Valour FC - 2023 Season Thread

[K Edgar]

[Soccerpro2]

On 1/25/2023 at 3:14 PM, Soccerpro2 said:

Jaime Siaj has 1 goal in 16 appearances in the last 3 years (according to wiki).

Walter Ponce had 1 goal in 17 games in the 2 seasons prior to joining Valour (he scored 2 in 20 games last year).

Pacifique Niyongabire has 1 goal in the previous 4 YEARS

Kian Williams scored 11 goals in 3 seasons in Iceland.

To quote Taylor Twellman "What are we doing??????, What are we doing?????"

I understand that Winnipeg isn't a preferred destination in the league, but the last thing I want to hear PDS say this season after we get shut out a bunch is "we know we have the players that can score" We just signed the Jordanian Frank Jonke.

I know we don't have full time scouts, but this is the best Valour can do? really???? Are we even spending half the salary cap? If so, where is the money going?

Get ready for a big attendance decrease after we get pumped throughout the year. "BuT We NeEd HiGhEr AtTeNdEnCe"

No one could have possibly have seen this coming.......

Very surprised we aren't able to score this year.

It's starting to feel like what's the point of Valour FC?

Edited July 9, 2023 by Soccerpro2

[Cheeta]

1 hour ago, Soccerpro2 said:

....

It's starting to feel like what's the point of Valour FC?

To train up good 'keepers?

Because I don't care how good your defensive shape is when you're no threat to the opposition goal teams will come at you on ways they wouldn't against some other teams.

[Soccerpro2]

43 minutes ago, Cheeta said:

To train up good 'keepers?

Because I don't care how good your defensive shape is when you're no threat to the opposition goal teams will come at you on ways they wouldn't against some other teams.

Proud of myself for calling Siaj the Jordanian Frank Jonke when we signed him.

All of this was so painfully obvious before the team even took the field.

[Wippersuna]

What’s the solution? Dos Santos must know there’s a problem if he’s putting De Brienne up top instead of bringing Siaj on. What are the chances they actually bring someone else in?

Super frustrated that after 5 years we still can’t put together a competent team. 

Edited July 9, 2023 by Wippersuna

[EnigMattic1]

On 7/7/2023 at 1:03 AM, K Edgar said:

Related to the Valour FC/FC Manitoba relationship... What are the odds that, come the end of August, Tisseur returns to U Montreal to get some playing time and Barker is back with Valour sitting on the bench as Yesli backup?  I am guessing better than 50%.  Would not be shocked to see Yesli play every minute this season.

To be fair, I could see this happening. I could also see us bringing Attardo in for the remainder of the season as we look toothless in attack and there is still 1 roster slot available isn't there?

[Soccerpro2]

14 hours ago, Wippersuna said:

What’s the solution? Dos Santos must know there’s a problem if he’s putting De Brienne up top instead of bringing Siaj on. What are the chances they actually bring someone else in?

Super frustrated that after 5 years we still can’t put together a competent team. 

There is no solution. Unless ownership is willing to pay for a proven goal scorer, absolutely nothing can be done.

This is what bargain basement striker shopping gets us.

Edited July 10, 2023 by Soccerpro2

[K Edgar]

Depressing Thoughts:
Forge scored 4 goals on July 9 (1 game)
Valour scored 4 goals on May 28 through July 9 (8 games)

A Forge player scored 3 goals on July 9 (1 game)
No Valour player has scored more than 2 goals to this point in the season (14 games)

Optimistic Thought:
Perhaps Valour can even those numbers up on Saturday???

[Soccerpro2]

Ottawa just brought in two new players and have promptly won two games in a row.

Valour have brought in 0 new players and now sit in 7th place, 2 points above Vancouver.

Vancouver just signed Diaz, who is one of the top strikers to ever play in the CPL with Pacific.

Other teams are making the necessary signings in order to try to approve. Our bargain basement ownership does nothing. What’s the point of our team?

 

 

Edited July 13, 2023 by Soccerpro2

[Cheeta]

And will stay in 7th regardless of what happens in Hamilton.

We're in 7th place.  We're in 7th place.

We're not at the bottom.  But we're in 7th place. 

Weeee!!!!!

[K Edgar]

2 hours ago, Cheeta said:

And will stay in 7th regardless of what happens in Hamilton.

We're in 7th place.  We're in 7th place.

We're not at the bottom.  But we're in 7th place. 

Weeee!!!!!

With Halifax, Ottawa and even Vancouver each winning their last game Valour's position is becoming dire.  15 points in 14 games -- essentially 1 pt/game is no going to get a playoff spot.  Valour needs 1.5 or 2 pt/game going forward.  And to do that they need goals.  Where the goals are going to come from must be solved quickly.

[Big_M]

doubt they are allowing dos santos to make another move after all his misses...specially if his contract is ending

[jonovision]

3 hours ago, Big_M said:

doubt they are allowing dos santos to make another move after all his misses...specially if his contract is ending

I don't know how one harshly one can judge Dos Santos' "misses" without an idea of what budget he has at his disposal. If, as rumoured, it is one of or the smallest in the league, it's no surprise talent at certain positions is sparse.

FWIW, Valour did just come into $16k USD of solidarity payments from the WC, which could cover most or all of the costs of a half-season of a better striker option.

[Soccerpro2]

5 hours ago, Big_M said:

doubt they are allowing dos santos to make another move after all his misses...specially if his contract is ending

I'd like to know his budget before passing judgement.

There's no question he's missed on the majority of his signings. Would he have had the option of signing better/more proven players if he had the budget of Pacific/Forge? I don't know.

I do know that a team like Halifax signed a bunch of League1Ontario players and are above us in the standings. I doubt those players are making much money.

I think where it went wrong for PDS was signing our South American duds last season. They are internationals (besides Ulloa) who have not produced and are likely earning more than average. Those guys were also signed for more than one season.

PDS is not going to be able to attract high-end Canadian players because they mostly don't want to live in Winnipeg (it's true, people can get as mad as they want at me for saying it). That means he really needs to nail his international signings, and he has not.

Players that are worth keeping and have earned their spot: Baquero, de Brienne, Guti, Pacifique, Ohin (injured), Pianelli, Samake, Williams - needs more time to show, Sanchez. AJB is done. great servent for the club, but he's done.

We lost 5 difference makes from last year: - Sirios, Rea, Akio, Levis, Moses Dyer. We have not added 5 difference makes this season.

Having said all of that, if we had one semi-decent goal scorer with even 3 goals, we could potentially have 6-9 more points.

Fun fact: Shan Hundal has 6 goals with Vancouver this season. He played with Valour in 2020 and had 0 goals in 6 appearances.

Valour is kind of the the TFC of the CPL when it comes to players moving on and being strong performers in new environments (Bustos, Mussi, Hundaal). All offensive goal scorers, too!

Edited July 13, 2023 by Soccerpro2

[EnigMattic1]

10 hours ago, Soccerpro2 said:

I'd like to know his budget before passing judgement.

There's no question he's missed on the majority of his signings. Would he have had the option of signing better/more proven players if he had the budget of Pacific/Forge? I don't know.

I do know that a team like Halifax signed a bunch of League1Ontario players and are above us in the standings. I doubt those players are making much money.

I think where it went wrong for PDS was signing our South American duds last season. They are internationals (besides Ulloa) who have not produced and are likely earning more than average. Those guys were also signed for more than one season.

PDS is not going to be able to attract high-end Canadian players because they mostly don't want to live in Winnipeg (it's true, people can get as mad as they want at me for saying it). That means he really needs to nail his international signings, and he has not.

Players that are worth keeping and have earned their spot: Baquero, de Brienne, Guti, Pacifique, Ohin (injured), Pianelli, Samake, Williams - needs more time to show, Sanchez. AJB is done. great servent for the club, but he's done.

We lost 5 difference makes from last year: - Sirios, Rea, Akio, Levis, Moses Dyer. We have not added 5 difference makes this season.

Having said all of that, if we had one semi-decent goal scorer with even 3 goals, we could potentially have 6-9 more points.

Fun fact: Shan Hundal has 6 goals with Vancouver this season. He played with Valour in 2020 and had 0 goals in 6 appearances.

Valour is kind of the the TFC of the CPL when it comes to players moving on and being strong performers in new environments (Bustos, Mussi, Hundaal). All offensive goal scorers, too!

Not quite the same in terms of quality of competition, but Attardo has 2 in 4 for FC Manitoba this season but hasn't really found the net consistently since he left Valour after his 6 goal season. Dyer has 2 in 8 and Akio has 1 in 12 and 2 in 14. I totally agree with your statement about having one semi-decent goal scorer though.

[Aird25]

14 hours ago, Soccerpro2 said:

I'd like to know his budget before passing judgement.

There's no question he's missed on the majority of his signings. Would he have had the option of signing better/more proven players if he had the budget of Pacific/Forge? I don't know.

I do know that a team like Halifax signed a bunch of League1Ontario players and are above us in the standings. I doubt those players are making much money.

I think where it went wrong for PDS was signing our South American duds last season. They are internationals (besides Ulloa) who have not produced and are likely earning more than average. Those guys were also signed for more than one season.

PDS is not going to be able to attract high-end Canadian players because they mostly don't want to live in Winnipeg (it's true, people can get as mad as they want at me for saying it). That means he really needs to nail his international signings, and he has not.

Players that are worth keeping and have earned their spot: Baquero, de Brienne, Guti, Pacifique, Ohin (injured), Pianelli, Samake, Williams - needs more time to show, Sanchez. AJB is done. great servent for the club, but he's done.

We lost 5 difference makes from last year: - Sirios, Rea, Akio, Levis, Moses Dyer. We have not added 5 difference makes this season.

Having said all of that, if we had one semi-decent goal scorer with even 3 goals, we could potentially have 6-9 more points.

Fun fact: Shan Hundal has 6 goals with Vancouver this season. He played with Valour in 2020 and had 0 goals in 6 appearances.

Valour is kind of the the TFC of the CPL when it comes to players moving on and being strong performers in new environments (Bustos, Mussi, Hundaal). All offensive goal scorers, too!

Does Pacific have a big budget? We constantly lose players that perform well. We recruit well, but we’re not at all like Forge in terms of holding on to key players

[jonovision]

4 hours ago, Aird25 said:

Does Pacific have a big budget? We constantly lose players that perform well. We recruit well, but we’re not at all like Forge in terms of holding on to key players

I think if we had access to the figures, we'd see there a budget tiers in the league. Valour probably in a league of their own at the bottom, same with Forge at the top, and the rest somewhere in between, though I'd guess Pacific nearer to the top than the bottom.

Edited July 14, 2023 by jonovision

[K Edgar]

William Akio to Cavalry.  I was wondering if he would be available.  Not a perfect fit for Valour's needs but certainly a stepup from their current wingers.  Did Valour even try to sign him?  Hoping Valour has a center forward announcement coming but getting less optimistic ever day.

[Cheeta]

1 hour ago, K Edgar said:

William Akio to Cavalry.  I was wondering if he would be available.  Not a perfect fit for Valour's needs but certainly a stepup from their current wingers.  Did Valour even try to sign him?  Hoping Valour has a center forward announcement coming but getting less optimistic ever day.

Signed to the end of 2025, may as well call that a three year deal.  Has Valour ever offered a three year to anyone?  Don't know but doubt it.

Valour needs Akio returning to CPL to play for another team as much as they need another hole in their head.  Geezus.

[jonovision]

From the sounds of it, Akio was far from professional during his time in Scotland. He played almost exclusively on the right for Valour. He'd be competing with Niyongabire for minutes. Akio is a faster player, Niyongabire is stronger, other than that not much to choose between them for me. No doubt if Valour were interested and offers were similar he'd choose Calgary anyway as that is home. If there is any sort of signing money to be spent, I don't think Akio provides good value.

Of the players that departed during or after last year's season, I'd have Akio pretty far down the list behind, in order: Rea, Levis, Sirois, Mekideche, Dyer, and ahead of Romeo.

[Cheeta]

Niyongabire has 1 goal.

PDS had him over the width of the field last couple of matches trying to find something that could work.  That strategy hasn't worked yet and I'm doubtful it will.  Also feel like it's a bit unfair to the man but it is what it is.

Have Akio back in a heartbeat at this point.  Might be a bit rich for a lot of teams in the league though, not just Valour. 

Cavalry didn't give him a three because they feel like gambling on the man.  They did it because they felt it was a good investment and, I'd suggest, because there was competition for the man's services.

[jonovision]

Without looking, how many goals did Akio have last year before the transfer?

[Cheeta]

I would say....  3! 

That lung busting runner being only slightly less memorable than that Valour goal/non goal that he cleared off the line which went viral throughout soccerdom.

[Soccerpro2]

Would Akio solve our biggest problem, which is goal scoring? No

Would I take him back in a heartbeat as a big improvement over most of our offensive players? You bet.

Edited July 14, 2023 by Soccerpro2

[K Edgar]

2023 Valour goals: 11

2023 goals by former Valour players: 10 (Hundal 6, Musse 3, Aird 1) -- and with Akio added to the former list, current Valour be lucky to keep the lead