Atletico Ottawa 2020 Season Preview

Arrivals and Departures

*Everyone* is an arrival on CanPL's newest club, and no one has departed yet, although Jamaican midfielder Tevin Shaw, Ghanaian winger Bernardinho and Canadian wingback Kunle Dada-Luke weren’t able to make it into the country due to the pandemic, and are not part of the squad for the Island Games. Interestingly, only one member of last year’s folded Ottawa Fury squad - local prospect Antoine Coupland - has signed on with the expansion club.

Projected Lineup

A bit of a mystery, but based on the squad at their disposal Ottawa is likely to line up in a 4-3-3 formation with an all-Canadian attacking lineup of Malcolm Shaw up top, Ben Fisk cutting in from the left wing and Malyk Hamilton on the right wing - a more comfortable spot for him compared to his usage at wingback with Cavalry last season. If Mista chooses to drop Hamilton to the back line, new signing Mohammed Kourouma who impressed (me at least) with Halifax last season will slot in.

In the centre of the park, we’re projecting the underrated Ajay Khabra to start alongside internationals Acuña and Viti Martínez, although the late signing of Ben McKendry will likely see him slotting in more as the tournament progresses, particularly with his familiarity with Fisk from their time with the Eddies 1.0.

Ottawa’s backline will be led by experienced Canadian centreback Milovan Kapor, fresh off a couple of productive seasons with Gomel in Belarus, and Buxoro in Uzbekistan. He’ll likely be partnered with Brandon John, with talented on-loan Whitecaps centreback Gianfranco Facchineri likely to see some time as well. Former England U-17’er Vashon Neufville will start at leftback, with Jarred Phillips bringing his League 1 Ontario experience to rightback.

In goal, we’ll be shocked if Ricky Gomes doesn’t see the most action, but it’s tough to know exactly where Mista’s head is at. Gomes has bounced around Portugal for a number of years, but it was his sojourn in Scotland with Arbroath where he broke out, leading the club to promotion from League 2 in 2016-17. Expect experienced Spanish keeper Nacho Zabal to get a start or two as well.

The Big Questions

How’s the chemistry?

With the planned training camp in Madrid derailed by the early days of COVID, physical distancing when training was able to resume, and an entirely new squad that’s added six players in the last week, is Ottawa at a disadvantage from a familiarity standpoint? Perhaps surprisingly, the team was not even able to draw on a small core of former Fury players to build out from and mitigate this.

Defensive depth

Brandon John and Milovan Kapor bring solid experience at relatively high levels to the backline, but projected starting fullbacks Neufville and Phillips lack professional experience. Malyk Hamilton played significant minutes at rightback and right wingback for Cavalry last year, but is better suited higher up the pitch. Djaozandry and Facchineri have strong potential but are again untested at this level, and an injury to a defensive starter could derail Ottawa’s tournament.

Who locks down the mid?

We’re personally big fans of Ajay Khabra and Ben McKendry (when he stays healthy) but we find it tough to see Ottawa’s lineup without some of the “big” foreign signings in the lineup, at least to begin the tournament, especially with the corporate Atletico connection. Especially with Tevin Shaw out, we’re expecting to see a lot of Francisco Acuña, and likely Viti Martínez as well, but maybe Mista will surprise us? Look for local product Coupland to get a chance to impress as a sub as well.

The Main Lads

Ben Fisk

“Fisky” of Eddies and Deportivo de La Coruña B fame was quietly very effective on the West Coast last season, and will be the catalyst for Ottawa’s first kick at the can. Likely operating in a relatively free role on the left side drifting into the centre, he’ll have the opportunity as both a provider and a goalscorer himself. Joining Tristan Borges and Michael Petrasso last year as the only CanPL players with at least 5 goals and 5 assists, he’ll be counted on even more by his new club and we expect he’ll deliver. Put it this way - he’s the only Ottawa player on my CanPL Fantasy squad.

Malcolm Shaw

Shaw comes to Ottawa from Sweden’s First Division-North (3rd tier) after a productive 2019 with Assyriska IK: 8 goals (5 league/3 cup) in 25 appearances (23 league, 2 cup). I feel like Sweden’s lower leagues have gotten a bit of a bad rap in CanPL circles after the disappointment of Simon Adjei last year (who interestingly was replaced by Shaw at Assyriska in 2019, and has now replaced Shaw himself this season), and for this reason I think Shaw has flown under the radar a bit. Ottawa will look to use his pace to run on to through balls, although this may be limited by the short pitch at UPEI. Experienced Canadian forward Maksym Kowal will provide healthy competition up front.

Milovan Kapor

Kapor follows in the great Canadian journeyman footballer tradition, having played professionally in Slovakia, Israel, Belarus and Uzbekistan before recently signing with Ottawa. Kapor has also been called up to the Canadian men’s national team, although he has yet to receive a cap (but with our centreback depth, there’s still time!). Simply put, he’ll be the key to organizing Ottawa’s young backline. He may even be pushed into an anchor role in midfield at times, allowing Giancarlo Facchineri to slot in at centreback. Don’t expect a cultured sweeper, but a strong aerial presence and a tackle or two should keep things relatively tight at the back.

X-factor

Ajay Khabra

Khabra was, in our opinion, one of the few standouts on the Eddies last year, demonstrating a range of passing and often recycling possession on arguably the league’s most offensively-challenged team. As one of only 4 Ottawa players with CanPL experience, we expect Khabra to be a major part of the midfield, but we worry that he may be overshadowed by flashier players, as he was last year with Edmonton (actually, was there any flash on the 2019 Eddies?).

Disgruntled Thought

Yeah, the team was only announced in January, COVID happened and who the hell knew when the league would actually start… but sitting on a contracted roster of only *14* usable players until last week?? Good luck Mista...

Prediction

It’s becoming clear that Ottawa is the consensus pick to finish last in the Island Games, which I suppose isn’t surprising given the team didn’t exist seven months ago. Now, we were no fans of their Fury predecessors, but that hatred hasn’t carried over to the new club despite its corporate roots. With that said, Ottawa would be extremely lucky to finish 6th, and likely won’t reach those lofty heights. Despite some great pickups, the team lacks the depth to make much noise in such a compressed competition. Then again, maybe the other clubs will underestimate them as much as the fans are?

Round-robin prediction: 8th