There were any number of reasons pointing at Valour FC’s absence from the Canadian Premier League playoffs in 2021, but the most obvious is right there in the black and white of their defensive statistics.

And those numbers, to be blunt, were all over the map in last year’s 28 matches.

Case in point: Valour finished tied for second in the CPL with Cavalry FC with 10 clean sheets and only Forge FC, with 11, had more.

And yet Valour’s 1.29 goals-per-match-conceded total ranked fifth in the league – which is exactly where the club finished in the standings, one point out of a playoff spot.

“If we’re looking back to last year, most of the goals we conceded or in certain games where we gave up critical points we’re mostly because of our mistakes,” said centre back Rocco Romeo. “It wasn’t consistently a team breaking us down or doing good combination play, it was more so us shooting ourselves in the foot. That’s something Phil (Dos Santos, Valour GM and head coach) has really emphasized to us defenders – take no risks in our half, do what’s necessary to get the ball forward.

“Our job is to defend first. We’re defenders before anything else and that’s the mentality all of us have in us: minimize our individual mistakes as much as possible.”

Valour returns some key components to the back line in addition to Romeo, who joined the club last July after the season had started. Veteran Andrew Jean-Baptiste – arguably the CPL’s best player last year before a knee injury cost him the rest of his campaign – is back training with the club after offseason surgery and could be back within the next month or so.

Also returning is veteran Stefan Cebara, who led the club in minutes played after moving inside to centre back, sophomore Tony Mikhael, and fullbacks Andy Baquero and Federico Pena.

Joining that crew is fullback Johnny Esparza, who spent last year with the Chattanooga Red Wolves in USL League One.

“I think we’re going to be very solid,” said Romeo. “Even in the preseason games in B.C. we were very solid and getting up the field and the communication on the back line and the team in front of us was all very good.

“All the defenders we have, we all love defending. We all want that clean sheet for our group and for the team.”

Even with some of the inconsistencies last season, Valour has made significant improvements in its defending since 2019 and its inaugural year. Valour had just six clean sheets in ’19 and surrendered a league-worst 52 goals, or 1.86 per game.

That number was cut dramatically for the seven-game Island Games tournament in 2020 with a 1.29 average, the exact same total as last season.

“Maybe there were times earlier last season where we, as players, got too comfortable thinking we could get away with things,” Romeo said. “In my opinion we were guilty sometimes of over-playing in our half when we should have cleared the ball or a little mistake here and there.

“Phillip has a very strict way in how he wants things done. To get an opportunity for the coach you have to do things right consistently and I think that mentality is going to push us far.”

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THE DEFENDERS (Centre-backs, fullbacks)

Andy Baquero

Ht: 5-8; Born: 8/17/94

Nationality: Cuba

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Stefan Cebara

Ht: 6-2; Born: 4/12/91

Nationality: Canada/Croatia

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Johnny Esparza

Ht: 5-8; Born: 7/9/99

Nationality: USA

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Andrew Jean-Baptiste

Ht: 6-2; Born: 6/16/92

Nationality: Haiti/United States

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Tony Mikhael

Ht: 6-0; Born: 3/1/00

Nationality: Canada/Lebanon

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Federico Pena

Ht: 5-9; Born: 3/30/99

Nationality: Canada/Trinidad & Tobago

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Rocco Romeo

Ht: 6-2; Born: 3/25/00

Nationality: Canada

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NOTABLE VALOUR FC DEFENDER NUMBERS

10

Clean sheets for Valour in 28 regular-season matches last season, tied for second in the league. Of note, six of those clean sheets came in the first seven matches, with only four coming in the final 21 games of the year.

+11/-7

Valour’s goal-differential was a whopping +11 through the first seven games last season but was -7 the rest of the year.

8-1-4

Valour’s record – eight wins, one draw, four losses — in games in which Andrew Jean-Baptiste has started over the last two seasons.

Of note, the club’s goal differential is +10 in over those games with a goals-conceded-per-match average of just .615.

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THE GAFFER SAYS

Valour GM and head coach Phillip Dos Santos assesses the defenders:

“We’re happy with where we stand with the back line. A good team that defends well, it’s always the sum of the parts. It’s never the individuals, it’s how we defend collectively front to back. But having the pieces to make the plays and make the right decisions at the right time is very important. We have a good nucleus, and the core of our backline is very strong.

“We were able to continue with a duo in Stefan and Rocco that had some ups and downs last year, but they’re two guys that played many games together and it’s a good base for us to work with this season.

“We always knew AJB (Jean-Baptiste) would be a signing for us, and we have Tony, a younger player who is trying to push and get his ground. And at fullback we kept Andy and Feds and brought in Jonathan, who didn’t come into preseason well physically, but is picking it up now.”

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