Speaking from TD Place on Thursday, April 2, our head coach shared his insight on how Atlético Ottawa will fare in the 2026 Canadian Premier League season.
Here's everything Diego had to say...
On the progress the team has made since Concacaf:
We are a completely different team from the team you saw in Concacaf. In Concacaf, most of the players had arrived just in time to be available for that match. With more time, we can work better. Right now, the team is ready to start the season, and start in a good way.
On replacing Salter and Rodríguez's output from 2025:
David [Rodríguez] and Sam [Salter] were very good players for us, but last pre-season we started from zero. I will always put the focus on the collective behaviour of my team. I know they were good players, but they needed the build-up from the defenders, the passes from the midfielders, and the creation of one-v-one in the pockets. This team creates chances because of collective behaviours, not because of individuals.
On player availability ahead of this weekend:
In this moment, we're only missing Roni [Mbomio] as he's on international duty. Right now, everyone else is available.
On which new additions he expects to have a big impact this season:
All the players. It's really tough to talk about just one player. This is a collective sport, a team sport. When I sign a player, I focus on whether the player is capable of playing in the team, not if they are capable to do amazing things. I believe that all 23 players are capable of stepping up and having a great season.
On starting the season with 3 consecutive away matches:
We are the home opener for everyone in this league. We are the best team in the league, and we need to help these teams create good environments in their stadiums to start the season. Finally, we are preparing something very special for our people in our Home Opener match, and I'm excited for the three matches away from home to start.
On what he's expecting from Forge:
Forge is a very good team; they have a very good manager. They always play amazing football. They always fight for the league and for the championship. We are going to have a very good match. We are the best two teams in the CPL. It's a little soon to have this match-up, but it's amazing to play them in the first match. I'm very excited.
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