CCSG Player Ratings: Matchday 14 @ Vancouver FC
This is exactly the type of performance you would hope to see from a title contender, particularly after such an agonizing defeat at home last week. The somewhat short week and trip across the country had little effect on the league leaders, as ATO soared to a 3-0 victory over Vancouver FC. While the overall tactics didn’t seem to shift, the changes in personnel seemed to have a positive effect on how the team played, even in a first half where Vancouver managed to get the better chances despite Atlético Ottawa having better possession and overall control of the game. This continues a trend this season of Atlético Ottawa managing to play well away from home, still not having lost in any of their six road matches this season. That proficiency outside the confines of TD Place was the catalyst for the 2022 regular season title and should serve as such if the team is to continue to hold onto the top spot. That said, let’s look at how everyone performed in the final game of 2024’s first half:
#19 Rubén Del Campo
(7.1): Rubén’s performance this week was one of many that was a marked improvement over last week against Pacific. He was back to connecting well with his teammates as the lone striker, while also providing an outlet for distribution from the back, as the ATO defense relied heavily on long balls to break through the Vancouver defense. For his efforts, he was rewarded with a real poacher’s goal, corralling his own rebound off the post to find his seventh league goal. Conversely, he’s been in the league long enough to know that the yellow card he picked up early in the game was incredibly unnecessary. Thankfully, he’s not quite to the accumulation threshold, so picking that card up won’t be too detrimental in the near future, but it’s always a good idea to avoid it when possible.
#9 Samuel Salter
(NR): After a couple of great substitute performances away from the striker position over the previous two weeks, Salter capped off his best run of form with a solid outing at the tip of the spear, grabbing his third goal in all competitions with a deft fake shot to send Allan Enyou the wrong way before hammering a weak footed blast past Callum Irving. These smaller roles have suited Salter well, allowing him to put his best foot forward. With a match against Valour on the horizon, it will be interesting to see who Carlos González will start at striker given the form both have shown.
#13 Ballou Tabla
(7.7): For the entire first half of the season, we have been screaming for the Ballou Tabla of old to return. It took him 45 minutes, but his second half was exactly what we had been asking for. A dynamic performance, moving across the front line to challenge defenders. The extra bit of effort to knock David Norman Jr. off the ball for the first goal was emblematic of the fire growing inside of him. More than that, though, was the willingness to carry the ball forward in possession. There was ambition in his play throughout the match, but particularly once the team got a lead. Too many times this year it looked like Tabla, and the rest of the side, were content to keep a one-nil lead, but on Friday there was a constant aggression to put Vancouver away at every opportunity, harkening back to the more lethal counter-attacking moments that the 2022 side demonstrated. That Tabla wasn’t credited with an assist on Del Campo’s goal is unfortunate given the role he played in carrying the ball forward on that counterattack. Yes, it’s only one game, but it’s the first sign that Tabla is back to being the force that he was in 2022, and who wouldn’t get excited about that?
#10 Ollie Bassett
(7.4): Despite not recording a goal contribution on Friday, the motivation of Ollie Bassett to try and change the game was in full effect. In stark contrast to his performance against Pacific, Ollie found himself in positions to create chances. His pass to send Abou Sissoko through was the initial moment in the sequence that led to ATO’s first goal, and in the rest of ATO’s best moments up to that point, he was providing service to those who were impacting the game. His work with Kris Twardek early in the game was particularly of note, as Twardek was consistently finding space down the right wing thanks to Ollie’s movement with the ball at his feet. There were times where he slowed the ball down perhaps a tad more than I would have liked, but there were also the moments where he kept the ball in play along the touchline that had the Vancouver players irate which more than made up for it. For much of last season, Ollie needed to score to have a good game, mostly because no one else could do so consistently. With the attackers, and other secondary scorers, far more prolific this year, it’s on Ollie to show how he can be impactful without the goal contributions, and Friday was a prime example of that.
#11 Gabriel Antinoro
(NR): Gabi Antinoro was another player who needed to have a good showing following a poor performance against Pacific. In the 14 minutes in which he featured, he was able to make a couple of nice defensive interventions against Paris Gee, who was clearly playing with an attacking mindset to try and overcome the two-goal deficit. These successful defensive plays are going to be important for Gabi to rework himself back into the team, as that area of his game has needed work.
#8 Dani Morer
(NR): Dani Morer’s fifth assist in all competitions already brings him into a tie for second in a single season in ATO history. This was probably his least spectacular of the five, with Sam Salter managing to do most of the work. It speaks to his ability that he consistently finds himself in these spaces to make an impact this late in games, with that being his third assist on a goal in second half injury time. He’s played just over the equivalent of three full matches, and yet we speak about him with such reverence because of his ability to provide in the key moments.
#33 Abou Sissoko
(6.8): There was one sequence on Friday where Abou Sissoko looked quite out of place. It was on a transition where Sissoko was the second player pressing high alongside Rubén Del Campo and rather than run forward he kind of just stood still and occupied the same space as the midfield who were trying to transition into attack. It’s a little thing in the grand scheme of things given how solid Sissoko was for rest of the game, but it speaks to why most of his ratings have been positive this season, but not outstanding. He does a lot of good little things besides that, winning three free kicks, winning all three of his ground duels, and managing an 88% pass accuracy. He doesn’t take over games, but in reality, he doesn’t need to. All he needs is to be the solid hand we’ve tasked him to be.
#34 Manny Aparicio
(6): With so many players taking a step back to their normal selves this week, it’s unfortunate that Manny Aparicio couldn’t match the level he had been at through the beginning of the season. This is borne out in his defensive stats, as he managed only one defensive action and lost all five duels he contested in the 77 minutes he played on Friday night. Offensively, while his pass accuracy remained steady, he didn’t provide any punch in that phase of the game, as others stepped up around him to provide the three ATO goals. The yellow card he picked up was also a frustrating one, as it came from pure frustration and wasn’t needed to snuff out the attack that Vancouver was conducting. The saving grace for Manny in this game was that everyone else was able to step up. These types of games happen and given Manny’s overall contributions to the team this season, it shouldn’t concern anybody.
#6 Liberman Torres:
(6.8): Liberman Torres was able to look calm for essentially the whole 60 minutes he was on the pitch. After having frequent frantic moments in his first few games, that this start saw him complete every pass he attempted, and not ever really look out of place is good progress. There is still plenty of work that Liberman needs to put in to seriously contest for a regular starting position, particularly as he only went two of seven on ground duels in this game. A more imposing defensive presence to not require intervention from the centre backs would make everyone’s lives markedly easier. Still, knowing we can count on Liberman for a game like this to allow Zapater some rest is invaluable, as I’ve mentioned previously. Especially as our midfielders are pulled out to the wings to make up for injuries that have plagued those positions thus far this season.
#21 Alberto Zapater
(6.7): Alberto Zapater’s 30 minutes on the pitch featured a couple of key interventions as Vancouver looked to get back into the game, but also featured a couple of loose touches that saw the ball run the other way. These loose touches have been popping up a tad more frequently than they did last year, but given Alberto’s defensive prowess, he is able to either recover on them quite quickly, or provide assistance in other instances that more than make up for them. That our defensive midfielders also went a combined 33% on ground duels is not the most encouraging sign, but given the defensive performances from our centre-back pairing, the result was never really in question.
#22 Matteo de Brienne
(7.1): Despite another good performance at left back, unfortunately, the big takeaway for Matteo de Brienne after this week is that he will be the first Atlético Ottawa player to miss a game due to suspension. Had he avoided picking up a yellow in this game, he would have been rewarded with the Good Behaviour incentive, which makes it that much more of a gut punch. Regardless, Matteo created the most threatening opportunity for ATO in the first half with his nutmeg and subsequent cross that hit the hand of Rocco Romeo. In the second half, he forced a good save out of Callum Irving on a long-range effort, mere minutes after the first ATO goal. Defensively, he remained solid, winning six of nine ground duels, making the interception that led to the second goal, and making four tackles, which is becoming pedestrian for the 22-year-old. It will be interesting to see how Carlos González handles the lineup without Matteo available for selection next week. He has been ever-present in the lineup and without him, and without knowing the status of Maxim Tissot, the left-back position does not have an obvious replacement.
#4 Tyr Walker
(7.5): In only his second start of the season, Tyr Walker reaffirmed the praise he received for his performances last year by turning in a career-defining (to this point) 90 minutes. His previous start, against Halifax at home, saw him be a bit shaky, and lacking the confidence that he had last season. None of that was true of him on Friday, where he looked supremely confident in every challenge that he took, and every ball that he played. In some cases, that may have been to his detriment, with the yellow card he picked up being a hard challenge in the middle of the park, and a challenge on Mikael Cantave that probably should have been deemed a penalty, but otherwise, it was to ATO’s benefit. I also do want to see his long distribution improve a little, as on a number of occasions, balls weren’t even getting close to ATO players. However, these are little things in comparison to what Tyr could be for this team alongside Amer Didic. The u21 minutes alone are worth their weight in gold, but to get them from a centreback who one eight of 11 duels and was successful with all four of his tackles makes them invaluable. I don’t see how you can avoid starting him against Valour next Sunday given this performance.
#55 Amer Didic
(6.8): There’s a part of me that watches Amer Didic and is reminded of Virgil Van Dijk. This isn’t entirely complimentary, as the last few weeks I’ve started to notice Didic’s tendency to play extremely passive in defensive situations where the team is collectively backed up. It leads to spacing issues where there is a bubble that can be exploited in cutback situations, but I also understand that the reach Didic has makes that gap smaller than it actually appears. One only has to look at the interception he made in the second half to understand how this can work to Didic’s advantage in certain situations. It makes me uncomfortable, but given the success Didic has had this season and throughout his CPL career, who am I to judge? Additionally, his block on a pretty venomous Gaby Bitar volley saved ATO from letting Vancouver back into the game only a couple of minutes prior to ATO’s second substitution window. With Tyr Walker alongside him, who knows what Didic will be able to do as the leader in the ATO back line.
#23 Kris Twardek
(7.3): Through the first five minutes of the game, I was convinced Kris Twardek was going to be the player of the game. The right-back was bombing down the pitch, consistently getting into dangerous areas and providing service to the strikers, something that continued through the entire game. The game ended as it began in that regard, as Twardek’s aggression from right back allowed him to intercept a loose Vancouver pass and turn it upfield for the third Atlético Ottawa goal. While the stats for Twardek won’t leap off the page, the work rate he possesses was vital to Ottawa being able to unlock the Vancouver defense in the second half. After being worried about his ability to remain on the pitch given early season yellow card troubles, Twardek has not picked one up since the fourth game of the season and continues to display the same level of controlled aggression. With so many new signings making an impact, Twardek might get lost in that shuffle, and he really shouldn’t because he’s been ever-present at right-back this season.
#29 Nathan Ingham
(7): Allstate Nate picking up the Allstate Save of the Match within the first half may have been the funniest moment of Friday night, given it was announced prior to the end of the first half. That said, it was Vancouver’s best chance of the night, and Nate, per usual, was up to the task. Add on a couple more saves to his tally, and Nate ends up with his third clean sheet of the season.
The season is halfway done, and thus far Atlético Ottawa is averaging two points per game, to see them five points clear of second place York United, whom they will face in two weeks' time. There have been some, frankly, insane moments through the first half of the year. Between Zapater’s stoppage-time equalizer against Halifax, Liberman Torres’ winner in stoppage time against Forge, and the 7-0 thrashing of Valour in the Canadian Championship, Atlético Ottawa has certainly put on a show for those in attendance at TD Place. Away from home, the team has done what it needs to do, winning four of six matches, and really cementing themselves as the favourites to claim the CPL Shield, as many expected at the beginning of the year. The job isn’t done though, and the performances need to continue to match what we saw on Friday. The hope is that we can continue to do so, and be playing in CONCACAF Champions Cup matches come February.
About Patrick
Having joined CCSG in 2022, Patrick started his footie career playing at the age of 4 and began watching the pros around the same time. While the first pro team he supported was Manchester United, as soon as Atlético Ottawa came to town, he was immediately on board. His wealth of footy knowledge has been a constant asset, along with his role as caretaker for Atléti Wikipedia pages.
