The Forward Press for CanChamp Semi-Final Leg 1 vs VFC and Matchday 19 vs FOR: Debriefing a Horrific Week of Football
Let's just get to it, no need for pleasantries. This edition of the Forward Press kicks off with a brief recap of Vancouver’s pressers before delving into the press conferences for the match against Forge, as there was no time for a midweek edition between fixtures. The pre-match wasn’t much to write home about, but notably Ballou Tabla was sure to downplay any idea that Ottawa would look past Vancouver FC, saying that the match would be difficult regardless of their respective standings in the league. Diego Mejía, in turn, was emphatic that the teams that make the fewest mistakes are the most successful in a cup tournament like this – a little bit of foreshadowing, if you will. He also mentioned that Vancouver has improved under new coach Martin Nash to be a little more effective in their pressing.
In what was a fairly depressing post-match meeting, both Nathan Ingham and Mejía were confident that the team could execute a two-goal comeback, but they admitted Ottawa deserved the loss, citing poor execution and the return of some early-season mistakes and pitfalls (this will make another appearance).
Moving on to the pre-match conference on Saturday for the Hamilton match, Jon Hopkins of CCSG posed a question pertaining to Mejía’s response to fixing small mistakes like those that plagued Ottawa in the midweek, and the coach had an insightful answer to it:
“… When my team loses, it's always my fault, it's not the fault of the players, because I plan during the week … I like that my players take the risk, and this is the way that I understand the game, the only way that the young players have to learn something is to commit mistakes … I know that the players in my team have the permission to commit mistakes, we are a very young team but I am very happy with these players, I think that with this roster we have, a lot of teams are the owner of the present but we are the owners of the future.”
Regardless of any future Ottawa may own, Mejía was also focused on the present, in the form of Forge FC, and Charlie O’Connor Clarke of CanPL.ca was on hand to ask the coach about preparing for yet another match against the league leaders:
“For me it's a good challenge, because I think that (the CPL) is the only league in the world where you play against the same rival four times … the first two matches we had the ball and control of the ball all the time, we create(d) a lot of chances, they (sat) back and wait(ed) for us, and then played in transitions, right now I think that both teams are in a good shape, I think that it will be … a very good match.”
In response to a question from Gareth Wheeler of the same outlet, Mejía pointed out that Forge would likely press a lot higher than in that dismal performance from Smyrniotis in Ottawa – a prediction that came true to Ottawa’s consternation. Wheeler followed that up by asking the coach, of the team sitting point off the top, if a match against the league leaders was a must-win. Mejía, while acknowledging that it was, not just for six points but also because of its psychological value to the team, also emphasized that there are plenty of games left in the season, and any stumble can be recovered from. Ottawa will certainly need to do so.
Brett Levis was first up during the debriefing of the 2-0 loss, and was first asked his thoughts on such a frustrating defeat:
“I feel like it's always like that when two teams at the top of the table go at it, I thought that we maybe took a little longer than we should have to get our feet going, and find our form, but there’s a reason why they’re three/four time champions; they stick to their model, and today just wasn’t our day.”
Levis was brought on at the break for Noah Abatneh, and was asked what he was told to bring to the team for the last half of the match:
“Just try to bring some energy, there wasn't a ton of direction (from the coaching staff), I've been training (at CB), I've played in that role a few times, at that point it was 1-0, it was 2-0 shortly after I came on, maybe I was slightly more attacking just looking for one, and seeing if we could get some energy behind us.”
He added that his role extends beyond matchday to help settle the nerves of his younger teammates throughout the season, citing his decade or more of professional experience, something that hasn’t necessarily been needed so far this season, but could prove invaluable in a tight title race down the stretch. Levis was also asked what the coaching staff has brought to the team this year:
“It's really good, just the overall energy … setting a goal at the beginning of the year, a few targets that we’re trying to hit, and making sure we are staying on that path … I think a big thing is not getting too high and not getting too low, I know that you hear that a lot whether you're at the top of the table, or in a slight rut as we are at this moment, just making sure that we stay grounded, at the end of the day there's still lots of games left, lots of points to pick up, just staying positive.”
Levis followed that up by mentioning that Mejía was very constructive in the locker room after the match – the coach was adamant about staying positive, and reminding the players that Forge are a good team, but there are still nine matches left in the season, so the team has to reset and go again.
Speaking of Mejía, as always he sat in front of the media following the match, and, like Levis, was asked his opinions on the loss:
“I think that it was very good, we wanted to defend a little lower, to try and find spaces, to cover the connections they have in the middle, and then (when) on the ball to try to play in our way … I think that today wasn't the best performance, but not on (individual) players just in general, that maybe we need to prepare better for these matches, I learned a lot (from) this situation … because it gave me a lot of answers, to improve the model.”
Jon Hopkins posed a question to Mejía about the lessons learned from this week, and the coach took full responsibility for what has been a miserable two-match stretch:
“I think that we need to (make) better decisions, I am responsible for that, because I ha(d) the option to come back to Ottawa after the cup game and I decided to come here to (Hamilton) and wait here for the next match, I think that was a mistake … I think we need to prepare better (for) the matches, because this league has (very) good coaches, and they study really well too, and we need to start to look for new behaviours and to try to get the most points possible.”
Finally, briefly returning to a question asked to Brett Levis about what the team needs to do to get back to winning form:
“Just getting back to basics, doing a lot of the small things at the beginning of the year, and making sure that we understand that when you're at the top you do have a target on your back, just being able to adapt to different game styles, but at the end of the day getting back to some of the fundamentals that maybe we were missing this game.”
With reassurances from both manager and player that Ottawa has learned valuable lessons this week, a hope that they will actually follow through on promises to improve (something Ottawa has never shown in the previous four years), and a message to the fans that everyone around ATO is keen to return home to TD Place, Ottawa will next kickoff against Cavalry on home soil on Saturday, August 23, at 7PM. Be there or be square, and vamos!
About Alexander:
When he isn't busy playing or watching sports (or going to school at uOttawa), Alexander is managing his Atlético Ottawa database, which he started in 2020, and tracks everything you can think of about the club and its players. He also runs a BlueSky account dedicated to analyzing and rating CPL and NSL players using statistics, CPL by the Numbers.
