CCSG Player Ratings: Matchday 5 vs. Pacific FC (3/5/25)
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 backyard when you were a kid in matches against other professionals to make them look silly. In a 15 minute stretch in the second half on Saturday, Atlético Ottawa played the most confident football I’ve ever seen them play. Even taking into consideration results with a wider gap in the final score, every single player on the pitch oozed confidence with every move they made. That led to the team’s fifth consecutive victory in all competitions and the sixth consecutive game in which they’ve scored multiple goals, both club records. There’s an obvious stand-out in and amongst the prolific front five that has emerged for this team, but he’s allowed to stand out because of the work each of the players on this team are doing to make the system shine.
I am no longer balking at centre backs making runs deep into the attacking third, because I’m confident our double pivot will make the adjustments to cover that off. I am no longer balking at defensive errors leading to early goals, because the system has designed itself to exploit the fatigue that builds in opposing teams, as they chase the ball the length of the pitch. Most importantly, I am no longer balking at how this team attacks down the wing. I’ll get into that a little bit later, but ultimately everything I once knew about this team has had to be unlearned through the first month of the season. This fairytale is eventually going to come to an end, as to expect invincibility is unbelievably naïve, but as I’ve said for the last few weeks, you have to enjoy it while you still can.
Tyr and Loathing
It is important to enjoy it while you can because, as the old saying goes, football is a fickle mistress. Even amongst the celebrations, there is still major cause for concern as Amer Didić went down in the 28th minute and had to be stretchered off the pitch. Early whispers from those at TD Place on Saturday were suggesting a broken ankle or broken foot, a major injury that would likely see the veteran centre back shut down for a significant portion of the season, if not the whole thing. If you were to ask me the one player I would least want to lose to a long term injury, Amer would be at the top of the list. Shifting to the right of the back three, Didić had embraced his new role and had been a vital part of how Atlético Ottawa managed to play the ball out from the back. He was still his usual self on set pieces, both offensively and defensively, and even made a vital intervention on Josh Heard as he sprung through on goal early in the first half.
In his stead, Tyr Walker came into the game as the senior centre back despite only being 21 years old. Tyr’s season has not been what many of the Atléti faithful expected after a pretty successful end to 2024. The rest of the crew of young defenders have been preferred selections by Diego Mejía through April, with Tyr only playing just over 100 minutes in the first four CPL matches. Tyr didn’t cover himself in glory immediately, as a schoolboy error saw him give the ball away to Ronan Kratt for Pacific’s goal. A little too much time on the ball in that instance, and maybe a little too much of that confidence I mentioned earlier, saw him try to beat Kratt just on the edge of the 18-yard-box. It’s not that the confidence is unearned, but you would hope to see Tyr do what he needed to do in that situation and simply get rid of the ball.
In thinking about why Tyr hasn’t been as present on the matchday squad, aside from his suspension of course, I’ve reflected on some of my criticisms of his play last season. Despite his relatively gaudy passing numbers in terms of percentages in 2024, the bulk of those passes were lateral between centre backs and, as such, didn’t demonstrate a ton of ability in making progressive moves with his distribution. In that sense, Tyr was a perfect centre back for the Cargo system. Able to defend well one on one with enough pace to recover when necessary, and generally stable enough to avoid making the big mistake. However, the drastic change in system has necessitated our centre backs to be far more capable of playing long balls and being involved in the attack as much as the rest of the side. This isn’t to say that Tyr hasn’t grown in these areas, as I think he demonstrated good instincts after the mistake, especially on one run close to first half injury time when he beat Ali Ndom and carried the ball to the byline.
It is, however, an acknowledgement that the players who have been brought in for the back line fit a specific profile. Cloutier, Abatneh, and Kozlovskiy are all quite good on the ball defenders, particularly for their age. Tyr still has room to grow in this area, and it’s not that he won’t be able to get there, but now he’s going to have to develop to make sure the system still works. Didić will be out for a long time, pending further news. We’re not sure how long Abatneh is going to be injured either, though him not being included in the injury report pre-match suggests he may be returning fairly soon. If Brett Levis gets healthy, I think he may actually end up being best for this team as the veteran in that back three, rather than as a left wing back, as we had originally assumed. But as of right now, we have three healthy centre backs. Tyr, likely playing on the right of the three, will have to make the decisions that his peers have through this early part of the season. It will be vital to his progression, and to see what his full potential really is.
I Got 5 On It
While Tyr’s true potential has yet to be realized, the same cannot be said for the front five. Each and every one of them finds a way to make an impact on the game in the final third, and while they don’t necessarily earn goal contributions with every play, the fluidity and decisiveness they show is a direct demonstration of the confidence this team has built through the first five games of the season.
I’ve said plenty about David Rodríguez, Gabriel Antinoro, and Kevin dos Santos already this season. Each of those three have played absolutely out of their skin through the first month. Antinoro has been unquestionably the best u21 player in the league, dos Santos has been revitalized and looks even better than the player from York United that I was drawn to in 2023, and Rodríguez is surely about to win CPL player of the month, barring the entire league not having eyes. I could continue to heap praise on these three, but instead I want to focus on how their play is correcting the biggest error that Carlos González’s teams had in the final third. Specifically, attempting to overload down the wing, which more often than not created clogged spaces and rarely created chances with only one target in the box. Now, I see individuals who are confident in taking on defenders one on one in these spaces, and other attacking players occupying the half spaces rather than trying to overload in the same portion of the pitch.
Now this isn’t always the case, and nor should it be. There has to be a variety in your play style to avoid it becoming predictable and, as such, easier to defend. What helps turn a defence helpless are players who can make spectacular things happen. Ballou Tabla on the second ATO goal, did just that. A roulette past the first defender, followed by a shoulder drop and a run past the second defender to the byline, where he crossed the ball, and found the right foot of Gabi Antinoro for what would go on to be the winning goal in this match. Last week was the first time I had chosen to highlight Ballou, giving him cautious praise, but this was the sort of thing I wanted to see before truly being back to singing from the rooftops about the former Barcelona man. That flick of the switch never really seemed to be there for him in 2024. Even when he did, those opportunities went to waste. He only scored twice in the league in 2024 and had seven big chances missed. He’s already equaled his goal output, and the chances he’s creating are being converted by a team that has complete faith in one another to capitalize on those chances.
Three weeks ago, I talked about how Sam Salter impressed me despite an inability to convert as a striker. It is, without question, the most important and necessary thing for a striker to do. Since that Vancouver game, Sam Salter has registered four goal contributions in four matches. Against Pacific, he managed to record two assists, both of which weren’t necessarily killer passes in the way Ballou delivered his assist, but more indicative of the kind of player he has become under Diego Mejía. Through five Canadian Premier League games, he has already created as many big chances as he did all of last season. He is also averaging nearly triple the number of key passes per game as well. Would I still like to see him put away that chance he had one on one with Sean Melvin, of course. But the rest of the team is humming around him, and he’s playing some truly remarkable football in and amongst everything.
Of course, that success comes from a collective front five that is confident in themselves and each other. They are swarming the box at every opportunity, and they are taking the risks to show off just how good they are. Each of the three goals that were scored in this game had an element that left my jaw agape. Kevin dos Santos laced one from thirty yards out to beat the outstretched hand of Sean Melvin. Ballou Tabla dancing around Juan Quintana with the grace of Baryshnikov. David Rodríguez with the precision of a heart surgeon, navigating the box before sliding the ball in the net with a smile that reminds you just how fun this game really is. This is football being as beautiful as it should be, with players expressing themselves in the way that best captures their skill.
What’s amazing about this team is that I can go on about all these wonderful things that happened in the game and through this season, yet I’m still left realizing that I didn’t praise the immaculate performance of Nathan Ingham in goal. He was obviously, from the ratings, my man of the match, especially because he completed over half of his long balls. Not to mention the 7 saves of course, and the effective sweeping he did when Pacific tried to play the ball over the top of the defence. Each and every week I find a little nuance to talk about, which has made writing these articles through the first month a privilege, and not a chore. Next week, we look to Valour, and then the dreaded school day game against Forge. Two matches against teams going down opposite roads to finish the first quarter of the season, and the final two teams we have yet to play in the CPL. After that, the real season begins, as we get to see just how well this team can adapt when having to come up against opposition again and again.
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 ATO's Wikipedia pages.
