The Forward Press: Focus Lacking as Atleti Finds Fifth Draw in Six Matches
It’s been a while since Atlético Ottawa last tasted victory - over a month since a 1-0 victory in the nation's capital. Atléti continues to hang to second place with only three matches to go, but another September draw - the fifth draw in the past six matches - was enough to bring Atleti to within one point of the precipice between second and third. Atleti, as it has tended to do in this span, started the match last Sunday against Halifax FC hungry. An early Amér Didic goal (more on that later) put Atleti ahead, but the rougiblancos couldn’t ice it early by tallying a second marker. History repeated itself in the second half, with Ballou Tabla once again skying a well-manufactured chance to win the game, and Halifax would subsequently roar back to earn a draw through a scrappy corner.
With Atleti drawing more than a preschooler with a crayon, the pressure to hold onto second has increased tenfold. Atleti now faces just about the toughest away trip possible, traveling to York Lions stadium this weekend with Tim Horton's field looming the following week. Wins against Atleti’s toughest opponents will be needed to sustain the narrow gap over Cavalry. Will this be the test Atleti has needed? One player who didn’t have to worry about a lack of effort was Matteo De Brienne, though he had some choice words about accountability toward other members of the ATO group. De Brienne was up and down the flanks at TD Place as usual on Sunday afternoon, and his hard work didn’t stop there as his heat map led him into the press room alongside Carlos Gonzalez. Here’s all you need to know from the post-match presser:
The Quotes: Carlos Gonzalez
Match impressions: “I think that in the first half we had a couple of chances. In the second half, we didn't even have a chance. It was similar to last game, but I think that was our worst image, the image that we gave today in the second half…At the end of the day, I'm feeling that the energy is dropping a little bit. We're trying to find the players that give us and maintain that energy, and we are not being capable to maintain it. We're in that moment of the season that we have to change something or look for a solution because this cannot be a trend.”
On if loss of focus is leading to goals-against: “Yes, probably. I don't know if that loss of focus is because of the energy of the team. Sometimes you're not with the best energy, and this makes your state of alert decreases a little bit. So yeah, probably. We have to look it in deeply and see what's going on because there are many things that we can drag and be positive about.”
On the physical toll: “The second half of Halifax, they went over the line in aggressiveness…But this is the job of the officials if they leave it so this can continue. Sometimes they're focused more on details in the bench than in what's going on in the field. What can we say? [Halifax] tried to make the game that they wanted to make, this type of game tight in which you don't play too much football and they take it to their side. They win that battle. They take the game where they want it. So we have to be smart enough. Also, have an eye on every single action in the corners, offensive and defensive. They are doing fouls to Didic since day one of competition, and there is not a call on that. I've seen the game again, the action of the goal again. Of course, it's a matter of losing alert of our players, of losing a mark, but also it's a clear foul of Ferrin pushing Didic to create the space. It's consistently this type of plays that sometimes are the easy call.”
The Quotes: Matteo De Brienne
Match impressions: It's very disappointing, especially at home. Back-to-back weeks where we go up and then we end up costing ourselves the game. It's a difficult situation to be in, obviously at home, where this is our fortress, where we need to really dominate. And it's something that I feel after 45 minutes, we aren't keeping each other accountable as a collective, which is draining us a little bit.”
On ATO motivations: “Until first is officially secured, I still think that's something that we're fighting for. Obviously, second isn't the worst place to be, but playing for this club, in this organization in the city, first place is where we need to be and where we want to be. So until that's done, we're going to keep competing.”
On an attacking brand of football: “When we set up the right way, I think we're a very dominant team, and we showed that very well in the first half. We managed to get into all those half spaces, get forward, and create a lot of opportunities. So that's something that I don't think has really taken time to do. It's just a matter of how we set ourselves up for a minute one.”
On Halifax frustration: “I think there were times where we got into their head as well with a certain little tactical fouls and things like that. But at the end of the day, the ref has all the power to make all these decisions, and it's up to us the way we want to maintain it and keep ourselves calm and composed.”
The Big Takeaway: ATO Defenders Forced to Weather Another Squall
Atleti’s first win of the season came off a defender's boot, when Kris Twardek side-footed a volley home and knee-slid across the TD turf (doesn’t that feel like forever ago now!). In match two, it was Amer Didic who notched his first of four this season against Cavalry, before Kris Twardek once again decided the match, this time turning into his own net.
Despite a star-studded midfield and the league's top scorer all wearing Ottawa colours, Atleti defenders have arguably been the most active participants in proceedings over the course of the 2024 season. Centrebacks Ilias Iliadis and Amer Didic have contributed six goals between them, while the four fullbacks have combined to create eleven goal contributions. Crucially, defenders are scoring important goals, with ATO goals off the feet or boot of defenders directly contributing to at least five positive match results.
This may have something to do with the switch Gonzalez made in August, pushing a technical left-sided centreback into the back four to make it a five in an effort to stabilize a sinking ship. While adding another number in defence has stopped Atlético Ottawa from losing games, it also appears to be putting an added strain on its defenders by inviting pressure and increasing defensive responsibility. And just how long can that continue?
This trend has come to a head recently (more specifically the head of Amer Didic) in the match against Halifax which saw centreback Jesus Del Amos swinging in corners on deputy for Ilias Iliadis, while across the pitch Amer Didic lined up freekicks (Proper woke nonsense!). The match’s immense toll on the back line was illustrated not only by the bandage wrapped around the head of the bloodied Amer Didic, but also by the minutes spent on the ground for 21-year-old Tyr Walker, who took a bludgeoning from the Halifax attack force.
Carlos Gonzalez agreed in the post-match presser that the strain on his defenders was worrisome, though he credited much of Halifax’s dismal disciplinary record and a lack of control exercised by the refereeing team. Which is fair, all things considered. It doesn’t take an analytics expert to see Halifax is out of control.
“The second half of Halifax, they went over the line in aggressiveness…They are doing fouls to Didic since day one of competition, and there is not a call on that,” Gonzalez said.
But if you compile all the comments made by Gonzalez on player wellbeing – players playing too many minutes; energy dropping leading to a lack of focus and goals against; fouls being made on defenders since day one — it may just point to an underlying concern – one wonders how much physical strain the Atleti defence can weather before the remunerations start to grow.
