Mighty Rowdies won’t rile Fury as confidence soars
A year ago, a defeat like the 3-2 one it suffered in its United Soccer League regular-season opener against Saint Louis FC last Saturday may have eaten at Ottawa Fury FC.
Decimated by injuries, the team — which in 2016 played in the North American Soccer League — would have gone into a game like this Saturday’s road contest against the Tampa Bay Rowdies shredded with doubt. And why not? The Rowdies, who spent a lot of money putting a team on the field, have won both of their games — by a combined score of 5-0. That’s no illusion; they’re good.
But maybe in his second season with Fury FC, coach/GM Paul Dalglish has established the kind of team chemistry and cohesiveness he’s looking for.
And a team that starts the season with three road games can still be confident playing against a rival that looks as though it will be a league powerhouse.
“We’ve got to be at our best to get something from this game,” said Dalglish. “When you think about the amount of money they spend compared to the rest of us, it’s going to be a tough weekend, but it’s one we’re looking forward to. They’ve got two, three players that earn more than everybody else in the league spends on their whole team. They signed Luke Boden, they brought in the German international (Marcel Schafer) who plays the midfield which was a huge upgrade for them, then they’ve got Deshorn Brown, who was bought by a Chinese team for $1.2 million not too long ago.
“We’ve got to be at our best to beat them. But I have so much confidence, so much belief in this group of players that I think we can go there and get a result. We have to be at our best on defence — they’ve got so many attacking pieces.”
Fury FC struggled early in the opening half a week ago, falling behind 2-0, but took over the pace and got goals from Eddie Edward and Onua Obasi before falling.
Fury FC fired 18 shots against Saint Louis FC, with 10 of them coming from inside the box, showing an ability to break down the opposition’s defence and generate chances from close range. The Rowdies have taken 37 shots in their opening two fixtures and boast the league’s second best passing accuracy (82 per cent) thanks in large part to their midfield talisman, former England international Joe Cole.
In addition to Cole’s prowess, defender Boden and striker Georgi Hristov have combined for more than 25 per cent of the Rowdies’ successful passes. Midfielder Michael Nanchoff must not be overlooked, either, as he’s tied among the league leaders in assists with two.
On paper, it sure sounds like an intimidating matchup, but again, the united bunch that is Fury FC isn’t blinking.
“The team this year is a lot more united (than 2016),” said Obasi. “I wouldn’t say there were problems with team chemistry, but the season didn’t go as planned.
“A lot of players had higher hopes. Results do affect the mood in the dressing room.
“Unfortunately last season we weren’t getting results and that gets reflected in how optimistic players feel every day in the dressing room.
“Paul has been able to assemble the players he wanted specifically for his system. He’s recruited great characters across the board. The dressing room is a great place to be. It’s the heartbeat of the team.”
Setbacks like the loss in St. Louis can be taken as bumps in the road.
“Even after the first game, the players picked themselves up fast,” said Obasi. “Maybe in other circumstances, they have their heads down, they feel hard done by by the ref.
“But players were saying, ‘How can we improve? Let’s have a look at the tape.’ With that sort of mentality, with players not getting down in the dumps, we can still be optimistic.”
Following Saturday’s match, Fury FC will wrap up its threegame season-opening road trip in Richmond, where they take on the Kickers next Saturday. tbaines@postmedia.com Twitter: @TimCBaines