Vancouver FC on the Horizon, Sacko on the Move?
Atlético Ottawa visit Vancouver FC in Langley late Friday night in search of a valuable three points. Afshin Ghotbi and VFC have clawed their way into third in the league, and a win against the Eagles will be necessary as it would pull Atlético Ottawa away from touching distance. VFC sit third in the league, and much of their success can be credited to goalkeeper Callum Irving, whose 37 saves put him second second in the league. Last time out against VFC, Atlético Ottawa could only manage a 1-1 draw at Willoughby, with a five save performance from Irving holding the ATO attack at bay. Scoring hasn’t come easy for the capital city since, and González will be hoping his side can get out to a fast start after being scored on first in 3 of the last 4 games. González joined the press ahead of Friday night, and here are all the important details:
The Quotes: Carlos González
On defending first place from Vancouver, others: “I think that the most important thing is to grab a result to bounce back from a bad result…For me, the advantage that we have against the second or the other teams is not so important. You know, at the end of the day, what we have to fight for is to get into our best version again, because I think that in the last few games we haven't done games in which we were in our best version, so we have to fight for that.”
On teams playing Rubén Del Campo differently: “I think that every time that the teams see that there's an opponent in a good strike, they try to be closer on him and they try to have more defensive helps in those type of situations. But I don't think that he's not having the situations. I think that last game he had a couple, the one that hit in the crossbar. Maybe in another moment he would have been there to put it into the back of the net. But at the end of the day, I think that Rubén is doing a great job.”
On the future of Abou Sacko: “Sacko is in an uncertain situation at the moment because we are in a moment in which the window will open next Friday. So we are seeing if the best thing for him is to continue his progress in another place in which he can have more minutes or if he's going to be useful for the team. We are in this time in which we are thinking on the movements that we can do.”
On getting going earlier in matches: “What we can see is that usually when in these type of games, the amount of energy when you are organized defensively is less than when you want to chase for a game or for a result. So I think that that's the main target for us. Close our net and don't think on chasing after results because I think that if we want to be fighting for good things and important things, we have to be a solid team, a very competitive team, and we don't have to be in the need of chasing games.”
On Callum Irving: “Irving is a very reliable goalkeepers. There are a couple of those in the league…Although he's in a good strike, [Vancouver has] received quite a few goals. He's saving a lot, but this means that they are creating a lot of chances to their team. So you can see it in different ways, you know, so we hope that we can be ruthless in those moments.”
The Talking Point: The Transfer Window Beckons
As coach pointed out, the next time we hear from him in a press conference, the transfer window will have opened and Atlético Ottawa will be one step closer to making those transfer moves which have been swirling about for the past few weeks. González hinted in past press conferences that the club was looking to fill one or two spots still, and after appearing to have tested every credible wing option against Pacific last weekend without much to show for it, one can only imagine that at least one of those transfers will be to replace the injured Kevin Dos Santos.
In discussing Abou Sacko, González dropped the first big hint of an outgoing transfer, as Sacko at least appears set to move away from the nation’s capital after not appearing on the bench for four consecutive weeks, with his last appearance coming in late May. It will be a shame to see the young Frenchmen go after the potential he showed in flashes over the past couple years.
Last summer’s transfer window we saw the arrival of a certain Spanish contingent which has since made returns in dividends. Alberto Zapater instantly became the midfield cog the squad had desperately needed, while Rubén Del Campo has been worth his weight in goals this season - Illias Illiadis also joined the club on a short-term loan to pad out the midfield. Without the direct pull of Fernando Lopez, the club may find acquiring grade-A talent a little more difficult than it did last year, but with some clever moves and careful planning, there’s still room for this superteam to look a heck of a lot scarier.
Kickoff tonight is at 10pm at Willoughby Park, but join us at the GCP for our watch party as we watch the boys in stripes defend first place. 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.
