Final Score: Pacific FC 1-0 Halifax Wanderers FC
Goalscorers: Sellouf 35′ (pen.)
Game of the 2024 season: 3
CPL match: 487

Match in a minute or less

For a third straight year, Pacific FC picked up an opening day win, as they downed the Halifax Wanderers 1-0 at Starlight Stadium on Saturday.

After a slow start to the game, they found their legs partway through first half, as Ayman Sellouf slotted home a 35th minute penalty to give his team the lead.

From there, Pacific’s defence would steal the show, led by a strong performance from Emil Gazdov in goal, as they managed to hold onto that 1-0 result the rest of the way.

Three Observations

Verticality the key for Pacific’s attack

To start the game, Pacific’s attack struggled to break down the Wanderers, who were organized and disciplined in their defensive set-up. As a result, the first 30 minutes of the game ended up being quite frustrating for Pacific, who spent most of their time on the ball cycling the ball from side-to-side in their own half.

Despite having some threats up front and out wide who seemed ready to stretch the game, they struggled to find them early, which played right into the Wanderers hands, as their press seemed to be designed to disrupt Pacific’s usual build-up patterns.

Then, in the 32nd minute, it all clicked for Pacific. After a nice dribble, Aly Ndom broke the first line of the Wanderers press and decided to keep going, attacking the space in front of him.

From there, instead of playing horizontally, he decided to go straight up the pitch, playing a dangerous vertical ball in behind the Wanderers defence.

That ended up working perfectly for his team, too — Reon Moore did well to anticipate that pass, beating the Wanderers’ Julian Dunn to the ball, which led to Dunn taking out Moore in the box for the opening penalty goal from Sellouf.

Yet, that was just a key example of the sort of play that seemed to get the most out of Pacific’s offence in this game. Whenever they went direct with their play, be it with big sweeping aerial balls, or shorter low passes in behind the Wanderers defence, that allowed their attackers to find the space that was lacking for them in the first 30 minutes.

Thanks to the presence of Moore as a striker, who did an excellent job in occupying the Wanderers centre backs from centrally, and then the width provided by Sellouf, Dario Zanatta and Georges Mukumbilwa, Pacific had the pieces to be dangerous in the attack, but just needed to find them as often as possible.

With the direct ball, they did that, and it paid off for them in the end.

It’s not something Pacific will usually do, as they like to build-up from the back and be patient in possession, but that they were able to adjust as they did is a positive sign.

Sometimes, the best teams are flexibile tactically, and Pacific certainly showed some good flexibility in this one.

“We did well when we found Sean (Young) and Pierre (Lamothe) in between the lines and then played through them,” Pacific FC head coach, James Merriman, said after the game. “Then, we had Reon (Moore) who was dynamic up front, he can run those channels, which gives us an option if (our opponent) commits too many numbers forward, and I thought we did a decent job of using that in the first half, and we can build on that.”

Wanderers tweak back line with use of new-look back three

It’s no secret: the Wanderers employ a back three when building out of the back, as they did to much success in 2023. Thanks to the triangles it helps create at the back, as well as the width it provides, it can be a hard set-up to defend, too, as it allows the Wanderers to create overloads on the pitch.

Yet, while they used the back three in possession last year, they usually reverted to some form of a back four when defending, as they would drop one of the wing backs into the defensive line when they’d lose the ball, as teams often do now in the modern game.

In this game, however, they decided to do something quite different, and that was to employ a true back three out of possession. Not a back five, as teams who use the three also sometimes do when defending, no – this was a true back three, as the Wanderers sat in a 3-4-3 when Pacific tried to build up.

An aggressive defensive set-up, it’s not one seen too often from coaches, as it brings with it a lot of risk, requiring a lot of defensive discipline. If the lines get spread out, the midfield gets too stretched, or if the centre backs too narrow, one pass can be all it takes to break it down. On the flip side, when executed properly, it can be very tough to break down, leading to an intriguing risk-reward factor.

As a result, it’s not the most popular setup around the world, with most managers preferring to employ more cautious setups, and understandably so.

One team that uses that setup, however? MLS’s Vancouver Whitecaps, with manager Vanni Sartini quick to tell people that his team is one of the only teams in the world to use that setup.

Now, however, it looks likes Wanderers head coach Patrice Gheisar is looking to join him in that exclusive club.

Having spent some time picking Sartini’s brain in the off-season, he looks to have taken inspiration from the Italian’s unique set-up, admitting that was a reason they chose to use this formation.

“I spent some time there (with Sartini) and there’s some inspiration there, we had a lot of conversations about it,” Gheisar explained. “When you look at modern day football today, the two best teams in the world are Bayer Leverkusen and Inter Milan, who use back threes, but even there you can question if they are in a back three or a back five.”

“Today, I thought we were a true back three side.”

When looking at this matchup, one could quickly see the impact that the new set-up had in this one, too.

Led by the Wanderers front three of Ryan Telfer, Christian Volesky and Gabriel Probo, who pressed aggressively from the front, and then supported by the midfield four of Wesley Timoteo, Andre Rampersad, Lorenzo Callegari and Zachary Fernandez, who pushed right underneath them, they suffocated Pacific’s build-up play on several occasions.

Then, to make sure they didn’t get beat by any long balls, their outside centre backs, Dan Nimick and Cale Loughrey, made sure to stretch out wide and take away the space behind the wide midfielders, forcing Pacific to play in central areas, where the Wanderers were well fortified.

Through that, the Wanderers made life very tough for Pacific, as they limited the space that Pacific likes to play in. That’s reflected in the stats, too, as Pacific finished with just four shots and a total of 0.88 Expected Goals (xG), and that’s with the Pacific penalty, worth around 0.75 xG, included in that tally.

Yet, it shows how solid the Wanderers were in this game despite the use of their unorthodox set-up, with the penalty sitting as the lone blemish on their record.

Now, however, the big question will be if they end up keeping this set-up as one of their main defensive tactics going forward, or if it ends up being something they use only in certain games.

When asked if that were to be the case, Gheisar didn’t play his hand, noting that he wants his team to be more ‘unpredictable’ this year, but based on how this new set-up performed, don’t be surprised to see a lot more of it going forward.

“We said last year that we want it to be more unpredictable,” Gheisar said. “And this is one of the other layers we’ve looked to add in the off-season. In preseason, we had some bumps and bruises, but what we were able to do is manage things tactically, and I think that’s something that’s going to make us even more unpredictable, because we are now able to play in a high, mid and low block.”

“Just look at the stats, they only had four shots total, so I thought we did a really good job of creating a lot of uneasy moments for (Pacific).”

“I don’t think they really had any chances unless we lost the ball,” Rampersad added. “So credit to the guys, and we’ll pick ourselves up and go again (from here).”

Aly Ndom’s versatility a huge asset for Pacific in first match

It may have been Aly Ndom’s first game for Pacific FC, but it certainly didn’t look like it when watching him, as the 27-year-old looked like he’d been a part of this team for years with his performance in this game.

Having joined this Pacific side just months ago, Ndom ended up playing a big role in this matchup, doing a lot of important work on both sides of the ball for his new team.

With that, he showed why his signing was seen as a crucial one for Pacific, as he brings a new dimension to a backline that was already one of the league’s best last year when at their best, and is looking to keep it that way despite some key departures.

Defensively, he looked calm and assured, starting out the game as a left back before later slotting in as a centre back. He shone in both roles, too – out wide, he didn’t look bothered by dealing with the danger of Giorgio Probo and Zachary Fernandez on Halifax’s right side of their attack, while in the middle he helped Pacific hold on late with Halifax pushing for a late equalizer, which led them to funnel several chances into the box.

Then, offensively, he was crucial in helping Pacific break Halifax’s press, as he wasn’t afraid to switch play with his left foot, or stepping up into midfield in the ball when his passing lanes were taken away, helping his team break Halifax’s press.

Despite being dropped into a new system with new teammates, he quickly showed his skills as a leader, too, which was a bonus on top of everything else.

Tthat just shows why Pacific was so eager to bring him in, and why they’re expecting him to have a big season.

Someone who brings over 90 games of Ligue 2 and 20 games of Ligue 1 experience to the table, that sort of veteran-savvy could be huge for Pacific, who has a pretty young back line. Look at those who saw the field in this game — paired along with veterans Ndom and Thomas Meilleur-Giguère (who is 26 years old), Pacific started Georges Mukumbilwa (24), Emil Gazdov (20) and Paul Amedume (21), before bringing in Eric Lajeunesse (21) off the bench, which is quite the young group.

Because of that, look for Ndom to keep progressing from here, playing a key role in this backline, both with his performances and the mentorship that he’ll provide to his younger teammates.

Given that this is just his first game, he still has a lot more to give as he finds his legs with his new club, and Merriman hinted as much, noting that Ndom isn’t even up to full speed after missing part of preseason.

That’s key for Pacific, who could be set to have a strong year defensively, which will go a long way for them as they look to push up the table.

“It’s still really early, but we know the quality that he has,” Merriman said of Ndom. “He picked up a little injury so he was out for a period of our preseason, and he has only just come back, so he’s still finding his feet and connecting with the team, so I think there’s a lot a lot more to come.”

CanPL.ca Player of the Match

Emil Gazdov, Pacific FC

It was a great start to 2024 for Pacific’s 20-year-old goalkeeper, who certainly had to work to help his team keep their clean sheet, finishing with two saves, including a big one in the second half on the Wanderers Zachary Fernandez from in-tight.

Along with some big claims and punches on some dangerous Halifax crosses, it was a good showing from Gazdov, who will look to build on this as he enters his second full campaign as Pacific starter.

What’s next?

Pacific will remain at home for their next game, as they get set to host Valour at Starlight Stadium on Friday, April 19th (7 p.m. PT/9 p.m. CT), while Halifax continue a short West Coast road trip with a clash against Vancouver FC at Willoughby Community Park on Thursday, April 18th (7 p.m. PT/11 p.m. AT).

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