To start the season, I’ve been immensely impressed by the work going on at Valour FC, as the club find their feet and look to land a top four finish for the first time. Phillip Dos Santos’ team appear to be all on the same wavelength, as other clubs continue to find partnerships that create the best chemistry. The Winnipeg club might only sit in fifth place right now, however early signs suggest this could be their best season yet.
Along the way, Dos Santos’ team have seen some fantastic individual performances, including from some exciting new faces. Putting the CANPL contingent of players through my RCES System, five of the top ten highest ranked players are from the Winnipeg club. This has prompted me to examine some of their top players in greater detail, assessing who international clubs should keep an eye on as the season continues. This article is all about their newest centre-back – Klaidi Cela.
attacking PRINCIPLES
Klaidi Cela has bounced around since his CANPL debut back in 2019 for Forge, but he now appears to have found the perfect home at Valour. The Canadian centre-back is a commanding figure at the back, possessing a strong physical presence to frighten opposition attackers. He might not always have the pace to win 1v1 battles, but he’d still be someone I’d hesitate to try and go up against.
In addition to his solid defensive awareness and detailed eye for how to position himself in his own third, I’ve been particularly impressed by Cela’s scanning, and how he uses those perceptions to spray long passes. The 23-year-old assisted Pacifique Niyongabire’s phenomenal goal a couple weeks ago against Pacific, a nice reward for his persistence in playing nice passes over the top.
The 6’3 centre-back is not only able to correctly assess those moments to play passes down the line into the half-spaces, but he possesses the ability to execute on those desires with the right weight of pass. Niyongabire has proven to be quite the progressive runner, and having someone to find him in the channels has been a quick method for Valour to easily advance the play.
This has been a great way for the Winnipeg club to not only free runners up in the channels, but also to quickly get the ball into the penalty area for the likes of Williams and Niyongabire to work their magic.
Cela also uses that scanning prowess to assess the right options when he finds himself under pressure. He rarely seems to panic on the ball, and often makes sound judgement calls as a result of his perceptions of BOTS. In the below example, Cela sees the danger of Vancouver’s striker, and opts not to play the back pass to his goalkeeper. Instead, he turns the man breathing down his neck inside out.
It’s never easy to stay calm under pressure as a young player trying to stake a claim in a top-flight professional league, but Cela’s done it with ease. He’s then transferred that calming presence on the ball to then be the top creating centre-back in the division, on 0.16 key passes per 90 according to Wyscout.
DEFENSIVE PRINCIPLES
When it comes to defensive end, Cela continues his superb scanning of the field to assess and adjust his position. He’s astute at cutting out crosses that come into the box, anticipating the likely direction while maintaining the right distance away from any nearby players.
When you adjust for possession, Klaidi Cela has won 8.3 interceptions per 90 according to Wyscout, which ranks at the top end in the division. This illustrates Cela’s ability to read the situation and adjust to the moment, allowing him to react quicker than the opposition.
The one downside we can already see is the lack of pace when compared to speedy attackers, where his 65% defensive duelling rate could diminish as he shifts wide to engage wingers 1v1.
Nevertheless, the young Canadian clearly possesses that warrior mentality to defend for his life, get in the way of anything and everything, and put his body on the line when it matters most.
As a strong progressor of the ball and an astute reader of the game, Klaidi Cela is also allowed to have some areas for development as a 23-year-old centre-back still learning his trade. Valour only picked him up in early April as a result of injuries to two of their centre-backs, but this appears to be a great signing, and one that has given the young Canadian all the confidence he needs to perform on the big stage.
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