The Forward Press: Atleti Lifted to Victory in Front of 7,022 supporters
Atlético Ottawa ground out a 1-0 victory Saturday night in front of a season-high seven thousand fans, sending VFC back to British Columbia empty handed and ending the night in second place. After three weeks away from TD Place, it was a welcome sight for Atleti supporters to celebrate La Fiesta night at home with a win, and even if it wasn’t the “three-nil or four-nil” victory which Carlos González admitted it very well could have been, these are the type of results the club will have to be happy to undertake if it wants to get to end the season in top spot. A second minute Olimpico from Ilias Iliadis – his second time completing the trick in as many matches – would go on to be the match winner after 88 professionally managed minutes from the Atleti back line. Carlos González’s formation change to a back five appears to be a watershed decision which has seen Atlético Ottawa sneak back up to within two points of Forge FC with seven games to play. For his efforts in securing the victory both offensively and defensively, Ilias Iliadis joined the postmatch presser for the second straight match alongside Carlos González. Here’s everything you need to hear:
The Quotes: Ilias Iliadis
On playing centreback: “This is a first for me. I'm still adjusting, I'm still learning, and I'm still growing as a player every single day. So for me, it's just a stepping stone in the right direction. I learn from my teammates, from my coaches every single day. This is a great environment. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. This club has been nothing but the best for me. And even if it means I have to centreback, which for me personally, it's not my favorite position to play because I like going forward, I like scoring goals, but it is what it is. I'm playing and I'm happy.”
On missed opportunities to put the game to bed: “Yeah, it's just about improving every single day. It's just how the cookie crumbles. Today we were unlucky on the offensive end, and other days we're going to be stellar on the offensive end. I think the most important thing, especially me being a defender, is just always stay solid, keep a zero on the board, and then from that point on, we have enough quality to win every single game.”
On defensive strategy: “We are very compact in defense with the system that we played in the last three games. And it's very easy for us because there is not a lot of space for the others to create something or have shots or dribble past our defenders. After that, I think we have the most quality in the league to go forward. So it's quite easy for me, Didic, and Tyr to just close all the lines.”
On corner tactics: “Every single time I go up for a corner, I see a guy that's 1.95 (meters) and an absolute monster and jumps up to at least two meters ten. So when you have that, it's really a luxury, and it makes life for the goalkeeper almost impossible. So for me, it's just about putting it in a good area where it's dangerous and then make the goalkeeper make the mistake.”
The Quotes: Carlos González
Match interpretations: “I think that it was a game of three-nil, four-nil if we were a little bit more ruthless in front of the net. But I have to take the good situations that we created, and mainly the second half that we did. I think that the first half was a bit equal. We lacked a little bit of possession, of control in certain moments, but we were creating. Second half, the first 25 minutes were brilliant for the team, in which we created a lot. We played in the opponent's field and we were dominant.”
On defensive stability in a back three: “I think that from now on, the defensive phase is critical. If you want to win titles, you have to be a solid team. That's why we changed the system three rounds ago. I feel that the team had one inconsistency in solidness. The game of Pacific, we had a clean sheet. The game of Halifax, we didn't concede at all, only the penalty and nothing else. Today, I think that we didn't concede too much. I think that we control quite well the strengths of Vancouver.”
On Iliadis as a centreback: “Last season, he played against Pacific once as a left centreback. We thought that he was able to play in that position and give us a performance from the start. He's doing it pretty well. I'm very happy with how he's understanding the game. Defensively, he's given us a lot of solidness. He's very proactive in the pressure. He's aggressive. This is the type of player that we need. On the ball, we know that he has qualities because he's a midfielder [and] a wingback.”
On tactical versatility: “I think that we now can do several things. We've been a team that through the first third of the season, we played really well in a 4-3-3 with a line of four…Now we are a team that can play with a line of three. Now we are a more versatile team and we can use both for the critical moments of the season. So it will depend on the opponent…Maybe last 30 minutes, we can change to a line of four. We will see.”
On record setting attendance (7,022): “I'm so happy, so proud to have this city behind us. I think that they deserve it. I told the players before in the meeting that today we played for them. Today we played for the people that support us in the thick and the thin. I was heartbroken when I saw them in Halifax, I saw them in Forge, I saw them in York. They were pushing the team and we weren't able to give them what they deserved. And today was the day that we needed and [a win] was mandatory…It was a fiesta, and 7,000 spectators is a very big thing. So let's keep it up. We still have three games at home, and we hope that this continues growing and help us to push in the right direction so that we can achieve the objectives that we have.”
The Big Takeaway: Iliadis at the Double
There might have been a tiny ripple of displeasure when it was announced that Atleti’s first (and only, as it appeared at the time) signing of the mid-season transfer window would be the returning Ilias Iliadis. It made sense – Iliadis was hardly a refreshing signing and he didn’t appear to offer solutions in critical problem areas. Instead, Iliadis seemed destined to play second fiddle to Zapater or de Brienne for the remainder of the season. But if the ripple of displeasure was breifly visible, it has been long since calmed.
That’s because in the four matches since his arrival, the CF Montreal loanee has not only proved to have settled the defensive woes of Carlos González’s squad with what was almost three straight clean sheets, but his back-to-back Olimpico goals appear to be slowly pulling Atlético Ottawa back to the performances you could expect from a club once comfortably atop the league. And while he has been making waves on the field, the 23-year-old may also be calming stormy seas off it.
Behind the scenes, Iliadis appears to be making a significant impact, having clearly bought into the Atleti project and frequently stressing the importance the club has made in his life. His affinity for the club is undeniable – exactly the mentality González will have been desperate for to pull the dressing room through a difficult stretch. In the past two weeks he has commented frequently on the togetherness of the team.
“We're willing to sacrifice everything for each other,” Iliadis said Saturday night. “Even if someone is not on their best day or if someone misses a tackle or someone misses a header or someone misses even a pass, we're always there to pick each other up. We're always there to support each other. And it shows how well-knit this team is.”
To suggest he was brought back for his positive mentality above anything else is a stretch, but it certainly can’t have hindered the decision to bring back Iliadis, a move which at the moment appears to be a massive coup for the cup-aspiring González.
Given the way each of the three centrebacks now appear undroppable in their own way: Tyr for his U21 minutes; Ilias for his unique ballplaying skillset; and Didic because…well, he’s Didic… one can easily imagine where new signing Jesús Del Amo and Luke Singh lie in Carlos Gonzalez’s running order. Perhaps the left footed Del Amo slots into the position Iliadis has been offering, allowing the natural midfielder to get himself a little higher up the field, a move Iliadis himself admitted he would prefer over playing the unfamiliar role of centreback.
But it doesn’t seem like that change will come anytime soon, especially since Atlético Ottawa appear to be on the way to hitting stride again for the first time since mid-June. Ilias may not like centreback, but he better get used to it.
About the Author
Ben Ralph is a die-hard football fan and a journalism student at Carleton. He has been supporting Everton through the ups and downs (but mostly the downs) and could not believe his luck when he stumbled across Atlético Ottawa in 2021. Now part of the Atleti faithful, his dream has always been to write football stories, and he is excited to join other fans as writers for CCSG. His football journalist idols are Adam Hurrey, James Richardson, and Charlie Eccleshare from The Football Cliches Podcast.
