Despite loss to Orlando, Cavalry proud with approach in Champions Cup debut: "You don't want to change your DNA"
After a promising start, it was a stark reminder of the level that’s required to be one of the best in Concacaf.
For a few minutes, Cavalry FC were showing that they could hang with one of such sides, Orlando City, who they ‘hosted’ at Starlight Stadium in the first leg of their first-round Concacaf Champions Cup tie on Wednesday.
Despite going up against one of the top teams in MLS in their first-ever Concacaf game in their history, the Cavs were showing well to start, holding their own against their visitors. As a result, belief started to quickly grow in their camp, as they felt that they were close to grabbing a grip of the game early on.
But then, in a flash, they were reminded of the quality of the side they were up against. On a routine attack, Martín Ojeda managed to find a bit of daylight with a nice run in behind, doing well to receive the ball in stride before flashing the ball over to Duncan McGuire, who had snuck in front of his defender.
Fully alone in front of the goal, the forward with 13 MLS goals to his name last year wasn’t going to miss once the ball found his feet, as he then easily swept the ball home to give his team the lead.
Yet, while Cavalry would’ve had every reason to feel dejected as they went down 1-0 after just 21 minutes, as it gave Orlando a crucial lead and away goal in the tie, they picked up their heads and went right back into battle.
GOAL 🦁
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) February 22, 2024
Duncan McGuire opens the scoring for Orlando City SC vs. @CPLCavalryFC and then hits the griddy...
...so if you need a new controller, lmk 🎮
🔴 Watch #ConcaChampions on OneSoccer pic.twitter.com/t80bbg1Wol
Ultimately, while they were always going to do their best to try and win this tie, this was always going to be a learning lesson for them, as they got the chance to face a top team up close and personal.
But instead of setting up to survive such an encounter, electing to take a cautious approach that most teams would take, Cavalry wanted to test themselves out in this battle while doing what they’re best at, which is to play aggressively and on the front foot, as they did throughout last year en route to a CPL regular season title.
Even if they knew they posed a risk of getting hit heavily on the scoreboard by following this approach, as they played a deep and fit team like Orlando, they wanted to feel what it was like to get punched by a heavyweight and throw some punches of their own, which they certainly got to do even if they eventually fell 3-0 on the night.
“We could have set up in 5-4-1 or a 4-5-1 low block,” Cavalry’s head coach, Tommy Wheeldon Jr, proudly stated afterwards. “We needed to work on our press and work on our triggers for that, as we haven’t had that (chance to work on it), so we've got to use these games to say ‘Yeah, that's one of the best teams in Concacaf, they’ll probably have a good run in MLS this year, so why not give them the best we've got and see where we match up?’. “
“And that’s the experience we're trying to take from it. Just look at their goals, look at what we can learn in our defensive transitions, for example. We’ve got another game, so we’ll look to use this experience and try to put our best foot forward again.”
GOAL 🦁🦁
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) February 22, 2024
Facundo Torres doubles Orlando City's lead over @CPLCavalryFC, catching Marco Carducci with a shot outside the box on his near side 🎯
🔴 Watch #ConcaChampions on OneSoccer pic.twitter.com/fJTZsriJRg
Especially for a Cavalry side that hasn’t had that opportunity to play in many matches like this over the last few years, that experience can be hugely valuable.
It’s not as if they were surprised by much of what Orlando did, as they had a chance to prepare for this matchup for months now, giving them time to watch film and study their tactics, but that was never going to compare to actually seeing Orlando in action.
Unfortunately, Cavalry ended up doing a bit too much watching and reacting on the day, which hurt them on the three goals that they conceded, but within that, they learned some key lessons that they’ll now take to heart going forward, which is what they wanted.
“We've done our studying, but you can do as much studying as you want, there's a difference between action and reaction,” Wheeldon Jr said. “And I think because of where we are in our season, we don't have those reaction speeds as quick as we'd like them to be, and so against Iván Angulo, who is a terrific player and is very pacey, he caused a lot of trouble, and they've got a lot of DPS in that frontline, so that was where they're gonna hurt us.”
“For the most part, though, I thought we weathered their storm quite well, but when they had chances, they took it, and that’s the difference in quality.”
GOAL 🦁🦁🦁
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) February 22, 2024
Facundo Torres makes it 3-0 for Orlando City vs. @CPLCavalryFC in this #ConcaChampions clash, as the #MLS side pulls away from their #CanPL opposition in Leg 1
🔴 Watch LIVE on OneSoccer pic.twitter.com/KH1lf6aXaA
As a result, while things didn’t end up being as close in the end, both on the scoreboard and also statistically, Cavalry remained in high spirits afterwards.
Of course, they were frustrated with some of the mistakes that they made, as they felt that they could’ve kept this game closer than 3-0, but despite that, they were pleased that they were able to stick with their “Cavalry DNA” throughout the game.
Given that DNA’s been there since their first game as a club back in 2019, persisting through the highs of beating a team like the Vancouver Whitecaps in year one, to the lows of some of the playoff heartbreak they’ve experienced along the way in CPL action, sticking to that DNA was always going to be key in this game.
And while that may have hurt them in the short-term, as Orlando were able to punish them for playing aggressively, they’ll feel that could pay off for them in the long-term.
“Against an Orlando, you’re punching above your weight if you look at the budgets from both teams, so it's not a matter of knowing if they’re the better side or not, but you don't want to change your DNA for any opponent,” Cavalry centre back, Daan Klomp, noted afterwards. “We will try to play our way, and I think we showed that in a good way, especially in the second half. Unfortunately, it was not good enough to win, as even if in the middle of the park things were even, the game got decided in both boxes, like it always does in these games, and I don't think we were good enough in our box, but also not decisive enough in theirs.”
“Yeah, I mean, we speak about our DNA all the time, we’re going to play the football that we train every day and we're not going to change based on the opponent,” Fellow Cavalry centre back, Eryk Kobza, added. “I think you saw that in spells today, we had them pinned back in their half quite a few times, and on any other day we score, I had a big chance with a header, I hit that a couple of inches left or right and below the crossbar, it changes the game completely and we could’ve had them more on the back foot, and we would’ve had a bigger shot to come away with something, as we’d have that goal and maybe they’d get one less, but it's all small margins.”
“Either way, we're going to stick to what we know, and we're going to play Cavs football (no matter what).”
And for what it’s worth, they impressed with that mentality.
Certainly, that was the feeling among the Orlando camp, who left this first leg feeling impressed with what they saw from their CPL opponents.
Expecting more of a cagey affair, they commend Cavalry for their aggressive approach, one that they did well to maintain even as the game got away from them a bit.
That can be tough for teams to maintain, as it can be easy to get dejected in a matchup like this, which never happened to Cavalry.
“I would say they're really good,” Orlando’s Dagur Dan Thorhalsson said afterwards. “They try to play football. Even when they were losing, they were trying to play, and I liked the way they played, so they were a good opponent. I would say that as a team, they are growing and will grow even more as MLS has over the last couple of years, so while I can’t say I’ve seen much of the CPL, things are already good and are going to keep growing.”
Yet, that’s the value of this sort of experience for a team like Cavalry, as it can often accelerate one’s growth when you get a chance to compete with the best in a region, which is why it’s been crucial to see more CPL teams get an opportunity to participate in this Champions Cup tournament with the expanded format.
It might lead to some tough defeats at the start of this journey, but it will only pay off over time, especially for a league that continues to grow year after year.
“It's great for the league through six years, it’s going to be my fourth year here, and I’ve seen the league grow in quality across all of the clubs,” Klomp said. “So now to be able to measure ourselves against MLS teams and Mexican teams, that’s really important for the league.”
FT Cavalry 0-3 Orlando City
— Alexandre Gangué-Ruzic (@AlexGangueRuzic) February 22, 2024
Some bright spells from the Cavs, but a commanding showing from Orlando to take leg 1 of this Concacaf Champions Cup tie
Was some preseason rust shown from Cavalry, but there were good moments, too. Especially off set-pieces and in the final third
Now, however, the goal for Cavalry will be to make sure that these lessons that they learned don’t go to waste, as it’s important to now put them into practice.
Starting with next week, where they’ll head to Orlando in chase of a miracle win, and then continuing into what awaits them next, such as the start of the CPL season in April, they know that they’ll have a big year ahead of them.
After completing two of their main objectives last year, which were to win a trophy and qualify for the Concacaf Champions Cup, they want to at least match that output, if not improve on it.
And with a deep team, one that can certainly compete with the strong group that they had last year (and is arguably deeper), they’re set up to do that, all while being armed with the value that this experience can provide them.
Because of that, while things might not have gotten off on the right foot in this game, they believe that can be the start of another big year, one that can hopefully be even better than their last one.
“It’s massive because I think we started with 8/11 starters being Canadians today, and I think that's great,” Wheeldon Jr enthused. “We’re the northernmost club here in Concacaf, so we had to be creative with our preparations, we've also now got two months until our CPL season, so we had to plan, and we don't have an MLS budget, so we had to be creative with that.”
“For us, the first step was getting in, the second step was to experience it and learn from it, and the third step for us is to return.”
