Fun footy forecast for new-look Cavalry FC
Fresh faces and experienced veterans a recipe for exciting season, coach says
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
The 2021 edition of Cavalry FC is peppered with new talent, stepping in to fill the spots where stars before them helped lead Calgary's professional soccer side to two previous seasons of serious success.
But all the alterations to the lineup serve only to forecast similar results and — hopefully — even heighten them in crunch-time in the chase for the coveted Canadian Premier League crown.
That begins Sunday for Cavalry against York United in the CPL'S Winnipeg bubble (3 p.m., Onesoccer.ca).
“We're mixing together quite well,” said Cavalry Gm/head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr. of his newlook squad comprised of 11 fresh faces, 10 holdovers and two players returning from the inaugural CPL campaign.
“It looks good on paper, it looks good on the training pitch, but now we've got to make sure it works when it comes to games,” continued Wheeldon Jr.
“And having not played for 280odd days, we'll use these eight games in Winnipeg to develop chemistry that can hopefully take us through for the rest of the season.”
It's a good bet that will be the case from a club that prides itself on having a positive, winning culture.
Because even with all the new blood, it's a familiar refrain heard from Cavalry.
“We'll be everything Cavalry is known for,” said veteran defender Mason Trafford. “We're going to be a dynamic team, a possession team, a team that's aggressive and has high energy, while continuing to take strides with tactical development and shaping our identity.
“It's looking really good.”
And fun.
“Definitely fun,” agreed Trafford. “Our team is going to be fun to watch. If you can take away one thing, it's going to be really fun to watch us this year — and that's because of talent.”
Ah, yes, the buzz is there is a never-ending supply of that on this team.
Despite the off-season losses of more than a few good men — including locals Jay Wheeldon (retirement), Nico Pasquotti (torn ACL) and Dominick Zator (York United) and fellow stars Marcus Haber (Cambodia), Jordan Brown (Iceland) and Nathan Mavila (Sweden) — the incoming soldiers for Cavalry are generating plenty of hype.
There's the additions of experienced veterans Joseph Di Chiara — who's considered one of the CPL'S top midfielders — and attackers Joe Mason and Anthony Novak — both named by Canpl.ca as being among the league's top-10 forwards.
Crafty midfielder/defender David Norman Jr. comes to the club fresh off a fine foray with Canada's Olympic hopefuls.
And defenders Tom Field, Daan Klomp and Karifa Yao are all being touted as top-shelf inclusions attracted to the Cavs by Wheeldon Jr.
“It's definitely different,” said 34-year-old Trafford, who's certainly charged by the changes. “We still have our core — guys that have been here since Day 1 that are bleeding the colours of the club, like myself and (Nik) Ledgerwood and Marco (Carducci) and other guys.
“But we've brought in some flair — either South American or Latin American, like Jose Escalante and Richard Luca as our mercurial players,” continued Trafford. “We've brought in some quality European guys. And we've got (Montreal's) Karifa looking strong.”
The entire team is looking strong, say those in the know.
Perhaps even stronger than the first two campaigns, when the club put together a combined 28-10-8 record — an eye-popping mark — between CPL and Canadian Championship action.
“We've done a very good job of finding new and exciting talent and adding dimensions to the team we didn't have,” said Cavs star goalkeeper Carducci. “We've added guys who have been in the league and know what it's all about that add a little more experience and add an edge.
“We have some creative guys — those crowd-pleasing players that have those moments of magic. You add that to our belief in being solid defensively — we're always a hard team to break down — and it's going to be an exciting team to watch.”
Before fans can see that firsthand at Spruce Meadows' ATCO Field — COVID permitting — it'll have to be admired from afar via live stream.
A few faces — both fresh and familiar — won't be seen for a few weeks.
Glue-guy midfielder Oliver Minatel — who was last seen writhing in pain in The Island Games last summer after breaking his leg — is nursing a mild thigh strain, while new-to-the-team attackers Mason and Ali Musse — who was a champion under Wheeldon Jr. with the Calgary Foothills PDL crew — are both delayed by travel restrictions.
And out indefinitely is spirited midfielder Elijah Adekugbe after he tore his Achilles tendon during pre-season training in early April.
Regardless, Wheeldon Jr. still has quite the cache of weapons he can deploy beginning Sunday and throughout the busy bubble schedule.
“I think that what's going to be cool about this team is everybody can and will play,” Trafford said. “I think if you watch these eight games, you'll get a really good idea about all the players on this
team because everybody is going to get significant minutes with the schedule being so condensed. Not everybody can go every game.”
Rounding out the deep roster are established stars Mo Farsi, Tyson Farago, Elliot Simmons and Sergio Camargo and bright-lights Victor Loturi, Daniel Kaiser, Jose Hernandez and Ahinga Selemani all helping put together what all involved hope is an entertaining and triumphant season.
“I've always wanted to put a team together that I want to watch as a football fan,” added Wheeldon Jr. “I want us to attack with the ball. I want us to be aggressive and close down on them when we don't have the ball. And we're very clever in our tactical nuances.
“I think we've put a really strong group together. We really like this group. It's a great chemistry. It will serve us very very well once we get a couple of positive performances under our belt.”