Week after week this off-season, familiar faces from around the Canadian Premier League stepped onto the pitch at TD Place Stadium and held aloft an Atlético Ottawa scarf. First, it was Matteo de Brienne's homecoming, then Ballou Tabla returned to the capital in January, with Kris Twardek joining the mix later that month. February saw Atleti add Rayane Yesli, Aboubacar Sissoko and Kevin Dos Santos. In March, they brought in back-to-back Player of the Year nominee Manny Aparicio. This past Thursday, the Ottawa club announced the signing of his former Pacific FC teammate Amer Didić. It is a collection of talent that has arguably never been seen before in the league's six-year history. In a recent podcast appearance, new signing Matteo de Brienne called the team the CPL 'Avengers'. The word 'superteam' has been thrown around a lot as well, and it is hard to argue that it doesn't fit. During this off-season, Atlético Ottawa added upwards of 300 games of CPL experience -- and five players who were either nominated for or won league awards in the past two seasons. After a season in which they missed the playoffs, they are leaving little to chance in their quest to get back to the Canadian Premier League's summit. "The fanbase and all the people here we still have the flavour of the championship that we had, and being champions two seasons ago," said Atlético Ottawa head coach Carlos González in a preseason interview with CanPL.ca's Charlie O'Connor-Clarke. "So we know how it tastes and we want to repeat it." With the squad they have constructed, it feels like lifting silverware is the minimum expectation this year in the nation's capital. Their 2024 Canadian Championship draw is such that should they advance, Atléti won't face an MLS side until potentially the Vancouver Whitecaps in the two-legged semifinal. González, his staff, as well as 2022 Player of the Year Ollie Bassett, Nate Ingham, Maxim Tissot, Zachary Roy and Tabla were all part of the Ottawa team that lifted the CPL Shield in 2022 as regular season winners. Meanwhile, they added two players this off-season in Aparicio and Sissoko who have won CPL finals, plus Jonathan Grant who despite suffering a season-ending injury in preseason will still bring championship-calibre mentorship to the group. “I see a lot of big names, a lot of big characters here, so it’s definitely going to be a fun year,” Aparicio said.
Every time that list of incoming names grew, however, so did discontent from the league's other fanbases and clubs. Pacific FC fans won't be entirely thrilled that a CPL rival has once again scooped up two of their best players -- and just about every club in the league would have loved to have added players like Aparicio and Didić. Valour, meanwhile, are also losing fan favourites, 2023 Best Canadian U-21 Player de Brienne and Golden Glove nominee Yesli. Forge fans will be sad to see Sissoko depart, while Kevin Dos Santos was joint leading scorer for York United -- not to mention scoring the goal that largely eliminated Ottawa from the playoffs in 2023. Fans of the remaining clubs are undoubtedly envious of that collection of incoming talent. Taking top talent from other CPL clubs was done by design, the Atleti front office has long believed that the best way to recruit is to build its foundation around players who are experienced in the league. Only two of the club's ten signings so far this off-season -- Kris Twardek and Villareal B loanee Liberman Torres, haven't previously played in the league. "It's very important to have players that have already proven their levels in the CPL, I think that that's basic," said González in a preseason interview. "Also one of the things that we're looking for is appropriate mentalities. To be a winner that's a compliment of genetics that you need to have and we were trying to bring players that have these types of genetics. They've won before so that they can win again." Once a few of those key names signed up, Atleti became an even more enticing project for others with multiple suitors around the league, or outside of it, who were looking to join a winning situation. For Didić, for example, learning that friend and former Pacific FC teammate Aparicio was signing in the nation's capital was a big part of the central defender following suit. "There’s so many guys out there that I’ve played against over the years and you know the quality is there, you know what you’re going to have, you know what you’re going to get," said Didić.
While the talent on paper is obvious, translating that to the pitch is where many a 'superteam' has struggled over the years. There can only be ten players, and one goalkeeper, on the field at any one time, and there is only one ball to go around. González, the league's 2022 Coach of the Year, is going to earn his salary this year managing so many talented and driven individuals, especially those who might find themselves outside of the starting lineup. It will mean getting a collection of ambitious star players to buy into a collective goal, make selfless runs, take fewer touches, and put in the hard yards required to have success in the highly competitive Canadian Premier League. With so many new signings, another challenge will be quickly finding chemistry within the group. A good number of the club's starting squad is expected to be players who are new to the nation's capital. "At the end of the day, nearly half of the roster is new so it takes time sometimes," said González. "But as I say, good players understand faster between them." Even for the ten players returning from last year's side, the new influx of talent and personnel will likely require learning a new system for 2024. The club hasn't been shy about the fact that it intends to play more expansive attacking football this season, after two years under González where a tenacious defensive approach was preferred. Some called it boring, but in 2022 in particular it was incredibly effective. "Probably, probably, at the end of the day they are different types of players, so you have to go in a natural way," said González when asked if his side will play a more attacking style this season. "You have the product, you have the tools. So what you have to do is try to make them be comfortable in the game, make them be comfortable in a system, so that they can expose their football and they can play in the best level that they can."
If there is anything certain, it is that watching whatever happens in the nation's capital this year will be anything but boring. If they succeed, this group is capable of playing some of the most technical, tactical and aesthetically brilliant football this league has ever seen -- and could take the on-field product to new heights. If they can, the already electric atmosphere at TD Place is all but guaranteed to follow. Despite a disappointing 2023 season on the pitch, the atmosphere in Ottawa took a step forward -- orchestrated as always by the Capital City Supporters group in Section W. That volume and exposure will only increase if the team can live up to its incredible potential. If they fall short of lofty expectations, the cheers -- or more likely jeers -- from the rest of the league will be just as loud. They are likely to hear it from the fans during any road trip they take this season regardless, a villain role they will no doubt embrace. Either way it players out, this ambition off-season of Atlético Ottawa is only going to add competitive spirit and increased rivalry to this young league. All eyes will be on the nation's capital as the Canadian Premier League's sixth season gets underway later this week.
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