Welcome to CPL5x5. In preparation for the 2023 Canadian Premier League season — the fifth since the league’s inception in 2019 — CanPL.ca will provide full, in-depth preview coverage for each of the eight clubs.
In this series, we’ll break down all you need to know about each team within five sections: Five stats, five key players, five fixtures to circle, five storylines to watch, and five quotes.
To check out the rest of CanPL.ca’s 2023 season preview coverage, click here. To see the other seven clubs’ CPL5x5 breakdowns, click here.
The 2023 edition of Valour FC will look remarkably different from the side that missed out on the playoffs by a single spot the past few seasons. Jonathan Sirois, Moses Dyer, Stefan Cebara, Brett Levis, Federico Peña, Daryl Fordyce and Sean Rea all departed the club this off-season.
As a result, Phil Dos Santos’s new-look and reasonably young group is left with a number of questions to answer as they enter the 2023 Canadian Premier League season. Can the club’s group of 13 new signings inject the quality and depth necessary to finally reach the postseason?
If they can, it will need to be the result of a complete team effort, that once again takes advantage of their home at IG Field in Winnipeg. If multiple players don’t step up, however, this could be a long season for Valour.
5 Stats
22 points:
Valour FC dropped the most points of any team in the Canadian Premier League from winning positions last season, with 22. They also gained just a single point from losing positions over the course of the year.
Only two players:
Valour will be significantly younger this season as only two players on the roster currently are over 30: Andrew Jean-Baptiste and Kevin Rendón. Veterans Daryl Fordyce (36 years old), Billy Forbes (32), Stefan Cebara (31), Brett Levis (30) and Alessandro Riggi (29) and departed the club this off-season.
10 goals:
Valour were the most difficult team in the league to score on at home last year, allowing just 10 goals in 14 matches. Four of those goals came in a single loss against Cavalry, as they also managed to keep eight clean sheets at IG Field.
13 new signings:
To date, Valour FC have made an incredible 13 new signings, tied with the Halifax Wanderers for most new acquisitions by a non-expansion side in 2023.
28 goals:
Scored by players who departed the club this off-season, the most of any outgoing crop of players. Moses Dyer led the way with nine, while Sean Rea scored five goals last season.
5 Key Players
Rayane Yesli
After the departure of CF Montréal loanee Jonathan Sirois this off-season, the net in Winnipeg officially belongs to 23-year-old Rayane Yesli. To be fair, that was largely the case down the stretch in the Canadian Premier League season as well, as he won the job over the 2021 CPL Goalkeeper of the Year and started eight of the final 12 matches of the season, putting up four clean sheets. After spending time training with Ligue 1 side AC Ajaccio this offseason, he will come into this year more confident and experienced than ever.
Andrew Jean-Baptiste
Injuries have significantly hampered the amount of time the Haitian international has spent on the pitch with Valour over the past few seasons. When he has been, however, Jean-Baptiste is the most dominant defender in the Canadian Premier League. No-nonsense, and incredibly adept in 1-v-1 situations, Jean-Baptiste will once again be the rock at the back for Valour this season.
Diego Gutiérrez
The 26-year-old is quietly one of the tidiest midfielders in the Canadian Premier League. He completed 84.1 per cent of his passes in 2022, creating 16 chances in the process. Gutiérrez also finished second in the league in recoveries last year, with 195. He has become the midfield engine for this club, and covered a lot of ground for the Winnipeg team in 2022.
Raphael Ohin
An ACL tear in preseason caused Ohin to miss the entire 2022 season, which was a major blow to an already thin Valour FC midfield. But with Ohin returning for 2023, Valour is given an instant and critical boost in solidity in the middle of the park. Likely to be paired with Gutiérrez, Ohin is going to be required to do a lot of heavy lifting for an inexperienced Valour team in his return to action.
Jaime Siaj
The well-travelled Jordan international will be counted on to lead the line for Valour FC in 2023. The 27-year-old has played in NCAA, Lebanon, Kuwait, Italy, Spain, the USL Championship, and most recently Ireland. It has been a while since the former Real Madrid academy striker has had a consistent home, so the hope is that he will find stability in Winnipeg, and in turn will be able to provide the club with a goalscoring punch they so desperately need.
5 Fixtures to Circle
April 22: Valour FC vs. Atlético Ottawa
Valour’s home opener in 2023 comes against a team they beat 6-1 in April of last year. While history is unlikely to repeat itself, it is an intriguing way to open IG Field for the campaign.
May 28: Vancouver FC vs. Valour FC
In late May, Valour will travel to the Langley Events Centre for their first-ever CPL regular season meeting with expansion side Vancouver FC. The two sides played to a 2-2 draw in the preseason.
June 4: Valour FC vs. York United
Valour host York United in the 400th game in the league’s history. Valour beat York in both of their meetings at IG Field last season.
July 1: Valour FC vs. Cavalry FC
Valour will host Cavalry FC on Canada Day 2023 at IG Field. The Winnipeg side remain the only team in league history to have lost at home on Canada Day, having lost 3-1 to York on July 1, 2019.
August 26: Halifax Wanderers vs. Valour FC
Valour begin their most difficult away stretch of 2023 with a trip to Wanderers Grounds. They then travel across the country to take on Pacific FC at Starlight Stadium before finishing up their longest road trip of the season on Sept. 8 at York Lions Stadium.
5 Storylines to Watch
Can Valour finally get above the playoff line?
Two straight years of just missing out on the postseason have surely motivated Phil Dos Santos’ side. With five teams now making the playoffs, there has never been more opportunity to accomplish that goal. The league, however, has also arguably never been more competitive after several sides strengthened their squads this off-season. Key to finally getting above the playoff line will be winning the games they are supposed to (Valour collected just 16 of a possible 36 points against fellow non-playoff sides in 2022) and holding onto leads (Valour dropped 22 points from winning positions last year).
Rayane Yesli becomes the main man in net
Young Canadian goalkeepers will be a story to watch in the CPL in 2023, and among the most exciting is 23-year-old Rayane Yesli. He was incredibly solid in his first nine professional appearances last season, keeping four clean sheets and making 26 saves. If Valour are able to find success this year, they are going to need Yesli to keep up that level, especially with even less experienced U SPORTS backup Jordan Tisseur deputizing this year.
How do Valour replace key departures?
Perhaps no club lost more talent this off-season than Valour FC. From front to back, the team lost 2021 Goalkeeper of the Year Jonathan Sirois, league interception leader and elite level fullback Brett Levis, assist record holder and U-21 Player of the Year Sean Rea, and club-leading goalscorer Moses Dyer. Replacing quality like that won’t come easy, and will probably mean Valour rely more on a team and structural approach if they are to find success in 2023, versus some of the moments of magic and star performances that led to their highest moments last season.
Can midfield show improvement?
With limited options in 2022, the middle of the park became an area where Valour were often overrun. At times, even leading goalscorer Moses Dyer had to drop back to play as a central midfielder. As a result, they had a difficult time keeping the ball, with the third-lowest passing percentage in the league in 2022. Valour have added some depth, with Raphael Ohin returning from injury, Marcello Polisi joining from Halifax and former Canadian youth international Dante Campbell from LA Galaxy II. Whether or not that gives Gutiérrez enough help remains to be seen.
Can young players get the job done?
Yesli won’t be the only young player that Valour will need to rely upon in key positions this season. There are 11 players on the roster who are 23 years of age or younger, four of whom qualify for domestic U-21 minutes. They are going to need a lot of key contributions from guys like Matteo De Brienne (20), Kian Williams (23) and Pacifique Niyongabire (23) if they are to have success in 2023.
5 Quotes
“I look at some of the players that we have signed and I’m very, very excited. As I said to Phil, if I was playing this year as a player I would be confident walking onto the pitch with the players he has recruited.”
— Assistant coach Daryl Fordyce on Valour’s new signings
“Collectively I’d say playoffs is something which Valour has been missing the past few years, and I think that is something which is definitely achievable. [I’ll be] working with Phil and the rest of the players and staff to try reach that goal, get playoffs and then see how it goes.”
— Forward Kian Williams on Valour’s goals for 2023
“We have a whole different variety of players around here but I think through every day of training players are showing themselves. I think once we get our first opportunity to show it in front of the fans and everything like that, I think a lot of characters will come out so we’re excited to show that.”
— Midfielder Matteo De Brienne on the new-look squad
“Any time we would play against teams who would give us initiative, and give us a bit more of the control on the ball, we struggled, we couldn’t find openings, we didn’t have enough versatility in the way we attacked. So those are two elements that for us were crucial when we addressed in the off-season and we started to look for who we would bring in and get a little bit more consistency and versatility.”
— Head coach Phil Dos Santos on how Valour can improve this year
“People have already started saying I’m going to be one of the veterans on this team. This will be my fifth season; I’m looking forward to playing with the new guys that are coming in, both old and young, and just pushing them, pushing our team, driving the team forward with my experience, with my ability, what I can do on the field.”
— Midfielder Raphael Ohin on his role as a leader at Valour