The Forward Press: Diego Mejía Hails Future League Best in First Post-Match Presser
It was a spicy game in the sleet and rain as a new-look ATO opened the CPL season Saturday afternoon. Over 5,000 were in attendance in the Pay-What-You-Can home opener to watch Diego Mejía’s first starting XI of the season return to TD Place against the Halifax Wanderers, albeit with many watching from the comfort of the North Stand concourse.
Mejía gave starts to six new faces hoping to bulge the net of old friend Rayane Yesli. But it wouldn’t be the Rougiblancos netting the first of the CPL season. Atleti showed spurts of danger, with inverted wingers Ballou Tabla and new-boy David Rodríguez gliding into the box on a number of occasions only to be snuffed out by disconnects in the final third. Instead it was largely Halifax who controlled the momentum of the first half, stringing together clever passing moves which dragged Atleti’s 64-year-old two man midfield around the pitch, and 20 minutes into the match Giorgio Probo would take advantage with a first-time strike, a marker which would be compounded two minutes after the half-time restart thanks to a cleverly-taken finish by one-time Atleti target Sean Rea.
But if it was raining chances for Halifax in the 50 minutes, the sun came out for ATO as Diego Mejía looked to his bench, bringing on Manuel Aparicio and, later Abou Sissoko, both players who would change the game. David Rodríguez capitalized first as he drove into the box to poke home a Sam Salter dinked ball, while it was an Abou Sissoko strike from his own rebound which bundled into the net to claw Atleti back into the match and earn ATO its first point on the season.
ATO and Mejía start the season with much to build on following a rollercoaster draw which keeps the team undefeated in season openers, though it wouldn’t be all sunshine. Tyr Walker would find himself in the officials book for the second time, seeing red in the 85th minute after being adjudged to have wasted time lobbing a ball over the advertisement boards. It was a juvenile mistake from a back three with a median age of 20 that sorely missed Amer Didic this week. Diego Mejía joined the media to discuss his young back line, among other things, in his first Atlético post-match presser:
The Quotes: Diego Mejía
On early impressions of CPL footbal (translated from Spanish): “It's amazing. You have a great league. The environment is amazing. I enjoy a lot my first game here…The league is great. It’s an opportunity that gives me a lot of development personally. I’m surprised by how things work here, the facilities that we have to train. It’s incredible. I’m really surprised by how the league does things, lets me talk with the players, which for me is more important than results.”
On having a deep bench in the second half: “It's the advantage that I have as a coach in Athletic Ottawa because I have amazing roster. I have two players per spot. So I thought that the game of plan with Zapa, Noah, will be the best plan. I think that we played a really good first half. Then I have the advantage to have players like Aparicio and Abou, or Didić on the bench for this game.”
On the Man-of-the-Match performance of David Rodríguez: “David is an amazing player. I know David in Mexico. I always watch his games, I like him a lot as a player. So when I had the opportunity to bring him with us, I enjoy a lot that decision for Atletico San Luis. So I think that maybe we will watch one of the best players this year in this league.”
On a young back-three: “This league is a league of opportunities for everybody. Our job as a coaches is not only win a point or win a championship. It's try to develop young players for the country, for the national team.”
A message for next week: “Soccer is not a play for one game. It's a process. Champions build every training, every session, every match. I am very happy for the performance today. I win more than one point. I win a team that understand the models and they understand that we can have the opportunity to win a lot of matches and fight for the championship.”
The Quotes: David Rodríguez
On coming North to play in less than ideal circumstances: “We're not used to this weather, but we're still adapting. And I think it was pretty good game individually and for the team as well.
On the halftime message: It was tough during halftime…Always have a positive mentality. And no matter if we're losing 1-0, 2-0, 3-0, the game is not over. We were down 2-0 at minute 47. We still had a lot of time, and that's what the team did, perform. I think second half, it was way better for us. We played our game. And like I said, the game is not over until it's over. So we just pushed through it.”
On his performance individually: “I think it's just how the game goes. Like I said, today I had a good game individually. The ball went through me a lot of times, and I think that's how we create a little bit more of chances. But it's just not me. It could be the other side. I think we all have the same mentality to go forward. Everyone is good individually, and that's what we are. We like to go forward and attack.”
On the attraction of CPL football: “I think the CPL is growing. Every year, it gets more viewers. The league is better. Personally, I think it's just a new challenge individually. I'm looking forward for the rest of the season. It was just the first game. We had a tie. And I think we have a pretty good team, and I'm pretty sure everyone in the league will make sure of it.”
The Big Takeaway: To Three or Not to Three
Of the eleven players wearing the red and white of Atlético Ottawa on Saturday, only a handful of players proved to be good value to start next week. Inarguably, David Rodríguez will be setting his sights on back-to-back man of the match awards in an effort to refute Mejía’s claim of “one of the best in the league this year,” while Sam Salters deft dinked ball to set up Rodríguez and some tidy touches in tight means he would also be a surprise should he be dropped. Ingham will of course reprise his role between the sticks, while Noah Abatneh and Brett Levis, neither of whom had particularly strong games, will always be favourites to start.
Padding this 2-0-2 formation should be a lot easier to do for Mejía when he is not troubled by VISA issues, fitness woes and suspensions. But when he is able to do so, where will he land tactically?
Against Halifax, Diego Mejía lined up in a 3-4-2-1, with wingbacks Levis and Dos Santos encouraged to get forward and create from the flanks, squeezing Rodríguez and Tabla in closer to Sam Salter. This set-up was a surprise. Not only do Atleti once again boast one of the deepest midfields in the CPL, but on only one occasion last season in Mexico did Diego Mejía experiment with a back-three at FC Juarez – a 3-1 loss to league titans Monterrey. In fact, it was only directly after the departure of Mejía that FC Juarez switched to a back-three, closing out the season in said shape.
Rarely did Diego Mejía stray from the 4-2-3-1 system in his season at Juarez, with the former-midfielder relying on a three man midfield. So to have paired a 40 year old Zapater with the figure of Noah Verhoeven in a two-man midfield in his first match in charge seems an off-colour choice, and one that, given Aparicio and Sissoko being relegated to the bench due to fatigue, can only be explained through a forced hand. With lots to be said of this new-look attacking midfield which can ‘create through the middle’ rather than the Atleti of old, which seemed allergic to the center of the pitch, it seems a no-brainer that Mejía will return to a four-back this season. Or is it?
While he didn’t have an exceptional game out on the left (check out Patrick Gibson’s player rankings for a more in depth analysis of this) Brett Levis appeared to have been given the license of the left-hand side, rather than a more conservative approach to fullback/wingback-ery taken by those over the ripe old age of 30. Dropping Levis to a defensive minded left centre back behind the flying Joaquim Coulanges provided an even more interesting option in creating from the flanks, rather than through midfield, one that saw Coulanges get up into the box on a number of occasions. On the opposite side of the pitch, Mejía turned to makeshift wingback Kevin dos Santos, though the expectation would be that, VISA issues notwithstanding, young Iker Moreno, dubbed ‘Il Messi Mexicano’ at 11 years old on Youtube (look it up), will fill the right wingback spot long-term. With a goal and two assists in less than four matches worth of playing time in Liga MX Clausera last year, Mejía (and the CCSG) will be crossing fingers and toes that his VISA issues can be resolved faster than a certain Liberman Torres.
Of course, this is all conjecture. With “two players for every spot” Mejía can afford to competently fill any formation he chooses, with the betting population expecting he’ll slide back into his familiar 4-2-3-1 sooner or later, especially down a CB for the next week. We’ll await his starting XI come 5pm next Sunday ahead of kickoff at Willoughby. Vamos Atleti!
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.
