Cavalry FC coach wants more 'ruthless' football from CPL players

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Tommy Wheeldon Jr. wants his crimes to be more brutal.

“Ruthless” is the word Cavalry FC's manager used after watching his club squander a golden chance to win its first Canadian Premier League title of the 2024 calendar on Sunday.

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“In my opinion, we're down two points,” Wheeldon said in front of 4,183 fans at ATCO Field, shortly after a 0-0 decision against arch-rival Pacific FC.

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“We have to be more ruthless. I told them that. The boys accept it.”

Sure, it's easy to say this year could be like last year, when the Cavalry got off to a slow start but eventually regained the momentum to run away with the CPL regular season championship.

After all, the priorities are set and the program is trying to find a winning path again.

But it has to be earned.

And Wheeldon feels his edition has been slow to embrace that since the 0W-2D-1L league schedule began – the latest results coming in the club's CPL home opener on Sunday. It was a zero-zero draw.

“It's very similar to last year,” Wheeldon said, recalling last spring's five-game winning streak to open the 2023 CPL campaign. “The only difference is (this year) we lost the first game…but we saw what happened last year. And this is a quality room.

“But what we have to keep reminding them is we have to smell the blood in the water. That's what I was disappointed about (Sunday).

“We have to take our chances.”

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They accomplished that in their season opener earlier this month, narrowly missing out on defeating arch-rivals Forge FC, only to lose in somewhat surprising fashion.

But since then, ruthless behavior has become less common.

Even in their only win of 2024, a 1-0 win on their home turf in the Canadian Championship vs. Vancouver FC on Tuesday, the Cavs faced adversity and outmaneuvered their opponents until they pulled out a courageous victory. It didn't pose much of a threat.

“We found a way to win on Tuesday,” Wheeldon said. “But you can't win the game if you don't score.”

On Sunday, they took a chance.

It felt like the floodgates were about to burst.

Ali Mousse was the Cavs' biggest threat, often controlling the ball in the final third of the field, but getting locked down by defenders when he went to deliver the ball in dangerous spots, forcing the team to I didn't get much help from my mate.

The nimble attacker took a few shots, but his feeds never landed on his teammate's feet or head, making it difficult for Pacific goalkeeper Sean Melvin to turn away.

However, Melvin did a great job stopping rookie Layton Brooks in the closing stages.

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So…unfortunately…no points.

Cavalry goalkeeper and captain Marco Carducci said: “It's disappointing that we didn't win, considering the chances we created and the way we played for the majority of the game.” In most cases, it provides the best normal protection.

“With this being the home opener of the league, you want to put on a show and entertain the fans,” Carducci continued. “So as a group, we’re disappointed that we weren’t able to do that.”

Cavalry thought they had a goal late in the game, but young Lucas Diaz's goal, which would have been his first in Calgary colors, was ruled offside.

And somehow that mistake created a golden opportunity for Victoria at the other end. Attacker Leon Moore slipped behind the Cavs defense, only for Carducci to stop him. Carducci lunged forward and took him down, managing to hang on to the well. The ball he threw hit the home net.

“No, it wasn't easy…and it happened quickly,” Carducci recalled of the game-saving stop. “To be honest, there's still a little bit of ambiguity. Of course I'm happy that we made a big save in the final minute of the game, but I'm frustrated that we missed out on such a chance. I think we had a great opportunity, so we don't want to give up on that opportunity.”

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The coach agreed, adding: “You can't rely on Marco to make late saves when you're throwing the kitchen sink at them.”

Of course, Pacific deserves credit for implementing a game plan of closing the doors and parking the buses at Spruce Meadows and executing it perfectly in the first road game of the football season.

“The first round of games (on the schedule), we're going to be looking at their nuisance,” Wheeldon said. “They defended very well and tried to play on the counter. We were expecting a bit of a 4-5-1 block. They went into a 4-4-2 block and performed very well. Ta.

“They said tough things to us. But it's our responsibility to be the protagonist and we have to do it better.

“The players were hungry for competition,” Wheeldon continued. “We started the season in January when we were preparing for the Concacaf Champions Cup. Everyone wants playing time. But the simple thing about playing time is that you have to play well and do your work. It's now up to us to make an impact with the players who start the game and the players who finish the game. Masu.

“We have to be more ruthless. I think it's as simple as that.”

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The Cavaliers' next home game will be Friday night at ATCO Field (7 p.m., OneSoccer, OneSoccer.ca), where they lost 1-0 to the host Cavs in a one-shot game for the Canadian Championship last Tuesday. This is a home match against Vancouver FC. .

“It could have been better, it should have been better,” Carducci added. “We're going to continue to build. We know this is a long season. It's a 28-game season. It's not a three-game season. So right now we're focused on the next step.”

free kick

Cavalry's starting eleven is as follows: Goalkeeper Carducci. Defenders Fraser Aird, Tom Field, Daan Klomp and Bradley Kamdem Fewo. midfielders Shamit Chaumet, Sergio Camargo and Diego Gutierrez; And forwards Ali Musse, Willie Akio and Toby Warszewski…the club's substitutes were: Goalkeeper Jack Barrett. Defender Michael Harms. midfielders Lucas Dias, Charlie Trafford and Max Peepgrass; and forwards Malcolm Shaw and Leighton Brooks…The Cavs' blemishes were: goaltender Mitchell Barrett; Defenders Eric Kobza (pressed nerve), Callum Montgomery (foot) and Kaden Rogozinski. and midfielders Jesse Daley (leg), Mael Henry (hamstring) and Niko Mironiuk.

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