There’s no sense sugar-coating it, so Valour FC GM and head coach Phillip Dos Santos won’t offer up any sunshine and rainbow explanations here.
Valour FC has reached a critical part of its Canadian Premier League season and, to be blunt, it’s time to start stringing together some results.
Fresh from a mini break in the schedule that will see them go 11 days between games, Valour is on the road Sunday for a critical match against York United FC, followed by a trip to Hamilton three days later for a visit to Forge FC.
“We had a good talk with the team. We worked, we trained well, we know what the problems are that we’re holding us back,” said Dos Santos. “Now we have to respond.
“We are going onto the road for two games against two good teams and we can’t give them anything. If we lose the game because the opposition is better throughout the 90 minutes I’m OK with that. What I don’t want is for us to lose games where we’re there with them neck and neck and we end up giving them the win.”
Valour is winless in five matches – three losses against two draws – and is currently seven points out of a playoff spot. They will have veteran centre back Andrew Jean-Baptiste back in the lineup after his return from the Haitian national team, while midfielder Diego Gutiérrez will be back after serving a one-game suspension for yellow-card violations, But the team will be without midfielder Matthew Catavolo, who is with Canada’s U-20 squad, while Daryl Fordyce was questionable to travel when they depart on Saturday.
Two newcomers – Colombian midfielders Kevin Rendón and Daniel Ascanio – will travel with the team, but not be able to suit up until Valour’s next home match against HFX Wanderers on July 10th. Rendón is serving a three-game FIFA suspension from league play in Colombia, while Ascanio was still dealing with some visa issues.
Dos Santos & Co. still trained during the 11 days between matches – the club had two days off after their 4-2 loss to Cavalry FC, practised for four, took another day, and then will be on the pitch for four straight leading into Sunday.
“The time was good. It allowed us to reflect a lot,” he said. “We did a return on the last few games and started to prepare on the game ahead of us.
“But we have to stop being victims of our own mistakes. It’s easy to say, ‘We’re close. We’re getting there.’ But when you look at the games and you see individual mistakes being repeated and the players raise their hands and say, ‘Yeah, I get it, I was at fault here’ you still have to hold yourself accountable and you can’t repeat those mistakes.
“Otherwise, it’s hard to win games consistently.”
The recent additions of the three new international players – Ascanio, Rendon and Chilean forward Walter Ponce – has bolstered the team’s depth. Dos Santos is already seeing the benefits in training and is eager to see that soon when the trio are eligible to play.
“Having almost everyone healthy and good to play brings competition,” he said. “There needs to be an understanding that it’s not OK to make mistakes. You don’t want to develop a culture where it’s OK. You need to develop a culture where people hold themselves accountable, including us as a staff. I’m very hard on ourselves when we’re assessing the team and making decisions about the team.
“Our chances are better when we have everyone available and that’s when we’ll really assess this team. We like the place we’re in because we’re seeing the competition in training.”
Four of Valour’s next five matches are on the road, with that stretch to be followed by what could be another critical chunk of the schedule – from July 30-September 4 the squad will be home for six of seven matches.
“Right now it’s about us doing our job and not relying on other teams’ results,” he said. “We have to keep it like that and that we stay in the run and start closing the gap on the first four teams in the standings.”