Valour FC Season Thread 2019

[Cheeta]

AND I'M NOT A GINGER!

(Or is that blonde?  Hard to tell.  Too much welding over the years).

[Cheeta]

One of many I expect.  That Tuesday match (against Edmonton) is going to get murdered at the gate.

Of course you never know, the famous V's Cup victory over Toronto in the semis may go a long way into getting casuals into the building.  

[Winnipeg Fury]

I have 3 tickets for the 22nd and was looking forward to taking my kids.  

I don't have my kids on the 19th, so they miss the match.  

Not happy.

 

[sting]

9 minutes ago, Winnipeg Fury said:

I have 3 tickets for the 22nd and was looking forward to taking my kids.  

I don't have my kids on the 19th, so they miss the match.  

Not happy.

 

I feel your pain. I have a group of relatives coming to town on the 21st and we were scheduled to go.

[MrsC]

15 hours ago, Lofty said:

Just got an email from Valour about the re-scheduled match vs. Edmonton. While I am fundamentally opposed to the idea of free tickets, this type of thing warms my heart and is an excellent strategy to soften the blow for any fans that are miffed:

"As result of moving the match, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers will distribute 2,500 tickets to the August 19th Valour FC match to deserving youth in our community. And you get to choose which charities or youth groups you’d like to see receive tickets. Click here to select a charity."

I like this as well.  My biggest issue with the move was that attendance would suffer for a Monday night game two days after a Saturday game.  This should soften that impact.

[jonovision]

10 minutes ago, Lofty said:

WTF is going on with Stephen Hoyle? Valour's marquee signing, apparently healthy, the one proven goalscorer in the squad who averages a goal every two matches, yet Galey sits him on the bench while Valour continue to struggle to score. Any ideas? Took a slash in Galey's cornflakes?

He (Hoyle) does seem to do a lot of very unproductive running, chasing after defenders who are miles away with no hope of putting on any pressure. And he has been surprisingly impotent in the air. But you can't argue with goals.

In an interview a few weeks back Galey did hint that he was not getting from Hoyle what he wanted tactically, but surely they have had time to iron that out.

He looked gassed pretty early on in the 2nd game of the season. I wonder if his fitness just isn't up to par.

[Bison44]

Didnt he come right to camp from the end of the NZ season??   

[Bison44]

Well it shouldnt be his fitness, if he came straight from a season...Maybe Galey is managing his minutes?? A knock??  Its strange thats for sure.  Maybe the wild Wpg night life has sucked him in and we have a Jamie Peters situation going on.  Is the Palimino club still open?

[CanadaFan123]

Gales Valour reminds me of his 2015/2017 u20 teams.  Aside from the considerable overlap in players he seems to have almost too many similar players he’s trying to deploy at once.  He’s putting out so many attacking mids that he’s resigned the best player in the league to RB.  I don’t care how many attacking options you have, you can’t put the best player out of position and away from the play unless you’re absolutely running teams like Canada v USVI.  Valour has only  scored more than 1 goal once, I think. 

This team has enough talent but too many guys in the same sort of roles IMO.  Get yourself a target up top, proper fullbacks, depth in the back and a little more bite in midfield and I think they’re set.  Bustos and Petrasso can be the best attacking combo in the league, even better than Bekker and Borges.

[CanadaFan123]

42 minutes ago, Lofty said:

RB is not the same as Wing Back. A wing back is an attacking player with defensive responsibilities. A RB is a defensive player with attacking responsibilities. There is a world of difference between the two.

I think you’re confusing right back with fullback .. a player could play right back and have a role as a wingback as Petrasso has, or they could be a fullback.  With two centrebacks I would describe his role as a RB playing a wingback role.  In a 5 man backline you’re probably going to have pure wingbacks as you play with 3 centre backs like 2017 tfc.  In my mind RB is an actual position on the field and what you’re describing is a fullback v wingback.  I do agree that Petrasso was playing as a wingback and not a fullback ... but he was definitely at RB.

I.e.

WB———DM———WB

———-CB-CB-CB———

or

WB/FB——CB—CB——WB/FB

Valour played the latter.  Unfortunately every time Petrasso has played as a wingback it’s been at right back instead of a proper wingback position.

Edit: I realize the entire world doesn’t define roles the same, so you may have a different understanding... this is what I would call the “football manager” definition 😉.

Edited June 9, 2019 by CanadaFan123

[CanadaFan123]

In my mind arguinarena wasn’t playing as a CB but as a left back.   Looked to be a back 4 with Petrasso and him as the backs - Petrasso was playing as more of a wingback while arguinarena was more rigid, a full back. 

[CanadaFan123]

8 hours ago, Lofty said:

If you watch a it again you will see it is a clear back 3: Arguiñarena, Murrell, Thomas. And that Petrasso and Galvis are playing further up and hugging the touchline, but coming back when needed - in other words, wing backs.

I'm sure you will agree it would not make sense to have a full back on one side and a wing back on the other. Either you are using wing backs or you aren't.

No actually, it’s not the norm but it’s common to have your outside backs play different roles.  Wingback is a role.  I.e. when Canada played FG in the opener of the 2017 Gold Cup - Canada played a back 4 but Petrasso was playing as a wing back and playing tight to Hoilett in combinations, making runs into the box etc.  De Jong on the other side was playing as a fullback and wasn’t nearly as advanced on the other side when in possession.  Defending of course, as part of a 4 man backline they have similar responsibilities but it’s all about how they shape when in possession.

 

Edited June 9, 2019 by CanadaFan123

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

Ryan Brandt is still peddling the David Edgar thing:

 

[T_Bison]

19 hours ago, Lofty said:

It is certainly news to me that there are no plans for him to re-sign with the club. I doubt that Newcastle or Sunderland are beating down his door and Hartlepool are National League, which is roughly where I would put CPL. It will probably come down to $$$. Has any CPL club reserved enough cap space to land him?

We don't really know the cap money yet so that would be hard to say. But Cavalry, York & Halifax are all at the 23-person roster limit. Of those, Valour & FCE probably would be downgrading taking him on, especially when their needs are up-front. Forge is loaded at centre-back. Pacific is probably the only one that could use him with de Jong on the shelf but I'm not sure he is a good fit, especially for a small market team that is probably pinching the pennies a bit.

 

TBH I could see him landing outside of the CanPL

[jonovision]

I know looking at the blue dots in Ticketmaster isn't the most healthy obsession, but it's interesting to compare the sales for tomorrow compared with the June 20th match. June 20th looks to be nearly sold out, apart from the expensive sections.

Regarding tomorrow, do we have anything on the injury status of Mitter, Thomas, and Gutierrez?

[Ngravs]

1 hour ago, jonovision said:

I know looking at the blue dots in Ticketmaster isn't the most healthy obsession, but it's interesting to compare the sales for tomorrow compared with the June 20th match. June 20th looks to be nearly sold out, apart from the expensive sections.

Regarding tomorrow, do we have anything on the injury status of Mitter, Thomas, and Gutierrez?

Next thursday does look very promisin! I'm hoping these sections are actually sold and not just withheld by ticketmaster but there are some individual tickets in the sections that make me think they could acutally all be sold! 

[damaaster]

Won 2 tickets to the game tomorrow Via Manitoba Soccer -(will be my first valour game). 

I'm familiar with a few of the players (bustos, hoyle, petrasso) Anyone in particular I should be keeping an eye on?   Any nice surprise players so far this season?

 

[jonovision]

7 minutes ago, damaaster said:

Won 2 tickets to the game tomorrow Via Manitoba Soccer -(will be my first valour game). 

I'm familiar with a few of the players (bustos, hoyle, petrasso) Anyone in particular I should be keeping an eye on?   Any nice surprise players so far this season?

 

Beland-Goyette (#5) is a defensive midfielder who has really grown into the role. Arguinarena (#6, left back) is a veteran South American player who often shows his class. I really enjoy what Gutierrez (#8) brings to the midfield but he may still be carrying an injury from the last match. I know Lofty seems to be a big fan of Dylan Sacramento (#7), another midfielder.

[Ngravs]

3 hours ago, damaaster said:

Won 2 tickets to the game tomorrow Via Manitoba Soccer -(will be my first valour game). 

I'm familiar with a few of the players (bustos, hoyle, petrasso) Anyone in particular I should be keeping an eye on?   Any nice surprise players so far this season?

 

Most importantly if you want to have a good time find a spot in 144 😉

[damaaster]

17 hours ago, Ngravs said:

Most importantly if you want to have a good time find a spot in 144 😉

haha..I believe the seats I won are section 107.

How was the attendance been so far? Definitely looking forward to the game tonight/checking out the atmosphere.

 

[Ngravs]

Make your way over anyways! 

[Ngravs]

Will the field have football lines on it??

[johnyb]

45 minutes ago, Ngravs said:

Will the field have football lines on it??

No

[jonovision]

Valour totally outclassed in the second half by a not very good HFX team. Major moves are required.

[damaaster]

Okay, here are my initial thoughts on my first ever attended CPL/Valour game.  A little background first; I've played soccer my whole life, and attended some pretty big matches (5 World cup games in Brazil, Women's world Cup Games, World Cup Qualifying in England, Chlesea vs Newcastle, Canada WCQ, Pan Am Games)  So I am new to the CPL, but definitely not the sport.  I had no idea what to expect going in, but I was excited.  I won 2 tickets from Manitoba Soccer and was sitting right at centre field.

 

The Atmosphere:

Fun, relaxed, but people were still into the game.  The "trench" was amazing, and next time I'll definitely venture down to that section.  Loved the fact it wasn't TOO crowded like a bomber game - didn't feel like you had to rush to get a beer and could actually breath in the concourse.  My seats allowed access to the Pinnacle lounge, (my first time in there) which was pretty nice, and offered free popcorn).  Only downside to the atmosphere for night was the TWELVE dollar price tag for a can of beer.  Paying NHL prices for beer seems a little excessive, but oh well.

 

The Game:

I honestly wasn't sure what to expect as far as quality goes, aside from my own games, I've never really watched non top tier soccer. The quality was actually MUCH better than I thought it would be.  Going into the game, I didn't know any players on Halifax, and only knew of: Bustos, Goyette, Petrasso and Hoyle on Valour.  Even though I'd never seen a minute of a CPL game, and had no emotional attachment to Valour, I got right into the game as soon as they kicked off. (I think the songs coming from the Trench helped).  After 5 minutes, I genuinely felt like I "cared" and really wanted them to win.  I'll be back soon for sure (actually going to buy my dad tickets for Fathers day!).  The result wasn't great, but I think we outplayed them, definitely had the majority of possession- just had no finish, and Halifax was really good on the counter.

 

The players: (my completely uneducated opinion after a 1 game sample...haha)

Bustos: By far the best player on the pitch (for either team).  Have to think if he was taller he'd be playing up a tier or two. 

Ohin: Thought he played well, had never heard of him before, and he stood out, made some nice plays and linked up with Petrasso a lot in the first half.

Petrasso: Had a strong half before he got injured. The majority of the play was down his wing - and we carried almost all the possession first half.

Hoyle: Just seems too slow.  I know I'm only basing this on one game, but didn't seem to have any impact, and can't help but feel with all our possession, if we had someone quicker we could have connected early on for a goal.

Gutierrez: Looked pretty solid as well

From Halifax, the one player that stood out was Kodai Lida (#9).

 

Final Thoughts:

I'll be back,  - may even consider getting season tickets next year.  I  think I'll be subscribing to ONEsoccer too. Looking forward to my next game.