that in nature, it’s part of their profile.
“I want us to be an exciting team for our fans, but not exciting at all costs. I want us to win, first and foremost, but I think you can bring both together and that’s what we want to build here.”
Dos Santos was then asked what bands he would personally select for the soundtrack to Valour’s rock ‘n roll style of play.
“Welcome to the Jungle,” he said. “Guns N’ Roses are from my earlier years, but I listen to everything. I love everything. I listen to everything. I go from jazz to classical to rock n’ roll to anything.
“Let’s go.”