It was late last October — and not long after Valour FC had been officially eliminated from the Canadian Premier League playoff discussion — when Phillip Dos Santos busted out the scalpel and got busy with an autopsy on his squad.
Almost immediately Valour’s GM and head coach had one of his concerns confirmed: the midfield position needed an overhaul.
And so, as we continue with the next installment in our Valour Positional Preview, let’s officially consider the midfield makeover complete.
“That’s an area where I felt last year we were fragile in quality, because when you start using players over and over there is accumulated fatigue,” said Dos Santos after a training session earlier this week. “Competition brings quality, and it was something I wanted to address in the offseason. Very often last year we had to drop a player like (Moses) Dyer into that role and we lacked a bit of experience in our midfield depth.
“We look at what we have this year with the addition of (Marcello) Polisi and Dante (Campbell) and Juan Pablo (Sanchez) and the return of Raph Ohin – those are four pieces we didn’t have last year. For me, it’s the area of the field we have upgraded the most and really put ourselves in a position to sustain performance throughout the season.”
Polisi brings two years and 32 matches of CPL experience with HFX Wanderers while Campbell, who was with Valour during the 2020 Island Games, played 30 matches last season with LA Galaxy II in MLS Next Pro.
Getting Ohin back is massive, too. Nicknamed ‘The Rhino’ for his work in the midfield, he missed all last season due to a knee injury.
“Raph is just different,” said Dos Santos with a grin. “You just can’t recreate Raph because of his ability to cover ground, but with intensity. That allows the team to be more aggressive on the press and on the ball, he plays with that same intensity and aggressiveness.
“Being off for one year actually improved his IQ for the game because he had a chance to sit back and breathe a little bit. He channelled his energy the right way and found a balance between covering ground and being tactically sound for the position. He’s matured a lot. He’s going to be an important player for this team, not only for his quality, but for what he brings emotionally because he breathes and understands the club.”
Sunday’s season opener on the road against York United FC will be Ohin’s first real action since the final game against FC Edmonton in 2021.
“I’m so excited,” said Ohin. It’s what I’ve been thinking about the whole week. It’s finally here. Let’s just go get it. It will be an emotional game but, at the same time, I’m just happy to be playing again.
“And this team… the coaches have done a great job with the depth. This is a team now where if someone is going out and someone is coming in you have zero doubt that the next guy is going to do his job. That’s what you really need if you want to compete – you have to have lots of quality on the team.”
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THE MIDFIELDERS
Dante Campbell
Ht: 5-7; Born: 5/22/1999
Nationality: Canada
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Diego Gutiérrez
Ht: 5-11; Born: 2/18/1997
Nationality: Canada
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Raphael Ohin
Ht: 5-7; Born: 5/25/1995
Nationality: Ghana
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Marcello Polisi
Ht: 5-10; Born: 1/24/1997
Nationality: Canada
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Kevin Rendón
Ht: 6-0; Born: 1/8/1993
Nationality: Colombia
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Juan Pablo Sanchez
Ht: 5-10; Born: 4/18/2003
Nationality: Canada
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NOTABLE VALOUR FC MIDFIELDER NUMBERS
26.4/156
Aside from the rookie, Juan Pablo Sanchez, Valour’s midfield is one of the most-experienced units on the squad with an average age of 26.4 years.
As well, Diego Gutiérrez (54 matches), Raphael Ohin (53), Marcell Polisi (32), Kevin Rendón (12) and Dante Campbell (5) combine to have played in 156 CPL matches.
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526
Sunday’s match against York will mark Ohin’s first appearance for Valour FC since the 2021 regular season finale on November 6, 2021 – a span of 526 days.
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NEXT: The Valour FC forwards
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PREVIOUS:
-The Defenders: https://valourfc.canpl.ca/article/valour-2023-preview-the-defenders
-The Keepers: https://valourfc.canpl.ca/article/valour-2023-preview-the-keepers