CCSG Player Ratings: Matchday 25 vs. HFX Wanderers
Did I ever tell you what the definition of insanity was? Insanity is doing the exact… same… thing over and over again and expecting things to change.
#19 Rubén Del Campo
(6): It was not a banner day for Rubén by any means. He was left out to dry for most of the second half, as the tactic seemed to be to send long balls to him and hope he’d outmuscle either Dan Nimick or Nassim Mekideche. He did not do that, committing three fouls and also surrendering another free kick when he drifted offside. Much like the rest of the side, the first half was better, with a couple of shots that ricocheted off of defenders, but no scoring chances that really threatened by any means. There’s a way you can look at this game and still see positives from Rubén’s performance, however I can’t help but think he wasn’t very effective. Is that down to the tactical set-up – most likely; but I can’t judge a player based on anything more than what I saw, and he didn’t provide what we needed up top.
#13 Ballou Tabla
(6.6): The dynamic presence Ballou Tabla brought to the last couple of games wasn’t totally involved in this game against Halifax. He managed to get the ball in dangerous positions, but the issues of him trying to do a bit too much with the ball at his feet were quite apparent. Most notably in the sequence where he received a pass from Manny Aparicio following a Yann Fillion turnover. He took about four too many touches in the box before he hit a harmless shot at Fillion with defenders pressuring him. Outside of that instance, he wasn’t as involved on the ball as he had been in the last two weeks either, not creating a single chance and only managing 22 touches in 67 minutes of play, compared to 41 and 36 in the last two weeks respectively. With the early goal, and the team sitting back in response, it tracks that this particular stat is much lower than in previous weeks. That said, Ballou is still at the level he was at this month, it’s just the approach the team adopted after the opening goal did not allow him to play at his best.
#9 Samuel Salter
(NR): The heavy touch from Sam Salter struck again in this game. It didn’t lead to anything concrete for Halifax, but it certainly put the fear of God into me sitting in the dub. He didn’t have the chance to do much else for the team, and given how good he was a few weeks ago, it's unfortunate that he hasn’t been allowed the chances he was getting in August. He was rejuvenated, and now, it seems the team has brought him back to earth.
#7 Kevin dos Santos
(NR): Kevin dos Santos was slightly more involved this week than he was last week, and even got a little bit of time on the ball down the left, even if that was just a free kick. I still think he needs to be on the pitch where he’s most comfortable to be at his most effective. Losing him early in the season when Tabla wasn’t performing to his usual standard robbed us of some really effective KDS starts.
#34 Manny Aparicio
(7.7): After a long time without a goal contribution, Manny Aparicio now has a goal and an assist in his last three matches. The ball he played to Amer Didic at the back post was exactly what you would hope for in an extended set piece sequence, when your primary aerial threat is still forward rather than having returned to his position. Outside of the assist, he was phenomenal, as we’ve come to expect. The rest of his attacking display saw him make four passes into the final third, and complete a dribble deep in his own half to retain possession early in the second half. Defensively, he was even better. He managed to win four of five tackles, six of ten ground duels, and added a couple of interceptions to that tally, one of which was direct from a goal kick and resulted in a Ballou Tabla chance that really should have been taken. After a bit of a dip mid-season, Manny Aparicio has fully returned to the form that made him a player of the year contender through the first quarter of the campaign. With a midfield this lively, there’s still hope that the individuals on this team can pull through all the mitigating circumstances impacting them.
#10 Ollie Bassett
(7.5): It took an extra week, but Ollie Bassett looked refreshed on Sunday. The former CPL player of the year played confidently in the middle of the park until he was substituted. Ollie was positioning himself in the areas where this team has really failed to inhabit over the course of the last ten games, trying to break down defences in the channels and in between the lines. That conviction in the Halifax third resulted in three chances created, a long distance shot on target that was well saved by Yann Fillion, and 45 total touches. What rounds out this performance, however, is that his defensive work that far up the pitch was also exemplary. He managed to win four of five ground duels, a much higher rate than his season average of 35%, won two tackles in the Halifax third, and he also made three interceptions across the pitch. Ollie played his most complete game in a long time on Sunday, and that level is going to be required from him in the remaining three games of the season to ensure a second-place finish in the league. He deserves to be confident in himself because that’s the player that put the league on notice the last couple of seasons.
#6 Liberman Torres
(7.1): While many of our elite performers over the course of the season had some evidence to suggest their ability to reach that level, Liberman Torres was an unknown as we came into 2024. When he didn’t join the team immediately due to visa issues, that was a cause for serious concern, and his first few appearances were shaky enough to wonder if he would ever find his feet here. However, he has definitely cemented himself in the rotation in the last few weeks as an effective pivot behind the rest of our midfield. He’s able to pressure opposing midfielders well when we’re sitting back and makes important defensive interventions across the pitch. His distribution does leave a decent amount to be desired, as he isn’t able to make the decisive passes going forward even if he is stable in terms of rotating the ball, but his main role at the base of midfield is to handle what the opposition is trying to do. With Zapater’s availability presently uncertain, it’s nice to have an alternative that can slot right into his role without too much issue.
#33 Abou Sissoko
(6.3): The last few weeks I’ve been gushing with praise for Abou Sissoko in the middle of the park. Unfortunately, when he came into this game his level did not match the rest of the midfield. He committed two fouls, won only one of four ground duels, and only managed six touches in the 23 minutes he played. Given the strength of the performance from Liberman Torres, it’s a bit odd that Sissoko was brought in to replace him. But given how Carlos González has rotated his pivot this year, it does track that it happened. With how well Sissoko has played as well, it’s not something that you would immediately scoff at for happening either. Still, Sissoko needs to be much better than he was today if he’s going to unseat Torres in the XI with Zapater still injured.
#22 Matteo de Brienne
(7.2): The biggest reason why I haven’t gone full “that one Chelsea fan” in the last month or so is the passion that Matteo brings to every action he takes on the pitch. There were a couple of tackles in the first half, one in which he was the last man back, that demonstrated this perfectly. The athleticism to recover and defend while also having the technique to properly execute the defensive action he needed to in order to avoid calamity is a combination that provides excitement for anyone watching. In total Matteo managed four defensive actions, while winning five of the seven duels he contested, limiting Clement Bahiya and any other Halifax player that attacked down ATO’s left side to peanuts. Sure, you would prefer to see his pass accuracy be a lot higher than 58%, but given the tactical approach in the second half, many of his passes were hopeful long balls forward rather than a slow build up in which there were short passes being played. Matteo has largely been a positive influence on the team this season, and that he hasn’t lit up the scoresheet is a byproduct of his role in this team, and not of his ability whatsoever. Wherever he ends up next season, I hope his dynamism continues to be on full display.
#3 Jesús Del Amo
(6.7): The first start of Jesús Del Amo’s Atlético Ottawa career was fine. He was replacing Ilias Iliadis who had been thriving in the role of left centre back since the switch to a back five, and Del Amo didn’t disappoint but wasn’t overly impressive either. He won exactly half of his duels, made eight defensive actions (which would be more impressive had the gameplan not been to sit back and absorb pressure through the entire second half), and registered a fairly standard 90% pass accuracy on 42 attempted passes. I don’t think there is much of a difference in defence in terms of what Del Amo or Iliadis bring. Iliadis’ attacking upside is a tad higher from what I’ve seen, but given Del Amo has only played about 100 minutes of football in front of me, that’s still to be determined fully. Either one of them starting in this position next week against York would leave me content.
#55 Amer Didic
(7.3): Amer Didic’s fourth goal of the season was nearly followed up by his fifth on a free kick that sailed just over the Halifax crossbar. The attacking prowess that Didic provides on set pieces has not been something we’ve taken advantage of enough in recent weeks, and it was great to see him end up on the receiving end of the Aparicio cross so early in the game. Surprisingly, he only won half of the duels he contested in this game, with three losses in the air. But even then, the golden scarf-nominee was still as vital as he has been all season in managing the defence. His 11 defensive actions comprised seven clearances, a block, and two interceptions along with the only foul he committed in this game. Taking all of that into account, with a goal on top of it, and the heart of the Atlético Ottawa defence just keeps on pumping. Reading his stats and watching him play is like clockwork at this point, we’re lucky to have him.
#4 Tyr Walker
(6.8): Tyr recorded a game-high 12 defensive actions on Sunday against Halifax, continuing a trend of him positively impacting the game from a defensive perspective. The good news is that said play is benefitting us this season. The bad news is that same sustained play at this level is sure to draw interest from higher level clubs, and as such every game increases the likelihood of him finding a new home in January. While this is the point of the Canadian Premier League, it would still be nice to get a full season of appearances from the hometown defender before he moves up. Back to his performance though, he only managed to win a third of the nine duels he contested. Fortunately for ATO, that was the only real negative to the outing for Tyr. I can nitpick all I like about him in the other areas of his game, but as long as his defending continues to be at this level, I really shouldn’t waste my breath.
#8 Dani Morer
(6.6): Last week, I was fairly critical of Morer and his place on the team. He didn’t stand out against Halifax, but he certainly was a more positive presence on the game than versus Pacific. I will say that, for most of the first half, Halifax’s primary method of attack was to pull him forward and then exploit the space down ATO’s right flank to genuinely positive effect. That capitalization speaks more to ATO’s tactical shape than Morer’s individual ability, but as he’s a touch slower than his opposite numbers, it became worrisome whenever Halifax looked to exploit that area of the pitch. Speaking about him as an individual, however, he managed to have a decent individual impact with 100% pass accuracy and a successful dribble deep in the attacking third. Would I have liked to see him get the ball a little more, sure, but the tactical approach in the second half made it difficult for that to manifest.
#23 Kris Twardek
(6.5): Unfortunately, Kris Twardek is to blame for the Halifax goal. Nassim Mekideche simply outmuscled him on the run in, and he had enough space to be able to convert the equalizer. As the right wing back, Twardek’s substitution was a good tactical decision from Carlos González in a vacuum as the right flank was the area Halifax was seeing most of their success up until he entered the game. That being said, this success continues to feel more an indictment of the tactic than the individual, regardless of what happened on the set piece. It would have been nice to see him be a little bit more involved in the attack, but again, the tactical approach didn’t allow him to do that, and even if he was successful defensively in play, the set piece still looms over any judgement I make over the 23 minutes he played.
#29 Nathan Ingham
(7): After not really having a chance to do much of anything against Pacific, Nathan Ingham came up with a couple of massive saves against Halifax, one in the first half on Zach Fernandez, and the other in the second half against Ryan Telfer. He also had great command of his box, coming up to the edge of the area and dealing with a couple of attempted long balls. The only real danger from those came from a wayward header to Andre Rampersad who proceeded to sky the ball well over the Atlético Ottawa goal. It was a performance that deserved a clean sheet at the end of the day, and unfortunately Ingham’s defence couldn’t hold in front of him for the entire 90 minutes. 90% of the time, an Ingham performance like this is going to be a contributing factor in a win. Unfortunately, Sunday was the 10%.
This team is a far cry from where they were just three months ago. It is factually correct to say that the team has not lost since they shifted to five at the back, and yet, it is providing nothing of value to the paying customer. Even when we were defensive in the 2022 season, it felt like the counterattack could do something. We’re in a place now where there’s nothing being brought to the table. We are praying that someone can generate something from that nothing to salvage results. On Sunday, that was Aparicio delivering a lovely ball in on an extended set piece sequence that found Amer Didic’s head. But in the second half, to not register a single shot on goal, just…*sigh*. It’s not the switch to a more defensive style, it’s that switch not having the ability to pose any threat to the Halifax goal if we defend effectively. It’s that switch not being flipped again once they equalized. It’s that there were maybe one or two touches made by an ATO player in the Halifax 18-yard box after the 50th minute. It’s a marathon not a sprint, and we’re Lightning McQueen at the beginning of Cars, no tires on our wheels, hoping we aren’t passed by literally everyone else.
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 footie knowledge has been a constant asset, along with his role as caretaker for Atléti Wikipedia pages.
