Valour FC - 2022 Season Thread

[EnigMattic1]

9 hours ago, K Edgar said:

"Andrew Jean-Baptiste... was not on training on Friday. Dos Santos said he is ‘day-to-day’, with the likelihood being Jean-Baptiste would return to action for Wednesday’s game against Forge FC" 😢

Rest of the article states the obvious: crunch time... can’t afford to drop any more points... against the wall...

https://valourfc.canpl.ca/article/forget-the-past-forget-what-has-been-and-just-focus-on-the-next-eight-games

Sad fact is, York United seem more optimistic than us about making the playoffs, and they are having goalkeeper problems right now. They have just signed another from Master's.

[jonovision]

From the article it seems like everyone is being fairly realistic about their chances. If they sweep their matches this week they're in with a shout, but that's a tall order.

As for AJB, there's no way he'll play in all 3 matches coming off an injury. 

[EnigMattic1]

13 hours ago, jonovision said:

From the article it seems like everyone is being fairly realistic about their chances. If they sweep their matches this week they're in with a shout, but that's a tall order.

As for AJB, there's no way he'll play in all 3 matches coming off an injury. 

You would think that, now, players would want to up their game as many will be playing for a spot on the roster next season (assuming they want to stick around). I think we have decided that Mekideche, Catavolo (or de Brienne) and Gutierrez will still be here as their deals aren't up but the rest (excluding the loanees) need to find another gear.

All that said, with the way some of the fixtures have been going, playoff qualification is still achievable, the players just need to want it. Especially when we are 10pts behind 2nd with 2 games in hand. It is just unfortunate that the 2 teams between us and 2nd are the only 2 teams to have won the league.

edit: And they are our next 2 games.

Edited August 28, 2022 by EnigMattic1

[jonovision]

9 hours ago, EnigMattic1 said:

You would think that, now, players would want to up their game as many will be playing for a spot on the roster next season (assuming they want to stick around). I think we have decided that Mekideche, Catavolo (or de Brienne) and Gutierrez will still be here as their deals aren't up but the rest (excluding the loanees) need to find another gear.

All that said, with the way some of the fixtures have been going, playoff qualification is still achievable, the players just need to want it. Especially when we are 10pts behind 2nd with 2 games in hand. It is just unfortunate that the 2 teams between us and 2nd are the only 2 teams to have won the league.

edit: And they are our next 2 games.

I'm glad one of the matches is against Pacific. For me they are clearly the weakest of the top 4. But 6 points out of the next 3 matches, the bare minimum IMO to keep a playoff dream alive, seems unlikely.

We'll see though. It all starts today.

[EnigMattic1]

17 hours ago, jonovision said:

I'm glad one of the matches is against Pacific. For me they are clearly the weakest of the top 4. But 6 points out of the next 3 matches, the bare minimum IMO to keep a playoff dream alive, seems unlikely.

We'll see though. It all starts today.

Well we are halfway there already. I can't help but think things would have been different for Pacific if they weren't picked apart in the off season. Not that I'm complaining though, we needed those points.

[K Edgar]

Looks like Valour will stick with Yesli 'til the bitter end this season.
2 goals against in his 5 straight starts.👍
But only 6 goals for in that time.👎
With Barker prominent in recent tweets would bet Sirios will not be returning next season?
Finally a goal from a corner, it has been far too long.
Romeo, after a period as a backup, made the most of his start.
Valour to play Romeo, AJB, Mekideche across the back next game?
Ascanio still injured?
Rendon, Ponce playing reduced minutes off the bench of late.
Pena cameo vs Pacific was his 58th appearance, the most of any Valour player.
(Passing the injured Ohin if my math is correct)

[Cheeta]

1 hour ago, K Edgar said:

Looks like Valour will stick with Yesli 'til the bitter end this season.
2 goals against in his 5 straight starts.👍
But only 6 goals for in that time.👎
With Barker prominent in recent tweets would bet Sirios will not be returning next season?
Finally a goal from a corner, it has been far too long.
Romeo, after a period as a backup, made the most of his start.
Valour to play Romeo, AJB, Mekideche across the back next game?
Ascanio still injured?
Rendon, Ponce playing reduced minutes off the bench of late.
Pena cameo vs Pacific was his 58th appearance, the most of any Valour player.
(Passing the injured Ohin if my math is correct)

Yeah, was talking with WF during halftime and we were wondering when was the last goal off  corner.  And just like that.

With that in mind, a back three of Mekideche, AJB, and Romeo would add something to the arial aspect.  No doubt about it.

Yeah, what's doing with Ascanio?

[EnigMattic1]

2 hours ago, K Edgar said:

Looks like Valour will stick with Yesli 'til the bitter end this season.
2 goals against in his 5 straight starts.👍
But only 6 goals for in that time.👎
With Barker prominent in recent tweets would bet Sirios will not be returning next season?
Finally a goal from a corner, it has been far too long.
Romeo, after a period as a backup, made the most of his start.
Valour to play Romeo, AJB, Mekideche across the back next game?
Ascanio still injured?
Rendon, Ponce playing reduced minutes off the bench of late.
Pena cameo vs Pacific was his 58th appearance, the most of any Valour player.
(Passing the injured Ohin if my math is correct)

Fair play for Yesli for making the most of his opportunity. Given that he is seizing this opportunity and appears to have the backing of PDS, I doubt that we would see Sirois back next season. Someone of his calibre would only be happy going on loan if they were guaranteed to start most, if not all of the games and he wont be happy going out on loan again, just to sit on the bench.

Would Barker coming back be a bad thing? Maybe Artemenko could be an option too with his return to the CPL (albeit on a non contract basis) with York.

Looking at the lack of depth out wide once Forbes and Ascanio reach the end of their loan deals, 3 at the back could be a viable option given that all of them are over 6ft and Yesli is around 6'7.

I have no idea what is going on with Ascanio but, as his loan deal expires at the end of the season, he could be done.

I believe Rendon and Ponce also have deals that are up at the end of the season (which I find hilarious given that they missed a good chunk of it because of visa issues) so it may just be that PDS doesn't plan on having them next season. It's ok PDS saying that Rendon "could be one of the best in the league", but there is always those that fail to live up to the hype.

I believe you are right with regards to Pena. Looking at Wikipedia, he was 6 games behind Ohin on the 22nd July.

[jonovision]

I wonder how many fans will forget this. I see potential for a decent crowd. Home opener sales, last evening game that's not a school night, last blast of summer.

[K Edgar]

[jonovision]

https://valourfc.canpl.ca/article/were-trying-to-finish-off-the-season-in-a-strong-position-and-if-we-do-that-we-think-we-can-clinch-a-spot-in-the-playoffs

AJB available for selection tomorrow.

[EnigMattic1]

When did Ohin pick up his injury?

[K Edgar]

37 minutes ago, EnigMattic1 said:

When did Ohin pick up his injury?

Training camp -- tackling/tackled by Akio, if I remember correctly.

Edited August 31, 2022 by K Edgar

[K Edgar]

1 - 0 (de Brienne 20')

Sweet!  (Sorry, post meant for game thread... but Wow!, worth posting here too)

Edited September 1, 2022 by K Edgar
tweet

[EnigMattic1]

7 hours ago, K Edgar said:

1 - 0 (de Brienne 20')

Sweet!  (Sorry, post meant for game thread... but Wow!, worth posting here too)

Definitely need to get this guy back next season. He certainly seems to enjoy his football at the moment.

[Pottsy3]

4 hours ago, EnigMattic1 said:

Definitely need to get this guy back next season. He certainly seems to enjoy his football at the moment.

has there been any word on him returning to university?

[K Edgar]

13 minutes ago, Pottsy3 said:

has there been any word on him returning to university?

I believe de Brienne is on a regular contact -- not a U Sports contract.  Only Carlos is U Sports and had the option to return to school.

[EnigMattic1]

4 hours ago, K Edgar said:

I believe de Brienne is on a regular contact -- not a U Sports contract.  Only Carlos is U Sports and had the option to return to school.

I've seen a lot of Ottawa fans wishing that they had signed him. But, yeah. I believe it is a regular contract as he was signed before the draft despite originally being entered for it.

[Wippersuna]

De Brienne is listed as a standard contract on the U21 Minutes played page.

[jonovision]

The announcer made some comments implying de Brienne will be a free agent following this season. I wouldn't have said this a month ago but I really hope we're able to keep him.

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

 

[EnigMattic1]

12 hours ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

 

The opening line of that is just weird though. "for a long part of the season wasn't in my plans". Why make a point of signing him before the draft then?

Seriously though, I do hope he sticks around. He has shown he can do a job and he is still young so will improve.

[Moore204]

This definitely wasnt where i thought we'd be at this point in the season, but im so glad we're here! Now we just need the Bombers to win for a perfect weekend of football!

[Trois Reds]

Second best goal difference, too. With GD being the first tie-break after points, that 6-1 win over ATO is looking pretty big in such a tight race.

[Moore204]

The only thing i don't like about our schedule is that we still have games against HFX and FCE. We really can't afford to play down to FCE again, and we need to finally get a win at Wanderers Grounds for once.