CCSG Player Ratings: Matchday 6 vs. Valour FC (10/5/25)
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 together the first haul in Canadian Premier League history is certainly the headline of the week, month, and perhaps the year, depending on what else may happen in the following months. The rest of the side delivered a consummate performance, in line with everything we’ve seen through the previous six matches. To see the team recover within the first half, rather than wait until the second half, was a cherry on top of a superb Saturday with the best weather we’ve had at TD Place thus far. At this point, the two goals conceded don’t even bother me. I’m fully Diego pilled, and it’ll take something remarkable for me to abandon my new addiction.
Never Enough Salt
Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter. Sam Salter.
What more needs to be said?
The Numbers. The Beautiful Numbers.
Before I get into the one bit of analysis I want to take from this game, I would just like to put forward some facts to contextualize how unfathomable this start has been in comparison to the previous seasons this team has had. Yes, last year saw the team start nine games unbeaten, but the play did not feel nearly as sustainable as this over the course of a full season. That new found confidence is generated from seeing the team play the same way, week-in and week-out. Rather than solely relying on the talents of individual players, the system is enhancing each of our top players and allowing them to make even more of a difference together, while also giving new players the opportunity to grow and thrive within it.
Last season, Atlético Ottawa scored 42 goals in league play. Through less than a quarter of the season, the team is one goal shy of half of that total. Last season, ATO scored their 20th goal in the 12th game of the season. It has taken half that time to reach that mark this year. 12 different players managed to score in all competitions last year. This year, 10 different players have found the back of the net through seven games. Further to that, Ottawa has had a goal contribution from a striker in all seven games they have played. The cherry on top of these goal scoring statistics? This latest win marks the sixth consecutive victory in all competitions, double the previous team’s high.
All of this is happening while the team has accumulated approximately 1650 of the 2000 required minutes from u21 Canadian players. Given the stress that this club has faced in achieving that number, to be essentially done with the requirement not even a quarter of the way through the season is astounding, especially given this team’s record. It was a commonly held belief in previous years that the prevalence of u21 minutes was an inverse relationship to the success of the team. Given ATO’s best year coincided with the team reaching the u21 threshold in the 28th minute of the final game of the season, it’s safe to say we had been conditioned to believe that this sort of success with youth wasn’t entirely possible. That our back three on Sunday could have added another Sergei Kozlovskiy and still been the same age as the midfield pivot of Zapater and Coque is astonishing, and certainly the reason why the threshold is bound to be broken before the end of the month.
All of these extraordinary figures don’t even dive into what the individuals on this team have been doing. Going back to Sam Salter for a moment, at the end of the game on Saturday, he had accumulated five goals and three assists. No other CPL team had managed to score more than eight goals to that point in the season. York, of course, had to go and ruin this by scoring in their defeat to Pacific. But at this moment, Sam Salter has as many, or more, goal contributions than six CPL teams have goals. For his career, Salter is now the fourth-leading goal scorer in CPL history, behind Terran Campbell, Wero Díaz, and Tristan Borges, with 31 goals. He is also now joint second with Malcolm Shaw on ATO’s all-time goal-scoring list, with 19 goals, and has reached that mark in 14 fewer games than the ATO original. With the way this team is playing, it’s almost a given he’ll become the all-time leading scorer, passing Ollie Bassett, before the end of the season.
An Amer Sized Void
The news was made official this week that Amer Didić fractured his leg and will be out for a substantial amount of time, if not the rest of the season. In his stead, Noah Abatneh returned from injury to play in the middle of the back three, and Loïc Cloutier shifted out to the right for the first time this season. Despite being seven inches shorter than him, Loïc is probably the best suited of our four central defenders to fill the gap that Amer’s injury has left. If you were to have asked me this before the start of the season, Loïc was likely the fifth name I had on the depth chart at centre back. He had enough versatility to play in other positions in the back line, and with a lack of any professional experience, I figured he would need to grow into the team before making a big difference on the pitch this season, if at all. None of this was due to a lack of ability – as I had seen him play in League 1 Québec a couple of times and he clearly stood out from the rest of his teammates – but the necessary time most younger players need to adjust to a professional schedule for the first time.
He has blown my expectations out of the water. The poise Loïc maintains on the ball, even when pressured, is well beyond his years. This quality is clearly why Diego MejÍa feels so comfortable handing Loïc the responsibility he has in this team. I think back to the later stages of the second half, with Valour still pressing to try and bring something out of this match, and the triangles he constructed with Abou Sissoko and Noah Verhoeven in tight spaces down the right wing. Loïc was not a passenger in these sequences either, he was the one leading quick one-twos to break through the Valour press even after 75+ minutes of game time.
Defensively, his numbers don’t blow you away like Didić’s win rates in aerial duels or clearances, but he does more than enough to cut out chances when he’s one on one with an attacker. There’s still room for him to grow in this area, for sure, but within the context of this season he’s done a lot to impress me in all facets of the game. It’s a welcoming sign to see that squad players can grow in Diego MejÍa’s system. The benefits of confidence from your manager certainly do manifest in your play, and Loïc exemplifies that alongside many other players on this team who have stepped up to produce the results we have enjoyed through six weeks.
I’m starting to run out of praise to give. I want, desperately, to find the words to hold this team in the regard they deserve, but English might not be expansive enough to do so. Tuesday presents a whole new challenge for this side as they manage a short turnaround against a team that conveniently didn’t have to play this weekend. I don’t expect much from a game scheduled for Tuesday at 11 a.m., and a negative result won’t do anything to sour my mood about the season as a whole. I’ll be frustrated, because this game is against Forge and everything that team does frustrates me to no end, but I won’t be upset. These past six weeks have been among the most exciting I’ve experienced as a football fan, and while other highs have certainly been higher, there is a consistency to the joy that I’ve not experienced in this city. Just please keep it going.
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.
