CCSG Player Ratings: Matchday 16 @York United
I have never more intensely questioned whether or not I want to continue watching football. Every part of this result was embarrassing, from the fact that the team could not string together two passes in transition up until the 66th minute, to York fans threatening to fight us in the parking lot (which I guess is a sign that we're becoming an actual football country and I should be celebrating this), to writing this before a 5-hour bus ride which will see me return home at close to 3 in the morning. The only thing worse would be if I did this stone-cold sober, oh wait…
This week's ratings will be ripped from a direct average of the fotmob and sofascore ratings because there is absolutely no way for me to provide any sort of useful analysis. The collective eight-hour round trip will do nothing to numb my anger and there's no earthly realm where I'm going to give a second glance to anything that transpired in the 90 minutes I just finished watching.
Were we a tad unfortunate to hit the post twice when down 2-1, probably, and yet, nothing about that gives me any solace. We sit here now with one win in our last five, York now just two points behind us, and a team that is relying more heavily on individual talent than the 2023 Pittsburgh Steelers. There is no killer instinct in this side, almost as if it has been drilled out of them by a manager whose approach to football can be kindly described as "lifeless".
The inability to look even remotely dangerous when they take a lead these last couple weeks is the most concerning trend of all. It's a wholly different problem to what plagued the side at the end of last season, and I'd argue it's far worse. The team isn't shutting off for a moment, it's shutting off for entire halves. I used the word disinterested a fair bit last week to describe the first half following our first minute goal - this week I would describe that same period as "lost".
The only thing I remember from the first half besides Ollie's strike, and a York fan threatening to beat me up (an offer I really should've taken up because I likely would've been put in the hospital and therefore would not have been able to watch this game), was that no one could complete passes. It's a failure in execution that exemplifies above all else the inability this team has to maintain any semblance of control in a game where they have a lead. You can't concede seven corners in 30 minutes and not expect one to eventually test your goalkeeper, or find the back of the net.
Yes, York is a talented team. I'd argue they're favourites at this stage to win the league with a side that now looks unified under Benjamin Mora. On paper, neither of these two teams should be beating one another 4-1, but the gap between the gameplans might just be that big. The number of times players just kicked the ball into a space where they thought their teammate was, only for it to result in a turnover, was far too high.
That frustration at not being able to complete passes manifests in every other area of the game as well. Despite having a similar number of fouls as York, there were significantly more yellows shown to Atleti players because the frustration was showing through in their fouls; Frustration at themselves, as well as at one another for not being able to execute simple things. Frustration that even manifested in the aftermath of the opening goal. I know I said earlier that I wasn’t going to rewatch any moment of this game, but I did sneak a look at the video footage posted on social media of Ollie after he scored. The emotion he displayed was frustration, which can be very easily harnessed into something more, but it felt like the emotional dump and relief of a late winner rather than the fire to continue building for another 84 minutes.
The blame, as I see it, lies at the foot of the manager. Carlos González has demonstrated a very specific tactical prowess that, midway through his third year in charge, has certainly been found out. What he has not demonstrated is an ability to be a leader of men. There is never a surge out of the half from this team. There is never an ability to generate a quick response to goals. The players are not motivated by their manager, but by their own willingness and ability. If things don't come together early, that fails, quickly. Conversely, if it comes together too quickly, it’s clear that the game plan is not implemented at a level which allows ATO to retain control. Even in a game like the 3-0 win against Forge, Hamilton had control for much of the first half after Manny’s early goal. Even in the second half they looked more likely to score, but our individuals found a way to keep the lead.
Ballou Tabla is the clearest example of this, as his frustration manifests into petulance far too quickly for a player that has been a professional as long as he has. The sheer number of times I’ve seen his hands being thrown in the air, the lack of counter pressing when others are throwing themselves at the ball, and the stopping misplay when he messes something up, is incredibly disheartening, if not downright frustrating
The players that comprise this team are built to do what they did through the first quarter of the season. They have been far from that in their last seven games. The losses have been deserved, the draws have been miracles, not to mention the divine intervention required to win that Forge game, and only the Vancouver game has looked even remotely convincing (who have their own managerial issues to resolve with Afshin Ghotbi consistently chastising players in his post game pressers).
I suppose I should stop talking in incoherent generalities and focus somewhat on the things that actually happened in this game, or at least what sticks through the thick fog currently inhabiting my brain as I try my hardest to induce amnesia.
Ollie Bassett's goal was a marvelous strike, but wasn't really built out of anything more than individual brilliance. In a game with a more positive result, or if the team would've followed up with a half-decent performance for the rest of the first half, this would be something I would laud until the cows come home. Instead we end up with poorly taken chances like the one Ballou had at the end of the first half that dribbled harmlessly wide, rolling past the goal line outside the 18 yard box.
That chance would've been a perfect answer to the first York goal, which was frankly inevitable given Córdova’s missed chance in the 17th minute, an example of horrible communication at the back end because there were two defenders and keeper in the area and yet he somehow managed to get through on goal. Adekugbe being allowed to climb like that is something you don't want to see, especially given how Amer Didic had been managing the aerial duels to that point in the game. This isn’t to lay blame on Didic, who was not tasked with marking Adekugbe in this particular sequence, but for the rest of the defence for not being able to match that ability.
The Nathan Ingham gaffe on York's second goal was absolutely inexcusable. I don't need to tell anyone that, least of all Nate, but it can't go unmentioned given the impact it had on the rest of the second half. You can talk about the weird bounce off the turf as much as you like, but Córdova should not have been given the space he had to take that shot in the first place, and Nate not attacking the ball in that instance allowed the bounce to occur. It's enough for me to not have him start next week, especially given we conceded twice more in the second half and I still have confidence in Rayane Yesli to step in at a moment’s notice.
The third goal I just fundamentally don't understand how two players allow Mo Babouli to get past them and create that much space in the 18 yard box - a failure on such a basic level it made me sick to my stomach. That the shot ricocheted off of Luke Singh into the net only heightened the collective disappointment from the away section.
The fourth goal, just the fact that Matteo de Brienne had to try and clear that ball on the opposite side of the pitch from his assignment shows how broken this team was at that point. It may have been unlucky to ricochet directly off the York attacker in play to spring them, but it is a clear example of making your own luck.
I strongly urge you readers to go take a look at the average position graph for this match. It is certainly skewed by the changes that were made early in the second half, as players that were out wide shifted inside, but it's just not how a modern football team should be spaced out. As much as I've cried out for Ollie to be playing centrally, the rest of the team has to adapt around him for that to work.
That Ollie was positioned out on the left gave me significant concern through the first half given how Max Ferrari and Juan Cordova were working together down the York right flank. It's the kind of winger/fullback partnership I wish we could employ, but has really not come to fruition in recent weeks.
One other major concern I have is with Manny Aparicio. This marks three weeks in a row where I have been totally underwhelmed with everything he's brought to the pitch. Through the first three months of the year you could have reasonably considered him the best player in the league. Our worst performances have come with him fading off, and that can't be a coincidence. Maybe there was more to the early successes and late failures of Pacific than just with the manager. Maybe Manny's effectiveness faded just the same, and now it's our problem to deal with. Perhaps being suspended for the Cavalry game next week will be the reset he needs to return to form.
Speaking of former Pacific players, I feel bad for Amer Didic. He does so much to try and corral this defense, only for them to concede more than half of the teams goals for the season in the last five games. I don't doubt that he would much rather be challenging himself in Norway than dealing with the mess ATO is slowly turning into. The work he does defensively has saved this team on a number of occasions, even if his passing has left something to be desired in this spell.
I don't think any of this could really translate into anything substantive. I understand this reads far more like the ramblings of someone veering off the road of mental sanity, but that's where this team has been driving me over the past month. Results paper over performances just as much as the inverse, and since the end of May the results have done heavy lifting in the wake of some truly awful performances.
Maybe it is still too premature to be this livid. ATO is still top of the league, which speaks to the form at the beginning of the year. The team still has a +10 goal difference, somehow. But I'd rather bring this all up now when there's maybe still time to fix it. The results can get worse, don't get me wrong, but the feeling afterwards for me won't reach these same lows. That said, the lack of a permanent replacement for Fernando Lopez as CEO of this club means we won’t be getting the changes to management during the season. We can only hope that the rumoured signing of Sean Rea, and whatever other transfer business might occur, can suffice to inject a new energy into this club.
I opened this by saying I was questioning whether or not I would continue watching this sport. Of course, that is a purely hypothetical exercise as Fandom is a disease from which I will never be cured. I'll still be riding on buses into ungodly hours of the night following this team for just a sniff of success, and being beaten over the head with failure after failure until the next whiff of greatness comes along. The dopamine rush of supporting any team with your lifeblood is unparalleled, and the greatest successes only come as a result of the greatest failures. I never want to be jaded by success, and for that to happen, nights like these have to occur to remind you about what awaits on the other side of glory.
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.
