As Cavalry FC’s real-life coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr. put it, The Island Games didn’t go exactly to plan for his side.
“It felt like near the end we were taking a knife into a gunfight,” Wheeldon Jr. said, referring to the mass injury issues that saw them depart at the second round.
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Cavalry, like the other seven Canadian Premier League clubs, has been included in Football Manager 21, giving gamers a chance to build CPL history starting with the 2020 season. Fancy yourself a decent armchair manager? Think you can re-do Cavalry’s Island Games and take them back to the CPL Final?
Well, pick up the game on Steam or Epic Games (click here to learn more) and take a stab at it.
Revisionist history with Richard Luca
Brazilian winger Richard Luca’s absence from Cavalry’s lineup left fans asking what could have been at The Island Games; as second-round injuries mounted, you have to wonder what effect a healthy, tricky, and creative winger like Luca could have done.
Well, with FM21, you don’t have to wonder anymore. Luca is on Cavalry’s 2020 virtual roster, one of several international additions made despite the real-life consequences of COVID-19.
He and Marcus Haber can shape-shift your attack in a heartbeat. Bring them off the bench often to give your forward line a new look and catch your opponents off guard.
Use your quality centre-backs
Dominick Zator, Jay Wheeldon Jr., Mason Trafford, and Robert Boskovic are Cavalry FC’s greatest strength as a group… so why not put them on the pitch together.
Using a back three with Cavalry FC worked wonders for our first Island Games play-through and we’d recommend you give it a shot… especially if you’re looking to play Cavalry’s “90 minutes of hell” with relentless pressuring and added bodies in the midfield.
A back three allows Cavalry FC’s fullbacks Mohamed Farsi and Nathan Mavila to shine, getting up and down the pitch with relative ease, as long as midfielders carry the defensive load.
Player to watch: Jair Córdova
The top-rated CPLer in FM21, Jair Córdova stands as the best finisher, passer, and dribbler available. Of course, in real life, the 24-year-old Peruvian didn’t exactly have the best of times with Cavalry, seeing a last-minute injury put him behind the eight ball at The Island Games.
But with virtual Cavalry, things can be a lot different…