Phillip Dos Santos parachuted into Winnipeg less than 150 days ago, uncertain about what he would find when he landed into his gig as Valour FC’s new GM and head coach.
The date was September 23rd of last fall, and everything about his new surroundings was foreign. The city was new. He didn’t have a pre-existing relationship with most of the players and hadn’t worked before with assistant coaches Damian Rocke and Patrick Di Stefani.
On top of all that, the heat was on to instantly find some sort of formula to get Valour’s season back on the rails to chase down a Canadian Premier League playoff spot.
Ultimately, that pursuit came up one point short as Valour missed the playoffs for a third consecutive season, but it was what the squad showed in its sprint to the finish line – two wins and a draw in its final three — that has so many so enthusiastic as training camp is scheduled to open with testing and physicals on the weekend and the first on-field session coming Monday morning.
“It’s exciting,” began Dos Santos in a chat with valourfootball.club this week. “We worked hard this offseason and we feel we have a good blend of players and to see how all of that is going to come together is exciting – it’s like unwrapping a gift that you have an idea of what it is going to be, but you want confirmation. That’s how we see it.”
Rewind to late last September and Dos Santos felt he had two options as to how to approach the remainder of the season.
First option: he could watch, listen and learn while simply letting the rest of the campaign unfold and take stock along the way. Coaches brought in the middle of a season, after all, are given that kind of leeway upon their arrival.
Second option: he could immediately begin to implement and hammer home his own approaches and philosophies to the game, both on and off the pitch.
Dos Santos opted for #2.
“It was part of the plan last year when I arrived,” he said. “I remember having this talk with Damian and Patrick and the staff then – we have a choice to keep players in some sort of comfort zone and minimize the situation the team was in and just survive in that way without making a lot of changes. Or we could step in right away and try to make an imprint on things even though that can be challenging for players because there are so many changes.
“We still felt that was the way to go about it. Yes, the players are challenged, but at the same time you are creating a base, a platform for the following year. We decided we needed to do that and now we have a dozen or so players coming back knowing exactly what to expect and the type of demands we work with. There’s a head start there and that’s a good thing to have, even for the new players.
“Even with the new players and getting to know them remotely with Zoom calls we always make sure they have an understanding of what they are coming into here with us.”
Valour will open camp with 10 players who suited up for the club last year in defenders Stefan Cebara, Andrew Jean-Baptiste, Federico Pena, Andy Baquero, Rocco Romeo and Tony Mikhael, midfielders Daryl Fordyce and Raphael Ohin, winger William Akio and forward Moses Dyer.
That talent base – plus the return in the captaincy duo of Jean-Baptiste and Fordyce – is critical. But so, too, will be the influx of new blood as the club chases the first playoff berth in its existence.
The opening of camp is Step 1 in a long stretch before the club opens the 2022 CPL season on April 10th in Edmonton.
“We know it’s a long process,” said Dos Santos. “There’s phases to it, there’s layers to it, but we’re excited to step back on the field.
“It’s a long offseason. It’s unusual for a professional league to have such a long time without touching the field. Look at Major league… they ended after us and have already started for almost a month now. That creates a bit of a buzz for us. We’re always eager at this time of year to start.
“The second layer is when we get closer to the kickoff of the season or playing exhibition games and that will be another important step for us, too. But we like where we’re at right now and I can’t wait to get started.”
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Here’s a quick Valour training-camp preview:
WHO’S BACK:
-GK: Rayane Yesli (2021 U Sports Draft pick, spent part of last season with the team)
-D: Stefan Cebara, Andrew Jean Baptiste, Tony Mikhael; Federico Pena, Andy Baquero, Rocco Romeo
-MF: Daryl Fordyce, Raphael Ohin, Diego Gutiérrez (played for Valour in 2019-20).
-F/W: Moses Dyer, William Akio
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FYI:
-Dos Santos said the club is still in discussions with CF Montreal about the possibility of loans that would again include GK Jonathan Sirois and midfielder Sean Rea.
Sirois was named the CPL’s Golden Glove winner as the league’s top goalkeeper in 2021. Rea, meanwhile, led Valour with four assists and had two goals and the four helpers in 25 matches, including the two Canadian Championship contests in 2021.
“Nothing new. Same situation,” said Dos Santos on the possible loan agreements. “We’re waiting and we’re good with our decision. We feel we’re good with Rayane as a strong alternative. We have our full trust in him.
“But we’re also going to wait (on Sirois) and feel like we have an obligation to wait because we would hate to see him another club on a loan because we weren’t patient.
“Sometimes this is the way the business works and whoever is willing to hold and be patient can be rewarded. That’s what we’re doing in this situation.”
-Valour doesn’t expect Jean-Baptiste to be ready to go to start camp as he works to fully recover from the ACL/meniscus injury he suffered early last season.
-Chilean forward Walter Ponce https://valourfc.canpl.ca/article/we-think-hes-someone-who-could-bring-high-rewards-to-the-club-valour-fc-adds-walter-ponce and Colombian midfielder Daniel Ascanio https://valourfc.canpl.ca/article/hes-a-player-who-is-rare-in-our-market-with-a-profile-you-dont-get-every-day-here won’t be in Winnipeg for the start of camp as the club waits for their visa/work permits to be completed.
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WHO’S NEW:
–D Jonathan Esparza
-MF: Daniel Ascanio, Matteo de Brienne, Raine Lyn (2022 U Sports Draft pick), Jacob Carlos (2022 U Sports Draft pick)
-F Alessandro Riggi, Walter Ponce
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WHO ISN’T RETURNING
-GK: Matt Silva
-D: Amir Soto, Rodrigo Reyes, Arnold Bouka Moutou
-MF: José Galán, Brett Levis, Masta Kacher, Jared Ulloa, Keven Alemán, MF Rafael Galhardo
-F: Austin Ricci