IMPORTING TALENT
Fury secure scoring help
For Ottawa Fury FC, the problem hasn’t been on creating chances, it’s been on putting those setups into the back of the net, the one that belongs to the opposing team.
With an eye toward increased goal production and with an increased need for extra bodies because of injuries, Fury FC has been on a signing binge.
The latest signing, Ottawa native and Canadian international midfielder Jamar Dixon, arrived on Thursday and will be with the team for Saturday’s 5 p.m. game in Jacksonville, but likely won’t see action for another week.
But Ryan Williams, another player who arrived this week, is hoping to step in and do whatever he can to get Ottawa out of its scoring slump.
They’ve scored just one goal in its first three NASL Fall Season games, all losses. Williams has been labelled a specialist on set pieces.
“Offence is a big word,” said Fury FC coach Paul Dalglish.
“There are many parts to the offence. Every part, apart from the final touch, has been better than anybody else in the league.
“We’ve been working on that all week, finishing, to try and get the attacking players comfortable in front of the goal and get them confident again.
“It’s only a matter of time before we start turning dominant performances into victories.
“The last two games, we’ve lost the game without having a shot on goal against us, we scored the goal for them. We had 28 crosses, 17 shots, 10 from inside the box. We’ve done it two games in a row — over 20 crosses, more than 10 shots from inside the box. If you use the expected goals formula, we should be scoring two or three goals a game, minimum. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel, we just have to get better at taking the final chance. It’s just a matter of time before we turn this around.”
Williams was a nice add for the Ottawa team.
“Ryan’s a player that’s one of those specialists that catches people’s eyes,” said Dalglish.
“When Brentford signed him, using a Moneyball approach, they thought he had untapped potential and so do I. He’s a wonderful footballer, maybe not suited to a physical, long ball, direct style of the lower-league English game, but it’s perfect to the way we want to play. He’s been on the radar for a little bit of time.”
It’s been a whirlwind of a week for the 25-year-old Williams.
“I got here at 1:30 Tuesday morning — 24 hours travelling, Manchester to Philadelphia to Ottawa,” he said.
“I’m still adjusting to the time zone. I woke up (Thursday) morning at 2:30, bright-eyed and bushytailed so I had to put myself back to sleep. I’m sure I’ll adapt just fine.”
One thing that caught him off guard was the heat wave.
“When I spoke to my friends who’ve been to Canada, they said it gets really cold, “said Williams.
“So I packed a couple of big coats. I got here and thought, ‘What have I done? Where are my shorts?’”
He’s hoping he can play a part in a turnaround for Fury FC, which needs to get untracked quickly to work its way back into the Fall Season race.
“The numbers they’ve been putting up statistically, they’ve been creating opportunities, making chances. I think we’re on the cusp of big things,” said Williams.
“We just need to get that first break and I think it’ll snowball from there. I want to play my part, I want to help the guys as best I can. I want to get some assists, help the guys put the ball in the back of the net. At the end of the day, goals affect the game.”