The Forward Press: ATO Faces Stern Road Test in York United
One of the tougher stretches of the season gets rolling on Friday night as Atlético Ottawa travels to York Lions Stadium to face bogey team York United. York, which sits second in the table and five points back of the capital city club, always seems to get one over on Atlético Ottawa at the most inopportune of times. Key to York's success this season has been the bounce provided by new manager Benjamín Mora, who has the Toronto side flourishing in a noteworthy back-five formation. Brian Wright has also been performing under Mora, sitting second in scoring behind Rubén Del Campo. Atleti will be looking to exact revenge on Wright and York after the former-ATO striker celebrated scoring a brace at TD Place a month ago in a 2-1 win. González will be able to call on a full roster at York Lions Stadium bar his two long-term absences, though he provided a full update on the status of Max Tissot in the pre-match presser. González and his squad will also be backed by the presence of the first of two ATO road trips, with González speaking on his pleasure for the traveling support. To buy tickets to the next road trip to Forge on August 10, click here. Here are all the quotes prematch ahead of ATO’s match with York United FC:
The Quotes: Carlos González
On impressions of York: “They are starting to be a very solid team in the two boxes. They are a ruthless team and a team that don't concede too much in their own field because collectively, they are defending really well. I can see a big commitment in all of them…This is the type of team we're going to face tomorrow.”
On York's back-five formation: “This makes them a team that in some moments is difficult to press high because they increase the numbers on the building areas. So when you put more numbers on the building areas, you have more solutions there. So for teams that are going to try to press them high, it starts to be a little bit harder. But also, at the end of the day, it's a team that, although they press you high in certain moments, then after that, they are a very compact team with a five and a four and they are solid. This [back line is] giving them solidness and a collective power that maybe with another system, they didn't have.”
On building from last season: “Last season was a tough season, we learned a lot. And this season has been at the moment a better season, but also we are learning in different ways. At the end of the day, we acknowledge that although we've done a great first part of the season, now we are fighting in the most important part of the season. Nothing has been done. We have to maintain consistency. We have to maintain the humbleness of the team. We have to maintain our focus on a daily basis in work with certain standards that we've set since the beginning. It's an internal fight.”
On instilling a never-say-die mentality: “These type of things, I always say that you can work on them, but it's quite difficult to change it completely. You have to have it inside. And I think that the personnel that we have is very mature personnel with high motivation to do great things for the club and for themselves. And at the end of the day, this is what we wanted to have in the field, ambitious people and a winner mentality.”
On the long-term injury to Maxim Tissot: “He's improving little by little. And I hope that we have him soon in the team dynamic in which he can start to have feelings collectively so that he can be a good addition for the team…I don't think that we should say dates because at the end of the day, this is an injury that takes a little bit of time and it's going to be on his own feelings.”
The Big Takeaway: A Message for the Travelers
With 40 or so Atleti fans making the twelve-hour voyage from TD to the GTA and back again, Carlos was asked his initial feelings in hearing about the fans attending the critical top-of-the-table match. Here was González's message to the supporters in attendance:
“I'm very grateful. I think it's an extra boost of energy for the team seeing the fans spending money, spending time coming into York to push the team and to support. So we have to give extra not only for us, also for those people that are coming.
As I said, I'm very happy to have a bunch of spectators there with Atleti t-shirts and supporting the team. We hope we can do a great game. We can bounce from a not-the-best performance that we did the last weekend and at the end of the day, celebrate together if it's possible at the end.
So this is what we are trying to go for, for a game in which we give our best and then we make people that drive to York stadium at the end of the day proud of the level of the team.”
Safe travels for those attending the match. For those who aren’t, feel free to swing by the GCP to grab a drink and catch the match with fellow Atleti supporters here in Ottawa. We hope to see you there!
About the Author
Ben Ralph is a die-hard football fan and a journalism student at Carleton. He has been supporting Everton through the ups and downs (but mostly the downs) and could not believe his luck when he stumbled across Atlético Ottawa in 2021. Now part of the Atleti faithful, his dream has always been to write football stories, and he is excited to join other fans as writers for CCSG. His football journalist idols are Adam Hurrey, James Richardson, and Charlie Eccleshare from The Football Cliches Podcast.
