2023 CPL Regular Season — Match #46
Valour FC vs. Vancouver FC
June 25, 2023 at 2 p.m. CT/ 12 p.m. PT
IG Field in Winnipeg, Manitoba
Watch Live: OneSoccer.ca & TELUS Ch. 980 // Tickets available here

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With the Canadian Premier League table quickly tightening up as the midway mark rapidly approaches here, Valour hosts Vancouver in a crucial matchup at IG Field on Sunday.

Thanks to some seismic results across the CPL over the last week, just three points separate last-place Vancouver and fourth place at the moment, with Valour sitting just two points ahead of Vancouver in sixth place right now.

As a result, this match serves as a huge opportunity for both clubs, who have been putting up some solid performances as of late, but don’t necessarily have the victories to show for it.

For Valour, it’ll be about a chance to continue to make IG Field a fortress, as while they’re undefeated in 12 games at home dating back to last year, they’ve drawn five of their last six games at home, only picking up eight of a possible 18 points.

The good news? They’re on the right track at the moment, as their last home match was a win, a 2-0 victory over the defending champions, Forge, which came on June 16th.

One of their best performances of the season, it was a deserved victory, as well, something that they’ll look to build off of as they try to extend their unbeaten run at home.

“We haven’t lost at home this year, but we need to connect some wins together,” Valour’s head coach, Phil Dos Santos said this week. “But still, we’ve gone 12 games without losing, so it is a fortress, but of course, we’ve drawn too many, so this game is massive.”

Similarly, however, Vancouver also enters this game eager to build off a victory over Forge. This one, however, came in midweek, as Vancouver also defeated them 2-0 at home for their first-ever victory at Langley’s Willoughby Community Park, and second-ever victory.

Given that they also snapped an eight-game winless run, it was a big victory for them, as they did well to withstand an early wave of Forge pressure before nabbing two opportunistic goals, and then taking care of the game in a professional manner from there.

Despite starting an incredibly young lineup, one that featured seven U21 Canadians, it was one of Vancouver’s most complete performances of the season, too, something that they’ll look to build off of.

It’s not been easy for these young players this season, as they’ve spent a lot of them learning lessons as their team struggled to win, but Vancouver’s starting to reap the rewards of the patience they showed to those players, who are now really starting to put those lessons into practice now.

“One of the things that all young players need to learn is that as a professional, you must train the way you want to play,” Vancouver FC head coach, Afshin Ghotbi, said this week. “You must come into every training session with the mindset that I’m being judged, I’m being evaluated, and that performances not only give you confidence, but it gives other people the confidence to play with them, or to have the manager and the coaching staff to believe and trust you.”

“So that’s a lesson that has to be learned for young players as they step into professional football.”

All CPL matches are available to stream on OneSoccer, FuboTV, or on TELUS Optik TV Channel 980.

3 THINGS TO WATCH

• Valour pushing to make next step in quest to build identity: They might not have gotten the results to show for it, but one thing’s been clear about Valour this season – they’ve got a solid tactical identity, and do well to stick to it. Off the ball, they work extremely hard and are very disciplined, while on it, they do well to play both in possession and more directly. Yet, where they’ve been let down is by a lack of killer instinct, especially in the opponents’ box, where they’ll feel that they’ve got another gear to hit. That’s something that Dos Santos stressed this week, too, noting that while he’s proud of how his team’s bought into their identity, he feels that a bit more aggression could go a long way towards helping that. Certainly, individually that aggression is not lacking in this group, which is good news for Dos Santos, but now they must find a way to harness that and allow them to apply more pressure on their opponents in the final third, both on the ball and with how they press their opponents. “We’ve got a very good defensive structure,” Dos Santo said. “And the team doesn’t concede a lot, the team doesn’t give a lot of space to the opposition, so now is it’s about finding spaces offensively to be a little bit more aggressive.”
• Can Vancouver build on midweek offensive outburst? Certainly, goals have been tough to come by for Vancouver this season. Tied for last place in the CPL for goals with 10 (with Valour, ironically), they’ve been shut out in five of their 11 games this season, and have scored more than one goal in a game just three times. In those games where they got those two or more goals, however, they’ve got a record of 2W-0D-1L, so they do well when that happens (goals do win games, after all), but just need to do so with more regularity. Plus, it’s important that they chase those goals the right way – they’ve also allowed three or more goals in a game three times, which came partly due to Vancouver being a bit too overeager offensively in games. They struck that balance perfectly against Forge, so will now look to maintain it, which is often the toughest part. “The feeling that they had, I’ve asked them to keep it very close to their heart and to try and duplicate it in every match that we have coming in front of us,” Ghotbi joked.
• The kids are alright for Valour, Vancouver: For those who support the “Play Your Kids” movement, it’s worth noting that Valour and Vancouver have done an excellent job of that this season. With each CPL team required to accumulate 2000 minutes worth of U21 Canadian minutes across a season, of which only 1000 can be dedicated to players on loan, every side is required to follow that mandate of playing the kids, but to varying amounts of difficulty. For these sides, however, it’s been no issue, as Valour sits first in the U21 minutes table with 1912 out of a possible 2000 minutes, while Vancouver sits just behind them with 1732 minutes. Considering that no other team has more than 895 minutes, that’s impressive from both of them, especially given that these kids are helping both teams perform. Valour’s minutes have only come from four players, Matteo de Brienne, Juan Pablo Sánchez, Jared Ulloa and Eskander Mzoughi, but Dos Santos has relied on them heavily in all situations, which is why they’ve been able to get close enough to potentially crest the required amount as soon as this weekend with 16 games to spare. Plus, given how key those players have been, they could very well push even higher as the year goes along. Then, for Vancouver, those minutes have really come thick and fast as of late, as they’ve been forced to turn to youth due to suspensions and injuries. Yet, despite that, they’ve done extremely well to take their opportunities, as shown in a game like Forge. Therefore, look for them to continue to quickly amass those minutes, as the likes of Anthony White, James Cameron and Maël Henry join TJ Tahid and Tyler Crawford as regular contributors on this growing side.

PROJECTED STARTING XIs

Valour FC: Yesli; Baquero, Pianelli, Samaké, Campbell; Sánchez, Polisi, Gutiérrez; Williams, Novak, Ulloa (4-3-3)

Vancouver FC: Irving; Cameron, Bakare, White, Crawford; E.Simmons, M.Simmons; Tahid, Bitar, Sandoval; Hundal (4-2-3-1)

ALL-TIME SERIES

Valour FC wins: 0 || Vancouver FC wins: 0 || Draws: 1

Last meeting:

May 28, 2023 – Vancouver FC 0-0 Valour FC

KEY QUOTES

“There are clear opportunities where we have to get our midfield a bit further forward, get them a bit more active in driving the ball forward, to look for those spaces higher up the field, as I don’t think we do it enough. I think that’s the next gear for us, because when you can put our defensive cohesion with an ability to get players in dangerous areas and to be a bit more aggressive offensively, I think that you will win a lot of games. So the challenge is to do one without losing the other. And it’s also very important to take into consideration that yes, we can open up a bit more, and be more courageous when we have the ball, but we have to do it without jeopardizing the defensive structure that we’ve built and the organization that we have. That’s a different challenge, and we need to find the right balance there” — Valour FC head coach Phil Dos Santos.

“Winning is almost like a boost and a vitamin to the soul. And I think that (Forge) victory was a fantastic inspiration for the players, as they were looking for an opportunity to show who they are. And I think that victory really defines the spirit and the unity of the team, so hopefully this victory will help us, and be a platform for us to have more confidence as a team. Also, most importantly, that was one of the first games we found the right balance between defending and attacking. Not only we were able to defend well for 90 plus minutes and get a shut out, but we created chances and scored two goals, and I think that should give our players that boost of confidence that they needed.” — Vancouver FC head coach Afshin Ghotbi.