If all goes well the Ottawa Fury will cap off an incredible run by being crowned the kings of the North American Soccer League this weekend.
The Fury enter Sunday’s Soccer Bowl, the championship final of the second-tier NASL, against the New York Cosmos riding a sensational hot streak. Ottawa is unbeaten in a league-record 13 games (8-0-5) since dropping a 2-1 decision to Minnesota United on Aug. 15, with just one loss in its last 26 matches overall (with 15 wins)
That’s not to say it’s been smooth sailing for the Fury. The NASL campaign is split into two seasons—spring and fall. After finishing ninth (out of 11 teams) in the spring with a 2-5-3 record, the Fury finished first in the fall, winning 13 of 20 games with just one loss. Ottawa advanced to the Soccer Bowl after beating Minnesota United in a playoff game last weekend, setting a new league record with a crowd of 9,346 fans in attendance at TD Place Stadium.
More on the Ottawa Fury: Dos Santos named NASL coach of the year || Trafford: ‘We never lost belief’ || Soccer Bowl would cap Ottawa’s amazing season
The fact Ottawa is now in a position to win the NASL championship in only its second year in the league didn’t happen by mistake, but is instead a testament to the planning of coach Marc Dos Santos and the club’s patience in his vision.
“I’ve been in clubs where if they lose two games in a row then they change their system and change players. There’s no stability in some clubs. What we felt when we started building this team from Day One was that we’re building around a model of play and stuck to it,” Dos Santos told Sportsnet.
“We always stuck to it, regardless of what happened, like in 2014 when he had four losses in a row. We adjusted certain things, but stuck to the model so there was continuity and stability in what we did, and a clear vision, and I think we saw that during this unbeaten run. That’s been one of our keys of success.”
Dos Santos, a 38-year-old native of Montreal, is a thoughtful interview subject, especially when he explains how his team operates on the pitch. Unlike a lot of managers, he’s not fixated on a playing style or tactical formations, but rather on a “model of play.”
He breaks the game down into four categories for his players: defensive organization, offensive organization, transition from defence to attack, and transition from attack to defence. These are the principles he’s kept in mind when building this team—not formations or a playing style—and he went so far as writing them down as a sort of club credo when building his roster.
“I often say that a system of play and formations are only very good for media because on TV it looks good when a team plays 4-4-2 or 4-3-3. But a system without principles, it’s like a dead body, it’s lifeless,” Dos Santos offered.
“Your team could play in a 4-3-3 and mine could play in a 4-3-3, but both of them could be very different. What gives life to the system are the principles and the behaviours you want to give to the team. Once we wrote those principles and behaviours down, it was easier to go after players that would maximize our model of play. We built the team that way and the players bought in. It’s been everything that guides the club here.”
One of the players who bought in was veteran defender Mason Trafford, even when he lost his role as a starter this season. A Canadian international with one cap to his credit, Trafford made 27 starts and logged 2346 minutes of playing time last year, but Dos Santos thought the team needed an upgrade at centre back, so he signed Brazilian Rafael Alves and Colin Favley of Ireland for the 2015 season.
Trafford was on the bench for the first few games before he played at left fullback in a game against the Tampa Bay Rowdies in May, a position he ended up making his own, starting 26 games and scoring one goal.
Trafford described Dos Santos’ influence at the club as “immense.”
“He’s an unbelievable leader and coach. He’s a great motivator and is so detail oriented,” Trafford said.
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Sunday’s final should be a tightly contested affair. While Ottawa finished first in the fall season, New York topped the table in the spring. The clubs finished tied for first place in the overall NASL standings when combining the spring and fall campaigns. Ottawa and New York also split the season series, with one win apiece and a draw.
“We don’t need to reinvent a lot of things because we’ve had a lot of success. We’ve only lost once in our last 26 to we need to stick to what we did, and understand that while this is a final we need to stick to our beliefs,” Dos Santos stated.
Dos Santos won’t have to reinvent, but he will have to make one major adjustment.
Veteran midfielder Julian de Guzman is away on international duty with Canada and is unavailable to play in Sunday’s championship. The Ottawa coach admitted it’s an “awkward” situation, but knows his hands are tied, as clubs have to release players during FIFA dates, and he questions the NASL’s logic of scheduling its final in the middle of the international break.
“It’s going to affect us a lot. He’s an important player for us … and we don’t have the luxury of leaving good players out if we want to win a final. Julian brings a lot of experience and he knows how to deal with different moments of the game, the pressure,” Dos Santos said.