Valour FC inject youth into lineup

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This article was published 25/06/2019 (2610 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Valour FC is out of the hunt for the inaugural Canadian Premier League spring season title.

It’s officially down to two teams, as Cavalry FC (7-1-0) and Forge FC (6-2-1) are the only clubs with winning records.

But in Valour FC’s final two spring games, including tonight’s clash in Halifax at 5 p.m. against HFX Wanderers FC (2-4-2), they can give themselves one less thing to worry about for the upcoming 18-game fall season. The winner of the spring and fall seasons will play against each other for the CPL championship in a two-legged, home-and-away aggregate score format.

The CPL has a roster rule that states each team requires a minimum of three Canadian players who are 21 years old or under and they must combine to play at least 1,000 minutes throughout the season.

Valour, 3-5-0 in CPL action, is already over the halfway mark as they head into tonight’s game with nearly 600 under-21 minutes, which is only behind Pacific FC. The team is expected to continue to chip away at those minutes tonight and in their spring season finale on Monday at home against York9 FC. All seven CPL teams start with a clean slate for the fall season, with Valour kicking it off July 17 on the road against FC Edmonton.

But it’s not like Valour could really avoid using their young players, considering all the injuries the club is dealing with at the moment.

Star midfielder Michael Petrasso was expected to be recovered in time from a groin injury to play tonight, but he had a setback in training on Monday and he’s been ruled out for a third straight game. Defender Diego Gutiérrez, one of the team’s most consistent players, was injured in last Thursday’s 2-1 loss at home to Pacific FC and is unavailable. Midfielder Nico Galvis and forward Ali Musse are also out of action due to injury.

Their minutes will go to players such as 17-year-old attacker Tyler Attardo and 20-year-old midfielder Glenn Muenkat.

“The key is to find what we have with the younger lads and find their best attributes and put that into a winning formula to win the game,” Valour head coach Rob Gale said in a phone interview after the team’s training session on Monday. “That’s what we talked about and worked on. We got to find the right personnel among what we have. Obviously, we don’t have everything available to us. But at the same token, we got to make sure hopefully, by July 17, we (are as healthy as possible) other than Josip (Golubar, out for the season with a torn ACL). We’ve got to find that right balance now and still keep trying to push and improve performances and give players opportunities to impress.”

But is getting these youth minutes out of the way now going to be that much of an advantage as the teams switch over to the fall season?

“In some lights, that’s fair to say,” Gale said. “But also, it’s fair to give those players a look right now as well because we’ve had a lot of players who’ve had opportunities across the board, with probably one or two that looked a little (better) than everybody else. This is giving them that opportunity. You never know who might step up and take it, right? That’s sort of one thing we’ve been striving for as an entire group, is who’s going to show that level of consistency. With so many first-time professionals, a few haven’t yet to find that as maybe they’re trying a bit too hard or they’re forcing the game. It allows us to shuffle the pack and bring in a couple more.”

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With several key pieces expected to be replaced by less-experienced players, Valour will have to lean on 23-year-old attacking midfielder Marco Bustos. Bustos has two goals in Valour colours, one in the Canadian Championship and one in league play, and has been the heart of the offence since he joined the team in early May.

“You know, you can’t really control injuries. But I think, for me, it’s a little bit frustrating,” Bustos said. “Obviously, you want to see everybody healthy. Having a guy like Michael Petrasso not being healthy, and he’s a big part of the team, and in the games I’ve played I’ve only gotten to play with him a few times. We’ve played a lot together throughout the years, so it makes it easier for me playing with him, like it does for everyone else. But that’s the way it is. It’s the next-guy-up kind of thing. If that guy’s not ready, the next guy has to come in and try to do the business. It comes down to having a deep squad and guys being ready.”

Valour defeated HFX at IG Field 1-0 on May 11 in league play before losing both legs of their qualifying-round matchup in the Canadian Championship.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31

Taylor Allen
Reporter

Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor.

Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.