After winter of major change ‘superteam’ Atlético Ottawa ready to roll

Article content

The old adage “you can’t tell the players without a program” will ring true when Atlético Ottawa opens its 2024 season Saturday (1 p.m.) at TD Place against York United.

Article content

The “Winter of Fernando” was an off-season of major overhaul, as CEO Fernando Lopez brought in 11 new players, including a bevy of stars, while bidding farewell to 12 who were with the club in 2023 when it finished a disappointing sixth in the Canadian Premier League with a 10-6-12 record for 36 points.

Article content

By all accounts, Atlético Ottawa should contend for the championship this year. But heading into the kickoff match against a team that finished just two points ahead of it in the standings last season, coach Carlos Gonzalez doesn’t want the expectations getting, well, too Goofy.

Defeating York in Game 1 is “important but not mandatory,” said Gonzalez, essentially confirming that while what has been called his “Super Team” is going to look magnificent in splashy new kits, it is not going to go 28-0-0.

Article content

“There are going to be really good moments throughout the season, I’m sure, because we have a lot of talent, and I’m sure that we’re going to get into those points in which we are going to enjoy it a lot,” Gonzalez said. “But at the same time we have to acknowledge that there are going to be moments that we’re going to suffer, and we’re going to go home thinking ‘oh my God today I’ve lost or today I haven’t done my job in the in the way people expect.’

“We also have to be prepared for those moments. I think that those bad moments are going to be the most important ones … how we bounce back and how we are prepared mentally for those bad moments.

Article content

“Everybody has to be on the same page. The fans, the club, staff, players, we have to be on the same page thinking that this is not going to be a Disney film. It’s going to be a film that there’s going to also be tough moments and we have to acknowledge that and we have to be prepared to bounce back in the right way.

“That’s why we have to be realistic at the same time that we are optimistic. There are going to be tough moments, and those moments is where we are going to show what we made of.”

Among the newcomers leading the way will be Manny Aparicio, who was one of the top free agents on the market after three years and a championship on Vancouver Island with Pacific FC.

Aparico, a 28-year old Buenos Aires-born, Toronto-raised midfielder, will be moving closer to home with his new bride, but said he signed in Ottawa because it’s “the place to be right now.”

Article content

“It’s an exciting change for me,” he told CanPL.ca at Ottawa’s pre-season camp in Mexico last month. “Just being able to be part of the Atlético family and what it means to represent that jersey and the crest, and we’ve seen how crazy fast it’s grown the football culture in Ottawa so far.”

Other stars making their way to Atlético Ottawa over the winter include Amer Didic, who also comes over from Pacific FC, and Abou Sissoko, who clinched consecutive titles with Forge FC over the past two seasons.

Returning to the squad after starring here in 2022 is Ballou Tabla, while Barrhaven’s Matteo de Brenne — the CPL U-21 Player of the Year — comes home after excelling for two seasons with Valour, bringing with him from the Winnipeg squad Rayane Yesli, a Goalkeeper of the Year nominee.

Article content

“We addressed and we acknowledge that last season wasn’t good enough for everyone, and we knew that we had to bounce back,” Gonzalez said. “The way to bounce back is is working hard on the off-season. I think that we’ve done a pretty good job. We’re in a stage and we’re in a point in which we have to do like the difficult part that is all these names and all these players, these talented players start to think commonly and to speak the same language on the field and to play us as a great team. So we are on that process. We are working hard and hard so that every time the chemistry between the players on and off the field is bigger.

“At the end of the day, I think we were looking for certain mandatory things in the signings. We were looking for individual quality, technical and physical because we think that the league is very demanding and it’s important to have these type of players, and for players that already proved the high level in the league. Players that we knew were going to come here and they don’t have to adapt, they don’t have to start this process in which you have to make them adapt to the new country to the new league to the everything so we were looking also for that.”

Article content

To that, Atlético Ottawa has a strong local presence with the likes of Kris Twardek, a product of Ottawa Youth Soccer who spent the past decade playing pro in England and Ireland; Tyr Walker, who is from Russell and just signed his first pro contract after making his debut last season as a 19-year-old; Luca Piccioli, a 24-year-old draft pick from the Carleton Ravens and Maxim Tissot, a veteran from Aylmer who is one of the captains and in his third season with Atletico.

“It’s very important to create a strong bond between the fan base, between the city and between us,” Gonzalez said. “It’s critical to have these type of players that are from the city, that in certain critical moments, they’re going to step up and they’re going to give extra. So this the pillars that we focused on in our building of the new squad. We are very happy of having these type of players.

Article content

“It’s very important that we can give opportunities in professional soccer to the talent that we have here in the area, and at the same time the players and the young guys (growing up in the city) feel that they can they have a pathway through through us to a professional level. I think this is a critical aspect and this only means that the bond between between the fan base and the club is each time bigger, and this makes the club bigger and bigger.”

Gonzalez says Atlético Ottawa is now “blending” everything together.

“We are trying to not only have a good team on paper, (but also) have a great team on the field, because I think that’s the big difference,” he said. “Also there are opponents, they have great names like us … Forge, Cavalry … there are other teams that have signed really well … Vancouver ….  so at the end of the day is these couple of teams, mainly Forge and Cavalry, they have advantage because they’ve maintained the core of the team and they also have a deep squad and they also have great players.

Article content

“So we have to try to work hard. We know that at the moment we have done nothing, only have a good off-season and quite a pretty good pre-season. What we have to do now is keep working so that in the future we can be contenders with those teams.”

When he looks at York United, Gonazelez sees a “very competitive” opponent.

“A team that has also signed good players, internationals and national players,” he said. “They have a deep squad. I see a team that doesn’t need to do much to create damage to the opponents. That’s why that in certain moments we can feel during the game that we are under control, but York is a team that you are never under control of. You have to be always in alert, and this is how we approached them.”

But after training in Mexico, Gonzalez says his squad is ready for the challenge.

Article content

“We brought good feelings here in our home with the fan base, we started to feel that electric atmosphere that is always here in TD Place,” he said. “We are trying to continue the natural evolution of the team. During the preseason, we’ve tried several things. It’s true that the last game we tried another thing and I think that this is one of the strengths of the team, that we can play with the similar identity in different ways, depending a little bit on the structure of the opponent and depending a little bit on the players that are going to play in our starting 11.

“So let’s see what happens on Saturday. You have it quite clear what is going to happen, but I cannot share it with you.”

Article content