Dylan Carreiro reckons he might’ve been the only player at Valour FC — one of very few in all of the Canadian Premier League, actually — to have made the squad for every single game in 2019.

That’s a far cry from the uncertainty he faced the year before when he was playing in League1 Ontario, having come into that season recovering from an ACL tear in 2018.

Carreiro was a constant for Valour in 2019, whether starting (16 times) or entering as a substitute (eight times); Rob Gale chose not to use the Winnipeg-born attacker on just six occasions.

Unfortunately, that was one of the only continuous threads in Valour’s inaugural CPL season. It was a turbulent first campaign, with soaring highs (like their first away win at Pacific FC) and crushing lows (no need to revisit those). At times the Winnipeg club’s attack was frightening, with Carreiro joined by Michael Petrasso and Marco Bustos (both since departed), but the defence left a lot to be desired.

As a result, Valour made almost wholesale changes this off-season. Eleven names on their 2020 roster are new from last year, with just five so far announced as returning.

“In a sense the results showed themselves last year,” Carreiro told CanPL.ca. “We just weren’t able to be consistent like Forge and Cavalry were. There were games where we were really good, and there were games where it was a whole different Valour.”

So, Carreiro explained, Valour’s coaches and management set out to rebuild the culture among their players.

“They wanted to bring in more experienced guys, guys that have a good resume toward them (which) shows they’re good leaders in and around the changeroom,” Carreiro said. “It’s a different atmosphere, it’s a lot more competitive. There’s a lot of men in the changeroom this year.”

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As one of Valour’s few holdovers from 2019, Carreiro took it upon himself to be one of those leaders at the club. At 25 years old, the Manitoba native has seen plenty of the wider footballing world, with stints at the Queens Park Rangers academy in England and the Toronto FC academy, plus pro gigs with Dundee and Arbroath in Scotland.

“I came into pre-season ready to go and show the environment to the new players that just arrived,” he said. “Show them it’s a good, competitive environment.”

Of course, with so many new faces, it’s been a little challenging for Valour’s squad to get to know each other while quarantined. Like every CPL club, they’ve had the typical Zoom meetings and virtual tactics sessions, with at-home workout plans and the like prepared for them.

They’ve also gotten a little more creative than that, though.

Valour only managed to complete about a week of their pre-season training camp before the order came down to put things on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. So, naturally, it makes sense that they’d need to focus on building new locker room chemistry with their virtual meetings.

“We’ve had a Saturday night where we did karaoke, and every player had to sing a song,” Carreiro revealed. “The boys are all getting along, getting together. We’re trying to communicate on all kinds of level and get everybody integrated quickly.”

That’s certainly one method of team bonding.