The Forward Press 2026 MD 4 - ATO vs. VFC: Standards, Fixing Mistakes, and Turf Troubles
Welcome to the Matchday 4 edition of the Forward Press! Saturday saw your 2025 Canadian Premier League champs make their long-awaited return to their Capital home, and the first opportunity for the majority of the Ottleti faithful to see their North Star Cup holders, and a host of new faces, in friendly confines. Diego Mejía’s starting XI featured five new faces from the XI that vanquished Calgary in the snow, with another three home debutants emerging from the bench throughout the second half.
Ottawa struggled mightily in the opening two-thirds of the match, culminating in Santiago López having his chance to put Atlético in front from the penalty spot, following Mejía’s Successful FVS Challenge, and Vancouver punishing this profligacy by burying their first chance on the counter in the immediate aftermath. The introduction of Emiliano Garcia in the 64th minute marked a turning point in the match, as Ottawa took the match to the visitors, and with just under four minutes left of a welcome ten minutes of added time, the young former Mexico U20 international got on the end of a flick from Kamron Habibullah to secure a deserved point. Three points didn’t seem at all off the table as the side pressed for the remaining minutes, but they couldn’t find their way through to a winner. The result ensured that Ottawa’s unbeaten home streak reached twenty-four games in all competitions, and Manny Aparicio was the first to face the press:
“It’s something we take a lot of pride in. We try to make these games exciting and try to get wins in front of our fans because at the end of the day it’s what brings people into the stadium, it’s a show for them. Making this a fortress, making playing at home a tough place to play for the away teams is huge”.
Long may it continue.
The press conference kicked off with reporters looking for Manny’s thoughts on the match. Aparicio was understandably frustrated with the saved penalty and the defensive lapse that followed: “… we still have to be cleaner on the counters, I think we’re a bit weak on that.”
He was nonetheless able to look at a number of positives from the remainder of the match, including chance creation and a “fightback mentality”. The captain also singled out the impact of his side’s six subs, with Ottawa being allowed an extra replacement with Noah Abatneh being withdrawn for a head injury:
“A lot of the subs came in with a lot of energy and a lot of drive to get something for us, so I'm super proud of that, just slowly trying to put the pieces together and get a full 90 minutes.”
Asked about the pressure Vancouver would’ve felt to hold on to their slim lead when the fourth official signalled ten added minutes, and the impact of the home support on a team in the ascendancy with strong possession, Aparicio paid tribute to the home faithful:
“Yeah, we know this is a tough place to come play, I’ve been on the other end and when the minutes keep on dragging on, it’s a big pitch, it’s hot, it was hot today, so I think we use that to our advantage… it’s huge, I mean we have some of the best fans in the league, if not the best… and yeah obviously when they add 10 minutes and they're singing, yelling, and giving us that energy and that push to keep on going it’s huge… last year we made a great run at home and that’s the goal here this year again, make it a tough place to play and to play until whatever minute we have to”
When asked about the high player turnover in the off-season and whether or not it has had an impact on Ottleti’s slow start to the season, he admitted this was the case: “For sure…chemistry takes time, it takes games, repetition and making mistakes to learn from.”, but he also spoke of the positives of the group growing together:
“I think some of these things we’re doing, the positives, we take it. The negatives as well, what to fix and what to work on, every week we have something to learn from… you see a bit of progression from game to game, how we’re going, how we’re finding the way we want to play through games. That’s what it’s gonna take, repetition, repetition. Failing, getting back up and doing it again. If that penalty goes in, it’s a completely different game, I think. So yeah, a lot of positives to take and a lot to learn from as well”.
Rounding out his press conference, Aparicio paid tribute to the TD Place grounds crew for getting the turf in place in a matter of days as work continues on the Lansdowne 2.0 project, but when asked about the quality of the field, he was honest about the challenges that the surface and the work had on the players and noted that one quarter of the pitch was entirely different to the other three:
“I mean, it’s not the greatest on the far side… yeah it’s just very different to the other three-quarters of the pitch. It’s not the worst, like it’s still turf, it’s not the greatest to play on, but it is quite different…it’s not the same as the rest of the field.” When pressed on the differences, Aparicio noted: “Just a lot of rubber, it’s heavier on the legs, it’s a bit off, I don't know if under the cement got touched, I don't know what, but it’s got divots, it’s not flat. It’s a bit different.”
It’s an interesting insight into a challenge not immediately obvious to the fans, but it's also another reminder of the cost of being a tenant in your own home, at the whims of forces outside your control.
With the captain off to regroup following the match, Boss Diego Mejía took his place in the media room chair to offer his thoughts on the home opener. When asked how it felt to be back at home after a number of matches on the road since the final, and how it felt to have the raucous crowd back the squad again, he offered the following thoughts:
“It’s amazing, the last time that we played here was five months ago, we played our previous matches away ... I’m very happy to be back and watch all of the fans here with us, over 5,000 people. I think it’s incredible, we need to understand that our fans, for us, are everything. As I said before, we need to take care of our standards, because all of the fans that came here to watch us Today, they need to have that feeling that their team is pushing to win all of the time. I am very happy to be back.”
After reflecting on the positives, the Manager was quick to point out his displeasure with the early course of the match: “I think the first sixty minutes were terrible, our performance. The intensity we played with was really bad. We need to try to maintain our standards, you know, during the ninety minutes. I think that this was one of the values that we won last season, the intensity, that this team usually has to play the matches, on the ball and off the ball.” If the first hour was not up to standards. Mejía was noticeably happier with the final half hour and change, noting the intensity and aggression to get back into the match.
Refuting a question about his squads style of play, Mejía bemoaned the state of the tactical styles of the league’s other sides, top to bottom: “We need to understand something, the league improved for us last season, we played in a very good way, now you see all the behaviours of all the teams in this league, they rest in defence, they defend all the time in a low block, they don’t try to press us, even Forge at their home, so for sure it’s going to be hard to try to open those lines, but we are working on that…it’s a good challenge for us.”
Finishing up his thoughts on the match itself, Mejía was quick to praise newcomer Emiliano Garcia and his impact on the match, finding his first ATO goal as well as his attitude in training:
“I think that Emi is a good example of a player that is coachable, a player that played in Europe, he played in the Champions League… he played in the first division in Mexico. He arrived here with a lot of humility, with a lot of energy to improve. At the beginning, he struggled for a little bit with the rhythm that this league has and for the model, but I think he’s a coachable guy… if someone deserved to score, it was Emi. I am pretty happy for him.”
Asked whether this meant he was in line for a start against Inter Toronto on Friday Mejía kept his cards close to his chest: “I need to see the rival, I need to analyze and then I need to choose the profile that is going to give us the opportunity to win. I manage my team all the time in that way, so if Emiliano fits in the game plan, then for sure in the next game he will play.”
Mejía offered a quick update on the status of Santiago López, who exited the match in the latter half of the second: “I think he has some problem with the ankle, but I think that he will be ok.” A bit of hopeful injury news in the wake of Richie Ennin being ruled out for the remainder of the campaign.
Mejía's full comments can be viewed here:
Atlético Ottawa
The boys in stripes next take the pitch on Friday the 1st of May against Inter Toronto in the league, and will remain in the lesser capital for a midweek Voyageurs Cup meeting with Toronto FC on the 5th, before finally returning to the national Capital on Sunday,, May the 17th. VAMOS!
Author: C.J Steele
