They’ve had days to reflect, to stew on the negative result and then, hopefully, to fix it.

And now after a lacklustre effort in a 2-nil loss to Pacific FC in their Canadian Premier League 2025 opener back on April 5, Valour FC has been fixated for almost two weeks on getting its game right this Saturday in Hamilton against powerhouse Forge FC.

“We lacked energy. Look, it’s the first game, you’re on the road, you need to manage your emotions,” said Valour GM and head coach Phillip Dos Santos after training on Thursday. “The guys were extremely anxious about that first game. But you can’t just flush it. We know there were too many characteristics that the team had not been during the preseason. We need to understand why we were so flat — I’m not even talking defensively; offensively we lacked aggression.

“When you look at it (the bye week in the schedule) actually came at a good time for us. It allowed us to approach things differently. Nobody was happy with a bad first game. It allowed us to be a little bit harder on the guys and bring everyone back to reality and not be too concerned about the effects it could have on the immediate next game because we had a bit of time.”

Part of the collective disappointment comes from the solid preseason the club had experienced leading up to the trip to Victoria. Yet, against the Tridents Valour wasn’t just flat, it generated just five shots, with only one on target.

“I always tell them when we deviate from what we want to be this year we’re going to suffer,” Dos Santos said. “I look at that first game and for whatever the reasons were we just felt we were so outside what we want the team to look like when it comes to the effort, the intensity, the aggression with which we want to play. I felt we did have territorial control and the bulk of the possession but that can be also be your worst enemy if you don’t finish an action with a shot, with a cross, with a bit of aggression, especially against a team that is known to be strong in transition on a field where if you put two passes forward you’re at the opposition’s net.

“Now we have to think about what’s next.”

There will be changes for Valour on Saturday, what with new fullback Zach Fernandez available to make his Valour debut after serving a suspension in Match 1 from his time last season with Halifax Wanderers. Attacker/midfielder Kian Williams is also on the mend, while gritty midfielder Dante Campbell — who also missed the opener — is available. The club also saw a boost in energy in the opener from substitutes like Myles Morgan, Bruno Figueiredo and Jevontae Layne after they entered the match.

That will be critical going forward as this Valour squad has more depth than in years past and no one’s spot in the starting lineup is guaranteed.

“I tell the guys the spots are there,” said Dos Santos. “I have to put 11 players on the field, but (the spot) doesn’t belong to anyone. The danger is when player come to you and say, ‘How come I’m out?’ What, the spot is yours? It has to be every day that you show up. The games are going to require certain characteristics the coaches need to be attentive to. I want this to be a team that understands we’re here to make decisions and they’re here to play and execute.

“I don’t want it that every time I make two, three, four changes to the lineup that it’s perceived a player is performing. I want them to understand we choose based on what the next game could look like and how we can exploit or what we have to be attentive to in bringing different characteristics to different moments. There’s a strategical component to it.”

Fernandez, meanwhile, didn’t make the trip to Victoria while he served his suspension and watched the match here in Winnipeg.

“It wasn’t our best game, and I couldn’t contribute which was frustrating to me as a competitor,” he told valourfootball.club Thursday. “We have a lot to learn from that game and I think everything can be positive. There’s a lot we can change. It’s about the mentality. We have dawgs on this team, and we need to show it when we step on the pitch — that’s the main point we learned from the first game.

“I’ve been around the league. This team has shown a lot. The mentality is good here and we have good players. At the end, I’m really excited to start this weekend.”