TORONTO – The pieces are sliding into place wonderfully for Rob Gale.

With a month until the Canadian Premier League kicks off, a clearer view of what teams will look like is emerging. Doubly so at Valour FC, where head coach Gale has quietly assembled a formidable outfit.

“Each week the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle are starting to look more like the picture on the box,” Gale said. “We’re looking to those last pieces, but it’s coming together.”

In constructing his side, Gale first emphasized character, embodied in his reference to the New Zealand All Blacks’ ‘No Dickheads’ policy.

“I wanted a team that would make the province proud,” Gale said. “(Winnipeg) is one of the smallest big cities you’ll ever find.

“There is one-degree of separation, so first and foremost you have to be a good person, a good character.”

Players also needed to have the “right intelligence.”

“They need to understand the culture, need to know where we are, who we are,” Gale outlined. “We’re trying to build certain values as an organization; build a culture here that will stand the test of time.

“I’m not about building a team; I’m about building a football club.”

All across the field, Gale looked for players that provided both leadership and experience and were comfortable on the ball – in goalkeeper Tyson Farago, defenders Jordan Murrell, Skylar Thomas, and Uruguayan Martin Arguinarena, he laid his cornerstone in the backline.

Further up in midfield, there is a South American influence with Colombian-born Canadian Nicolas Galvis and Nestor Navia. Then there’s Diego Gutierrez, who played in Chile, too. And, Gale includes Winnipeg-natives Dylan Carreiro and Dylan Sacramento, Croatian Josip Golubar and Ghanaian Raphael Ohin into his “technical” midfield.

“They’re footballers,” summed up Gale. “If you’ve got technical capacity in a range of midfielders then you can have versatility in your shapes and formations; you’ve got players who can fill a number of roles. I like that flexibility to have in-game changes and multiple looks.

“That’s very important in modern football, not to be just a Plan A team.”

The addition of Michael Petrasso from the Montreal Impact only strengthened that group.

“He’s a terrific footballer,” praised Gale. “And, as you look further ahead: Glen Muenkat, Ali Musse, the young Tyler Attardo, also Stephen Hoyle. We’re looking at that dynamism you need in the final third: an increase in tempo, players who can break lines with and without the ball.

“Mixed with the creativity, if you can bring that speed then you’ve got options, which is what we’re looking for.”

Gale also likes a little bit of “grit” in his teams.

“That little bit of an edge,” relished the Valour coach. “Jordan has that and Sky, in the right way. It’s good. When you’re building that puzzle, you need different characters.

“You don’t want everyone to be choir boys.”

Take all that, and with Gale at the helm, Valour are eager for the season to get underway.

“We’re looking strong. There is a very positive energy, great camaraderie,” Thomas said. “It’s shaping up to be a very close team.

“We’ll fight for each other and translate that quality into wins.”

It all stems from Gale’s principles and unbounded enthusiasm for the game.

“It’s incredible to see how his way of going about things, his energy, translates to the players,” Thomas offered. “You can see his positive vibe, playful mentality, but business-when-it’s-business-time, that trickles down to the players and we feed off him.”

“We’ve all been playing a long time, so when you have a coach who loves the game, enjoys being around his players, it’s so much easier to go out, to perform your best, and to have fun while doing it.”