Tommy Wheeldon Jr. – Cavalry FC – Tactical Analysis

Cavalry FC have been the most exciting team to watch in 2023, following up from a wonderful winter of off-season recruitment. The Cavs remain at the top of the table as the 2023 season comes to a close, and after their win against HFX this week, are the first team to claim a spot in the 2023 Playoffs. Here is our tactical analysis of Tommy Wheeldon Jr.’s Cavalry FC in 2023.

SYSTEM OF PLAY: 4-2-3-1 / 3-4-2-1

Cavalry have predominantly utilized a 4-2-3-1 this season, although they have more recently experimented with a 3-4-2-1, allowing them to fit all of their central midfield options into the fold.

In that 4-2-3-1, the principles are relatively similar to the 3-4-2-1, so the transition has been seamless. For example, Cavalry will build out from the back in a 3+2 shape even in their 4-2-3-1, as they push the right-back forward and their right-winger operates inside. Something of a 3-2-4-1 attacking shape holds true across both shapes. Although Jesse Daley will also gallop forward to compound matters.

At the back end of the pitch, Marco Carducci has continued to be one of the best keepers in the league. Eryk Kobza has been the surprise of the season as the undeniable top draft pick from this year’s U-SPORTS draft. He started at the heart of central midfield, but quickly shifted into centre-back to add more solidity to the back-line in a post Karifa Yao team.

He’s partnered by Daan Klomp, likely the best centre-back alongside HFX’s Dan Nimick this season. Klomp acts as something of a quarterback for the team out from the back, particularly without that same kind of figurehead in central midfield. Bradley Kamdem’s been another excellent addition, often driving forward from his position as a left-sided centre-back in possession. He’s an excellent ball-carrying progressor and the more defensive of the two fullbacks when the Cavs operate in that back-four.

On the other side of the field, Fraser Aird returned to the team from his ACL injury to immediately be one of the top chance-creating wing-backs in the league. But Shamit Shome has recently stolen the mantle, perhaps given his excellence on-the-ball in helping to spread the play forward from deeper positions.

Cavalry have rotated well throughout the season in the quest to keep players fit and thriving, and the slight change of shape has allowed them to fit all four of their central midfield options into the same team at once. Kobza’s 1v1 defending and physicality can come to life as an outside centre-back, as Shome rotates with Jesse Daley in and out of the right side to create greater connections out from the back.

Speaking of Jesse Daley, he’s been another one of the signings of the season. His tough-tackling approach initially made him an excellent defensive destructor in front of the back-line, and he’s now become more box-to-box in the team’s 3-4-2-1. That makes sense given that he’s partnered by the steel and gusto of Charlie Trafford, who also adds a bit of passing progression from midfield and the necessary leadership & experience in a fairly young team.

Further forward is where the magic happens, and where Ali Musse has become one of the undeniable players of the season. Musse’s contributed 0.37 xG + xA per 90, as both a key creator and scorer. The same can be said of their ‘Creative Ten’ Sergio Camargo, whose fanciful footwork often dazzles around defenses before he releases it to one of the other three. Goteh Ntignee operated as the ‘Direct Winger’ down the other side to support the inclinations toward inversion from Ali Musse down the other side, and recently became the CPL’s most expensive acquisition of all-time with a move to Annecy in France.

That’s unfortunate for the Cavs as they look to close out the season as champions and win their first ever Playoff series. But the Cavs nicely prepared for the inevitabilities within their squad depth, bringing William Akio and Mael Henry into the fold within the first few months of the season. Akio’s been a livewire rampaging up and down the right side, taking his tally of goals to the season to 5 goals in 8 matches. Henry on the other side adds a touch of class and the potential to ‘invert’ from the left instead of the right, allowing Akio to be that direct goal-scorer down the other side.

Up top is Myer Bevan, third in scoring in the CANPL for his 9 goals in 22 games. Bevan is the most complete forward in the division, offering all of the qualities you’d want in a ‘Target’, in addition to holding his own in-possession and within Cavalry’s pressing schemes. So those are the players! Now let’s jump into the tactics.

ATTACKING PRINCIPLES

Cavalry build out from the back in what is typically a 3+2 shape, involving the two central midfielders and three defenders. Daan Klomp is the one often helping to dictate the tempo and spread play long the most, but Eryk Kobza has also proven himself to be an excellent forward passer this season.

Charlie Trafford is the next best progressor out from the back and another key member of builds, while Bradley Kamdem will often use his exuberant energy to burst through lines on the dribble. Occasionally Daan Klomp will step ahead of his two partners at the back and form a bit of a triangle. In these moments, proper coverage and compactness between the other two must be in place, otherwise Cavalry can expose themselves to danger.

However, Charlie Trafford is usually good at slotting deeper instead when needed, forming a slight rotation between the two players.

As the ball is progressed into the opposition’s half, the goal is typically to get one wing-back advanced, as their same-sided wing-mate inverts into the half-spaces. In the first half of the season, we saw this with Fraser Aird galloping on the outside of Ali Musse and his incredible left-foot, wanting to come inside on his stronger foot anyway. Sergio Camargo would then provide some balance roaming in and around the left-half-spaces, as Goteh Ntignee held the width.

But in the new 3-4-2-1, Shamit Shome can often times be more reserved down his side in helping to facilitate attacks from deeper. That allows for a powerful winger like William Akio to cause chaos down his side of the field as Mael Henry inverts and the left-wing-back advances instead. Bradley Kamdem does however look best as that more defensive, reserved fullback. While he certainly possesses the dynamism to overlap and combine, his crossing and chance creation has yet to hit the same highs he’s managed in most other phases of the game. Aird on the other hand can claim that to be one of his top features, posting up 0.23 xA per 90 this campaign.

Ben Fisk and Tom Field could give Wheeldon Jr. further options from that left-wing-back position as Kamdem and Montgomery battle it out for a place in the back-three, with Fisk leading the team in Wyscout key passes per 90 (0.95), despite not commanding his duels to the same extent.

Regardless of shape, it’s the calming mix of expert ball-savviness and powerful electricity in the front-line that’s always kept Cavalry at the top of this title race. Akio’s goal-return since coming back from Scotland has been outrageous (0.45 per 90), even besting the team’s ‘#9’ in Myer Bevan (0.44).

Throw the creativity and incisiveness of Ali Musse, Sergio Camargo and now Mael Henry into the mix, and you have three more players that look likely to score or assist every time they play. The one downside is the loss of Goteh Ntignee who had an exceptional chemistry with the other consistent starters in that front-line, and consistently took players on for fun down that left-side.

For a man constantly throwing himself into battles, it’s quite rare to still come out on top with a 60% dribble win rate, and the 21-year-old had a habit of using that pace and power to create moments for others. Akio’s raw speed will lead to many positive moments on the break that opposition sides can’t contend, but Ntignee added a lot of quality in playing the right passes into the penalty area and fully understanding the team’s pressing principles.

That said, the loss provides a nice opportunity for Mael Henry to strut his stuff and show-off that sublime technical quality, as players like Gareth Smith-Doyle also gain time on the pitch and get those U21 minutes. This is probably the best Cavalry team we’ve seen in the CPL, and it’s showing in the gap they’ve now created at the top of the table.

DEFENSIVE PRINCIPLES

Attack is great, but as we all know and the cliché goes, it’s the defense that wins championships. That’s where having a contender for the CPL’s Team of the Season in every defensive position has made them incredibly difficult to beat. You could make a case for any of the back-three and Marco Carducci in goal within that frame.

But it all starts from the front of the pitch, where Cavalry have led the PPDA charts since the early days of the season. Allowing fewer than 9 passes per defensive action, Cavalry’s press is built around hard work and organization, rather than an all-out intensity and vigour. But more frequently than any other team, they will turn their high pressing principles into genuine chance creation.

They will develop meticulous structures against the team’s with the best build-ups in the league, such as when they completely stunted Forge’s build en route to a statement 3-0 victory. The 3-4-2-1 and 4-2-3-1 defensive shapes naturally lend to nice creations of diamonds in stopping forward progression, and the presence of Trafford and Daley in midfield is enough to frighten sides against playing through the centre.

The Cavs rank second to Valour (the other side with the most inclination toward pressing high) on what Wyscout calls ‘challenge intensity’. That can lead to fouls (where Cavalry top the charts) and bookings, but it also leads to a genuine fear of playing against the Cavs, where you know the likes of Daley and Trafford want to put a foot in and make their presence felt. No winger in the CPL engaged in more defensive duels than Goteh Ntignee (9.91 per 90) before his departure, showcasing that intensity and desire from the front of Cavalry’s attack.

Completely solid and robust at the back end of the pitch, the sheer size and strength of players like Kobza, Klomp and Kamdem adds a similar fear-factor. They haven’t accumulated enough clean sheets for their defensive efforts as their games end up often being end-to-end thrillers. But they’ve still managed to top the charts on goals conceded per 90 (1.0), aiding in the positive goal-difference they’ve created by being the top scorers in the league too (1.6 per 90).

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All and all, this has been a magical season for the Cavs, and one that puts them in poll position to win the league title and go into the Playoffs as favourites to win it all. The tactical flexibility across their different systems and variety of combinations to their attack will only make them a more unpredictable side as the season comes to a close. Now it’s just about keeping their composure, and growing in confidence and swagger with every match without becoming over-confident. We all know what a team like Forge can do in the Playoffs, and Cavalry might still enter as underdogs even if topping the table come the end of the season. Either way, this has been a season to remember for Tommy Wheeldon Jr.’s team.

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