They have been the Canadian Premier League’s almost squad the last two seasons, with their occasional moments of brilliance ultimately not quite enough when the playoffs opened.
And so, after two straight fifth-place finishes which left them just outside the postseason line, Valour GM and head coach Phillip Dos Santos vowed last fall to make changes.
“We’re at almost,” he told valourfootball.club last November. “Too many times there are people that go a full life and are almost. Sometimes we need to take risks and look at what’s the next level.”
Dos Santos & Co. took those risks in the offseason, with sweeping changes to the Valour roster that will be on full display when the fifth season in franchise history opens Sunday afternoon in Toronto against York United FC.
A whopping 16 players who played at least one match last season are no longer with the club, including all-time leading scorer Moses Dyer, now with FC Tulsa in USL Championship and dynamic attacker Sean Rea – the CPL’s U-21 Player of the Year – who was on loan last year from CF Montreal and is now playing in the MLS.
And yet there is a certain vibe about this 2023 squad that is palpable. It is a quiet confidence that comes from a returning core, mixed with CPL veterans and fresh, new faces.
“I feel that, too,” began Dos Santos after training on Friday. “The biggest response, though, is not what they say, it’s what I see through training. I like the intensity and the quality that is shown and their response and understanding. That’s what excites me.
“So, the vibe is good, but it’s also a byproduct of the guys trusting each other and feeling good about what’s happening on the field.”
Valour finished last year with 10 wins and seven draws against 11 defeats, with the 37 points representing a franchise record. Yet, the club managed just one point in its final five matches and in the process tumbled out of the playoff picture, despite finishing in a fourth-place tie for goals conceded (1.21 per match) and fourth in goals scored per match at 1.29.
Interestingly, the CPL has implemented a new page-playoff format in 2023 that will now see five teams quality for the postseason.
“This team has this in its mind: we need to make the playoffs,” said veteran right back Andy Baquero. “That’s our only objective for now. We’ll go game by game, of course, but this city and these fans, our families and the team, we need the playoffs. It’s key.”
“Look, we need to believe that we’re able to get to a playoff spot,” Dos Santos added. “I don’t like to talk beyond that. I look at the group and the quality we have… we need to be optimistic and embrace each game as one we can win. The margins are so small in the league. Every team has good players. Every team has good structure and is well coached. There is a component of approaching each day with desire and embracing the challenges that are going to come to you and then a willingness to execute on a daily basis what is proposed.
“Whoever is going to find that consistency is going to have an edge. So, do I believe we could be there? Absolutely, I do — 100 percent.”
Valour looks to have built – on paper, at least – a deeper and more mature side. That depth will be immediately put to the test this week, with Sunday’s season opener in Toronto followed on Wednesday by the first round of the Canadian Championship in Vancouver against TSS Rovers, a League1 British Columbia side.
Three days later will be Valour’s home opener on Saturday, April 22nd vs. Atlético Ottawa, with a 6 p.m. start.
“This is a really solid group,” said veteran midfielder Raphael Ohin, who has been with Valour since the team’s inception in 2019 but missed all of last year with a knee injury. “This is probably going to be one of the best teams we’ve ever had. At the beginning it was just a bunch of individual players. But over the last eight weeks or so the pieces have come together and we’re really happy with what we’ve seen in practice.
“I like what I see. It’s all about character and attitude. If you want to be a successful team, you have to have players with the right mindset. Credit to the coaches – they’ve done a really good job in the offseason of bringing in good character, players that want to listen and do the job, players that want to be here for the team and not for themselves.
“As the saying goes, the team comes before the player. So far, so good.”
No team in the CPL dropped more points from winning positions last year – 22 – than Valour, according to the league. At the same time, they earned just one point from a losing position.
Clearly, that must change, and it starts with consistency. That 0-1-4 stretch at the end of last season was preceded by a 5-1-1 run that included back-to-back wins over CPL powerhouse Forge FC and a 1-0 decision over 2021 CPL champion Pacific FC.
One moment the club was talking about a championship run, the next they were involved in exit meetings the same week the playoffs began.
“There’s a winning mentality here,” said CPL veteran forward Anthony Novak, who has experience with both Forge and Cavalry FC. “It’s about let’s take this game by game, rack up as many points as we can and put ourselves in a great position to not just be in the playoffs. That’s an important shift in the mindset.
“When Phil came in, he started to build a team that was more difficult to play against, a problem team for other teams. Look at their record against Forge the past couple of seasons. They came to Cavalry when I was there and beat us. Those are performances that just need to be replicated now. The foundation is there, and we’ve got some good pieces.”
Another area that needs improvement, with the first test coming Sunday, is the club’s road record: Valour was just 3-3-8 (win-draw-loss) away from IG Field a year ago.
Yet with so many changes, last year isn’t just a distant memory for some, it’s inconsequential for most.
“What’s most exciting for me – and it’s what I saw in the last stretch of the preseason – is the battle component we have in the game,” said veteran defender Abdou Samake, who joins the team from Pacific. “We know we have the quality, guys who are tremendous on the ball and can create for us, guys who have flair and create chances. Now, the other part is – at least, the way I see it – is when you go into a game one team is going to be the bully and the other team is going to be bullied more often than not. Otherwise, it’s going to be a direct clash. From what I’ve seen, if we have the right attitude we can be in the position where we’re always on the front foot and being the bully or, at least, not being put down. That’s very exciting.
“I’m so excited,” Samake continued. “It’s crazy to see how far we’ve come as a team just in the two months of being here. We’re coming together and off the pitch we’re all friends. We really are. We really care about each other. On the pitch we’re very demanding of each other and that’s what makes a great team – the accountability factor.”
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WHO’S IN/OUT
Returning from 2022:
-D Andy Baquero
-D Matteo de Brienne
-MF Diego Gutiérrez
-D Andrew Jean-Baptiste
-MF Raphael Ohin
-F Walter Poncé
-MF Kevin Rendón
-GK Rayane Yesli
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New Faces:
–MF Dante Campbell – Played with the club in the 2020 Island Games; spent last season with the L.A. Galaxy II
–D Matthew Chandler – Captained University of Wisconsin’s team last year
–D Jordan Haynes – CPL vet with 50 matches over the last three seasons with Pacific FC
-D Eskander Mzoughi – Born in Montreal, represented Tunisia internationally at the U-20 level and spent last season with Oud-Heverlee Leuven in Belgium First Division.
-F Pacifique Niyongabire – Member of Burundi national team; previously with Perth Glory FC in Australia
-F Anthony Novak – Veteran forward brings experience from his days with Forge FC (2019-20) and Cavalry FC (2021). Coming off an injury that cost him all of 2022
-CB Guillaume Pianelli – Nicknamed ‘The Corsican Bull’, Pianelli – born in Corsica – was selected by Valour fifth overall in the 2023 CPL U-Sports Draft after spending three seasons with the Université du Québec a Trois-Rivieres
-MF Marcello Polisi – Defensive midfielder who spent last two years with HFX Wanderers.
-D Abdou Samaké – Physical, vocal centre back who spent three years with Pacific FC and helped them win the league title in 2021.
-MF Juan-Pablo Sanchez – One of the club’s four domestic U-21 players – along with de Brienne, Mzoughi and Jared Ulloa – he spent last two years in Portugal with SC Salgueiros
-F Jaime Siaj – Jordanian/Spanish forward who was last with Finn Harps FC of the Legue of Ireland Premier Division. Drafted in the third round by Colorado Rapids in the 2017 MLS Super Draft
-GK Jordan Tisseur – Has experience with FC Laval and the Université de Montreal, helping the school win a bronze in the U-Sports National Championship
–F Jared Ulloa – Played with Valour in 2021; spend last season with Cusco FC in Liga 2, Peruvian Football League
-F Kian Williams – Englishman who began his youth career with Leicester City and spend last season with Keflavik in Iceland
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Au Revoir:
-GK Jonathan Sirois
-MF Sean Rea
-D Brett Levis
-D Rocco Romeo
-D/MF Stefan Cebara
-MF Daryl Fordyce (now a member of the coaching staff)
-MF Matthew Catavolo
-F Moses Dyer
-F Alex Riggi
-MF Billy Forbes
-MF Daniel Ascanio
-MF Jacob Carlos
-D Johnny Esparza
-D Tony Mikhael
-D Federico Pena
-D Nassim Mekideche