Defence won a regular season championship for Atlético Ottawa in 2022.

In Carlos González’s first year in charge, the team adopted a counter-attacking playing style that saw them mostly sit behind the ball in disciplined and nearly impenetrable defensive lines, waiting for their opponents to make costly mistakes.

At times it was labelled as negative, boring and uninspired by various coaches, opposing fans and pundits around the league. But it was unquestionably successful, and the club and its players wholeheartedly embraced the system and identity.

As Atleti enter a new season, however, there is recognition from head coach Carlos González and his staff that there needs to be some tactical evolution from his side in 2023 — not scrapping the defensive foundation that they built in 2022, but becoming more well-rounded. With that in mind, Atlético Ottawa brought in a trio of CPL-experienced attackers to ideally make the club more dangerous going forward this season.

“We’re trying to build a team with more options, more versatile,” said González told CanPL.ca. “I think in any position we have different types of players that have different profiles and they can give different things to the team. I think this is one of the key points in this league, because we play four times against each team. So it’s important to have the capacity to surprise them and to do different things; I think that is very important to have people in the squad that have a different profile.”

For all their success in 2022, Atlético Ottawa’s attack was rarely the catalyst. They didn’t win a single match in which they trailed. This was especially true at TD Place Stadium, where they scored just 14 goals in 14 matches in front of their incredible home support, and despite being tied for third in the league in goals for, were sixth in expected goals and a stunning eighth in penalty area entries.

Looking for an instant injection of goals, the club made an interleague transfer this off-season to bring in 22-year-old Halifax Wanderers striker Samuel Salter. The Laval, Québec native scored more goals than any Atleti player last season, with 12 in all competitions — including a goal against Toronto FC in the Canadian Championship.

It is worth noting that half of those goals came from the penalty spot. But for a 22-year-old, his composure from the spot is still worth noting, as is how he was able to generate offence on the league’s lowest-scoring team last year, tallying just north of 45 per cent of Halifax’s CPL goals in 2022.

He can play as a central forward, but is perhaps best playing as a wide forward who can use his clever back post runs to get into dangerous scoring positions. That versatility will make him an option in various spots for González in 2023.

“I think we bring in a striker with a great potential,” said González of Salter. “He’s still young, he’s [born in] 2000, he showed last season that he has big experience now in the CPL, that he has a great level. I think that he has the mandatory quality that fits into our team and into our mentality. I think that Salter is a very competitive guy, a guy that comes here hungry to improve and I think that the football qualities, everybody sees them — that he has a special relationship with the goal and he’s a player that is going to give us a lot. I’m sure that he is going to improve and have a great year.”

If Salter is the most reliable finisher in Ottawa’s new-look attacking scheme, former Pacific FC winger Gianni Dos Santos is the most capable of magic. With just three goals and one assist last season in CPL action last season, however, the results did not always live up to the tremendous potential.

It appears González believes he can get the most out of the player, and will give Dos Santos every opportunity to shine in 2023. That wasn’t something that Dos Santos was always afforded on the island, as despite helping the club lift the North Star Shield in 2021, he has played the full 90 minutes only five times in his CPL career — all of which came in 2022.

He is another player who can start in a variety of positions, having started the 2021 Final as a centre-forward, although best deployed as a winger who can use his dribbling ability and speed to beat players down the line and cut into the middle.

“Gianni is a special player, a versatile forward player that can play on the wings, or can play up front,” said González. “He has this special talent, he is an electric player and he is also a player that can give us different things in fitness, he is very powerful. So I’m sure that Gianni is going to adapt well to our way of playing and he is going to enjoy this season. I think that the last two seasons have been with some ups and downs in the performance of Gianni having great moments, but also in some moments being a little bit disappear. So we are trying to do a season with Gianni where he can reach his best level.”

Another player with plenty of potential who González will be trying to get the best out of this upcoming season is 18-year-old winger Jean-Aniel Assi. The highly rated prospect joins the club on loan from CF Montréal, after spending last year in the league with Cavalry FC.

In his second year in the league, the goal will be to follow the incredible success of former Montréal loanees Jonathan Sirois, Sean Rea and Karifa Yao. Also able to play as a wingback, his abilities are well suited to the Atlético Ottawa system.

“Firstly, he’s going to bring talent and energy,” says González. “He’s an energetic player, a player that is capable to run in high intensity, a lot of metres during the game, these are the type of players that we want. Also, we have clear proof that last season he did a good season being a young player with Cavalry in a very competitive team so I think that we will cover really well the under-21 minutes with Jean-Aniel.”

The trio will be tasked with replacing the contributions made by the outgoing Ballou Tabla and Brian Wright last season. Tabla, in particular, with his incredible dribbling ability and chance creation was often the spark that ignited the Ottawa attack. His presence on the field also meant teams had to be aware of where he was at all times, meaning they couldn’t be quite as aggressive going forward. He had one of the most unique skill sets in the league last season, so it will be replacement by committee when it comes to his abilities.

“We are in a club that we knew players that have great seasons, probably they will have good opportunities so we are there also to approach those individual targets or goals,” said González. “We are happy for that. We are trying to bring players maybe with similar qualities that could adapt to similar roles. But at the same time we know that we cannot do any comparison, every player is a different person.”

The one remaining member of the Ottawa attack from 2022 is Malcolm Shaw. The 27-year-old is the most traditional number nine on the side, and will be counted upon to hold up the ball and create space for some of the club’s other attacking weapons. For his part, Shaw is excited to see what this new group can produce.

“Obviously we lost some firepower, but we gained some as well,” said Shaw. “With Sam, he had a successful season last year with Halifax, scored lots of goals, and Gianni, pacey player, has skill and can bring a lot to our attack as well. So I think if we all get on the same page, within our system, we can produce good things together.” 

How much they can produce will go a long way towards Atlético Ottawa remaining in contention in 2023. But given what this group has already proven at the CPL level, and its immense potential there is reason to believe Ottawa will be anything but boring this season.