The Forward Press: ATO, Rodríguez Run Riot at Willoughby

It was easy like a Sunday morning on Sunday afternoon, as Atlético Ottawa played Vancouver FC off the pitch in a 4-1 rout. Diego Mejía’s side showed it was head and shoulders above its opposition from early on in the match, and by the halftime whistle, they were leading in BC by a comfortable gap of 3-0 with strikes from David Rodríguez, wingback Kevin Dos Santos, and Ballou Tabla. 

Although Mejía’s reign started on matchday one, in the 2-2 draw at home to Halifax Wanderers, this result felt more akin to the Atlético Ottawa of expectation, and Mejía can certainly brag about that thus far in his 180-minute season, Atlético Ottawa have looked like a very competitive CPL side in all but 45 minutes. The difference? Unlike in his season opener, Mejía’s toolkit was padded by some massive availabilities. The large frame of Amer Didic returned to the backline in a traditionally scrappy performance, with the massive centreback earning his first win and, probably not last, bandaged skull of the CPL season. His presence was a calming one in the back line, especially paired with 16-year-old Sergei Kozlovsky, who proved wise beyond his years in a more than capable debut for the Rougiblancos. 

Also joining the squad for the first time was Juan David Castro, the man they call Coque, who brought experience in midfield and will only grow into this ATO squad, with the Mexican notching a Busquets-esque assist for his troubles in a 63-minute debut. It was fellow Mexican David Rodríguez who won the assist for Coque, once again at the heart of the ATO performance, with the diminutive winger driving forward tirelessly to contribute a goal and an assist on the day and earn back-to-back Man of the Match awards. 

“He's good in the pocket. He gets in there, he turns, he drives out players. It's something that very few in the league do. He does it great. Left footer, keeps it tight to head. It's tough to get it away from him. And yeah, he's fine in the back of the net right now.”

That analysis came from Manny Aparicio, who joined the post-match presser. If there was one season debut which lit up Willoughby Park, it was surely Aparicio, whose presence in the starting XI was felt far beyond his usual game-breaking tackles, but also in a number of clever one-touch flicks which sent Rodríguez, Tabla, or ATO’s widemen scampering up the pitch. These fast breaks undressed Vancouver on a number of occasions, with Manny speaking on this new footballing philosophy after the match:

“When a coach comes in and says he wants to keep the ball and he wants me and the midfielders to be in the centre point of that, it's what you love to hear as a midfielder. You want to be on the ball, you want to get touches, you want to make passes and help your teammates go forward. So it's been great.”

With the starting XI bringing in so many attacking players, there is also an expectation that the forward players could contribute defensively, and contribute they did, both pressing from the front and dropping back to cover the three defenders. This was something Noah Verhoeven had spoken about in the pre-match presser, saying, “We want to press. We want to go at teams.”

This was immediately evident. Early in the match, Sam Salter slid in on a VFC defender looking to clear the ball from the Vancouver box. It was an ambitious challenge, and though it would conjure nothing more than a blast of the referee's whistle, it was a display of ATO intention high up the pitch. 

“We're trying to…react when we lose the ball, to not put our heads down, don't let the other team string together too many passes once we lose the ball,” Manny said. “It's been working out, so hopefully we can keep it up.”

Sam Salter would contribute two tackles and six defensive actions from his spot at the tip of the spear, winning an impressive 10/15 duels. Behind him, David Rodríguez completed 3/3 tackles with four ball recoveries. Ballou Tabla, often regarded as a largely offensive talent, would contribute two successful tackles and four defensive actions, and it would be his aggressive play which would see him capitalize on a Callum Irving howler to poke home ATO’s third marker of the match.

In the second half, Atlético Ottawa would score again through Monty Patterson, but not before being pegged back by a 66th-minute Terran Campbell strike. Vancouver had shown warning signs early in the match, especially in getting behind ATO’s two wingers-come-wingbacks. ATO’s attacking formation, with forward-thinking players in all but the three centreback spots, left gaps available, including an early VFC move which stretched Antinoro and could have led to a goal if not for goal-line heroics from Noah Abatneh.

But, if defensively Antinoro and Dos Santos left some to be desired, the two were crucial to the attack, with Diego Mejías in the post-match presser noting he had identified these specific players for the position. 

“I think that our job as a coaches is try to improve the level of the player. When I arrived here, I saw some characteristics in these players. So I think that Antinoro is a very good player and Kevin dos Santos, too…so I like to attack on the sides.“

Numerous times in the half, Vancouver found its narrow 4-2-3-1 sucked in by the numerical advantages on the flanks, leaving an Atleti wingback ready and waiting for an inevitable switch, a strategy resulting in Kevin Dos Santos first goal in red and white stripes.

After finding itself 4-1 up in the second half, Atlético Ottawa began to show some familiar traits, as Sam Salter found himself missing a hat-trick of chances up front, with VFC defenders completely switching off to let him run through on goal in what could have been a finishing drill on the training pitch. Instead, the striker found himself thrice stymied by Callum Irving. 

Meijeda admitted it wasn’t an ideal display of finishing, but he wasn’t going to let it get in the way of a top performance on the road.

“I look for the ways to try to get opportunities to score. So I am very happy, of course, but we need to work in a lot of situations…I want to enjoy some hours because tomorrow I need to start to think in the next day.“

Against stiffer opposition than winless Vancouver FC, which was missing a number of international signings due to visa concerns, Mejía will be hoping his strikers can come good when it matters. And don’t look now, but here comes stiffer opposition! York are in town Saturday afternoon at 1 pm, and we hope to see you there! Keep an eye on socials for at least one update from the pre-match presser ahead of the game. Vamos!

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.