There are algorithms and formulas, heat maps and charts nnnnthat would undoubtedly reveal all the Valour FC’s shortcomings which kept them out of the Canadian Premier League’s playoff picture a year ago.
There’s an easy answer, too, and it goes like this: the team simply surrendered too many goals, with many of them coming in critical moments.
“We’re a team that had we conceded 5-7 less goals, we probably would have been in a playoff spot,” said Valour GM and head coach Phillip Dos Santos. “If I’m not mistaken, we’re the team that lost more points (22) once we had achieved a lead than anyone else in the league. That’s something we’ve looked at. Once we have that lead, how can we now make sure we don’t concede and lock that down?
“So, we knew we wanted something different. Even though we went through a good spell last year where the team was hard to break down, defending is a collective, not only just the back line. We still saw in our game some deficiencies we wanted to address in the offseason.”
Gone are some familiar faces from the back line over Valour’s four years of existence, including Brett Levis, Stefan Cebara, Rocco Romeo, Federico Pena and Nassim Mekideche. Valour FC has added some intriguing players in their places, including former Pacific FC defenders Abdou Samake and Jordan Haynes, towering centre backs Guillaume Pianelli (6-3) and Matthew Chandler (6-6) along with 19-year-old prospect Eskander Mzoughi, who has had international experience with the Tunisian U-20 side, but was born in Montreal.
They join a back line still led by veteran Andrew Jean-Baptiste – although he has been out of training recently due to injury — along with right back Andy Baquero and Matteo de Brienne, who has been moved from the attack to left back.
“There were a lot of things we saw in the team and the way we approached certain moments of the game last season that we knew we couldn’t stay with the status quo,” Dos Santos said. “We wanted players who could bring us different answers.
“You look at guys like Abdou and Jordan who we brought in, they’re very different players than what we had last year. They’re players who embrace their defensive roles in very responsible manners. They don’t commit many mistakes and we wanted guys who would show that responsibility in the way they defence and inject new blook into what we have.
“Not taking anything away from the guys who were here last year, but on paper we’re happy with what we have. But the truth is now. Now we’re going to see how they respond to the pressures the game brings.”
Critical to the back line makeover was added players with CPL experience like Haynes and Samake. In addition, the club has been further bolstered by the addition of defensive midfielders like Dante Campbell and Marcello Polisi, both with CPL games to their name and the versatility to drop back.
“We have a lot of personality and guys coming from all different backgrounds – right from university and from all sorts of experiences,” said Samake. “We have guys willing to step up now and tell each other what needs to be done and how to be accountable. That’s the thing I’ve noticed the most and it leads to a very strong back line.
“The back line works very much as a unit and to be in sync you have to understand the cues when we see the opposition doing something and then how do we move and respond as a unit instead of each with our own mind. That’s something we’ve worked on all preseason – really being as one – and it’s really coming together now.”
Again, improving the defensive numbers doesn’t have to be complicated. Better communication, more depth and versatility – plus the maturity that comes from experience – could be massive for Valour’s back line this season.
“We’ve got a good mix of experience and young players and we’re trying to fix the mistakes from last year,” said Baquero. “We have a good synchronization in our group and it’s something we’re always working at.
“It’s a long season. We have this versatility in our back line and that’s good. We have to work on not making a lot of mistakes. Unfortunately, we conceded some goals last year because of mistakes in the back line. If we can avoid that, we’re going to have more wins.”
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THE DEFENDERS (Centre-backs, fullbacks)
Andy Baquero
Ht: 5-8; Born: 8/17/1994
Nationality: Cuba
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Matthew Chandler
Ht: 6-6; Born: 2/7/2000
Nationality: Canada
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Matteo de Brienne
Ht: 5-6; Born: 5/22/2002
Nationality: Canada
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Jordan Haynes
Ht: 5-10; Born: 1/17/1996
Nationality: Canada
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Andrew Jean-Baptiste
Ht: 6-1; Born: 6/16/1992
Nationality: Haiti/United States
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Eskander Mzoughi
Ht: 5-8; Born: 2/6/2003
Nationality: Canada
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Guillaume Pianelli
Ht: 6-3; Born: 5/1/1998
Nationality: France
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Abdoulaye Samake
Ht: 6-1; Born: 10/7/1996
Nationality: Canada
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NOTABLE VALOUR FC DEFENDER NUMBERS
1.21
Valour conceded 34 goals in 28 matches this season, for an average of 1.21 per contest – fourth best in the CPL and the lowest in franchise history.
Yet… eight of those 34 goals came in the last three matches of the year, all losses, that led to the club’s playoff hopes vanishing
9
Clean sheets for Valour in 2022 – five with Jonathan Sirois in goal and four backed by Rayane Yesli in his nine starts. Interestingly, a third of those came during a stretch from August 28-September 4th when Valour posted three straight 1-nil wins – two over Forge FC and the third over Pacific FC. But the club did not keep the ball out of the back of its net in any of the final five matches.
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NEXT: The Valour FC midfielders
PREVIOUS: The Keepers: https://valourfc.canpl.ca/article/valour-2023-preview-the-keepers