They say you should never fall in love with loan players. Fool me twice, shame on me. From the moment David Rodríguez first took to the pitch at TD Place on a cold and rainy April afternoon against the Halifax Wanderers, you knew he was going to be something special.
Perspective. It is so difficult to maintain it when experiencing the sheer emotion that comes with supporting a club. The reactionary take is such because it’s always the first thing that comes to mind. I often project the worst case scenario into my brain before anything else, especially in
Familiarity. What ATO saw from York United on Sunday produced a terrible sense of nostalgia in the pit of my stomach, and likely all of yours as well. Seeing opposing teams employ the tactics that we were effectively implementing in 2022 is both encouraging and frustrating – encouraging as it brings
Comprehensive. In all facets of the game on Friday, Atlético Ottawa were just that. Come the end of the second half, there was a relative comfort that emanated from the stands at TD Place. Even with the moments of nerves, as the Wanderers continued to send their chances wide of
Chaos. To ascribe any other word to this game would do it a disservice. Atlético Ottawa’s first win away to York United since the first organized road trip on July 22nd, 2022, has seen the club go through to the Semi-Finals of the Voyageur’s Cup for the first
Stability. Even through the first ten games of the season, you could argue that the team was stable up front in and amongst some chaos in the back. As the young players really began to settle themselves into their role, which maybe took a tad longer than it otherwise would
Perseverance. In the face of a woeful run of form, with a team that seemingly couldn’t find a way to keep the ball out of their own net, despite still being lethal going forward, Atlético Ottawa finally managed to keep their first clean sheet of the 2025 season against
Expectations. Atlético Ottawa’s relationship with them has been tumultuous to say the least. Last year, heightened expectations made a difficult run into the end of the season even more unpalatable for the supporters. The opening stretch of this season has set ATO up for a similar level of disappointment.
Defeat. It was bound to happen, and it’s always difficult to tell if you’d rather it occurs as a result of a bad performance or as a result of just not being able to convert when you’re the better team They each have their respective lessons that
Frustration. Every season is going to bring it at some point, and we’ve been fortunate to largely avoid that emotion through the first quarter of the season. Tuesday morning/afternoon against Forge, that frustration was felt through the individual, collective, and organizational level of fans, players, and coaches alike
Prolific. Prior to 2025, it’s certainly not a word you would use to describe Atlético Ottawa. On Saturday, the new reputation was cemented as the home team put five goals past Jonathan Viscosi. That, to anyone paying remote attention, is not the story of this match. Sam Salter pulling
Confidence. It’s evident to anyone watching whether you have it or not. It manifests in different ways, whether through the exertion of your will on an opponent, a calm in the face of tremendous pressure, or in the willingness to do the stuff you used to do in your
Ugly. No one who watched Tuesday’s game would confuse Atlético Ottawa’s performance for anything else. It was to be somewhat expected, with a heavily rotated side, and only three days rest after a big win away from home. Even so it still should not have felt as nervy
Opportunity. The best teams take it when it presents itself. Too many times over the past couple of years, this hasn’t been something that Atlético has done. Saturday continued a trend of this team bucking that trend. It was also another instance of the team meeting adversity head-on, absorbing
Belief. Every soul that walked into TD Place on Saturday had it coursing through their veins. The first two matches had brought forward the most entertaining football the team has ever played. As such, conceding an early goal didn’t bring down the mood in the stands. A frustrating refereeing
Proof of concept. Any organization, whether it's sporting or not, needs to display a proof of concept when it undergoes fundamental change. Atlético Ottawa gave us glimpses of that in the final 30 minutes of their opening match, and, in their second, showed a full 90 minutes of