After a handful of home matches, the novelty of attending Pacific FC matches at Westhills Stadium this season remains intriguing. The club has put in considerable effort towards creating a festival environment, with local DJs blaring the usual mindless dance hits from the past decade while patrons swill local craft beer at the vast beer garden which overlooks the pitch. The two local supporters’ groups have been consistently bringing a constant din of noise, energy and flag waving, both before and during the entire match.
Yet there continues to be a stark contrast between the energy of the swaying stands, and the relatively static and uninspiring performances from the team on the pitch.
Pacific dropped the first leg of the Canadian Championship on 15 May at Westhills to Cavalry FC of Calgary, 2-0 on a wet, windy and overall dreary Wednesday night. Cavalry came into the match as the clear cut top team in the Canadian Premier League, reeling off three wins in their first three matches, all in convincing style.
After being held scoreless in its two previous matches (a 3-0 loss at Forge FC, and a 0-0 draw in Edmonton), Pacific were bolstered by the return of striker Marcus Haber, who had missed both matches with a foot injury. Despite whatever lift that Haber was meant to provide, Cavalry quickly trampled on Pacific’s will early in the match and played at a completely different octave for the opening half hour, much like Forge had done a week earlier.
In the ninth minute, Cavalry’s Dominick Zator headed in a Nico Pasquotti long throw past Pacific keeper Nolan Wirth to put the visitors ahead. In the 16th minute, Brazilian Oliver Minatel completed an audacious diving header on a precise cross delivered by Pasquotti, and it was very quickly a 2-0 lead. Two away goals. The damage was done. Pacific looked completely listless and out of ideas as the match petered out with little inspiration.
Having a tall target, like the one that Marcus Haber provides, causes Pacific FC to play a simple route-one football that becomes incredibly easy and predictable for opponents to defend. Against Cavalry, in spite of his towering height, Haber not only lost the aerial battles, but flat out lost second ball situations as well. Pacific were unable to mount any sustained attack, and due to the youth and inexperience of its central midfielders (21 year old Matthew Baldisimo and 19 year old Alessandro Hojabrpour), Cavalry ran completely roughshod in the midfield battle. It was a comprehensive destruction which left little hope that Pacific FC could overturn the tie in the second leg.
Pacific were provided an opportunity to improve its self esteem and positive vibes three days later, as York 9 arrived to Westhills for a Canadian Premier League match. Michael Silberbauer opted to play Jose Hernandez up front with Haber (whereas Issey Nakajima-Farran, who is demonstrating his age at times this season, started against Cavalry), perhaps as an attempt to help mop up second balls with his pace and energy.
Facing a growing crowd of critics and dissenters, Haber finally scored his first goal of the season, placing his head on a well placed in-swinging corner from Ben Fisk in the 28th minute. It seemed to fill him with energy and wiped away feelings of self doubt, as he pressed York 9’s back three early in the match with a renewed sense of vigour and purpose. Fisk’s terrific first half continued as he elegantly placed a shot from outside the penalty area and through a slight deflection, found the top corner of the net, in the 42nd minute to also open his account for the season. The deflection may preclude the goal from being a goal-of-the-season candidate, but there is no doubt of the quality of Fisk’s strike. It was the perfect postage stamp moment of the first half, one in which Pacific were finally playing the high energy, high tempo, possession based football that its supporters had dreamed of at the start of the season.
That quickly came to halt within the first 15 minutes of the second half. York 9 manager Jimmy Brennan, shifted his back three to a flat back four, made Pacific’s press less effective, which enabled York to hold more possession. They also benefited from a debatable penalty decision, as Pacific centreback Ryan McCurdy was deemed to have pushed down York forward Simon Adjei in a challenge over a corner in the 50th minute. Rodrigo Gattas would convert the penalty, and York 9’s players were suddenly teeming with confidence.
In the 62nd minute, another York 9 corner caused chaos for McCurdy, as an aerial battle with Adjei resulted in McCurdy deflecting the ball past Pacific keeper, Mark Village. The excellent work of the first half was completely undone, and by the end of 90 minutes, York indeed looked the better side.
McCurdy had a difficult match as evidenced by the pair of gaffes early in the second half. But perhaps that criticism is slightly unfair to him. Pacific had been counting on Marcel de Jong and Hendrik Starostzik to provide the bulk of the service at centre back, however unexpected injuries to both have caused McCurdy to play more than intended. The 27 year old has indeed played a full 90 minutes for the third time in under a week, a fierce workload for even the most elite players.
Pacific also has appeared relatively lightweight in the middle of the park, with both Baldisimo and Hojabrpour showing occasional glimpses of quality, but who have both been overwhelmed by the pressure of the opposition midfields. Prior to the York 9 match, the club announced the signing of 24 year old Panamanian midfielder Alexander Gonzalez from Playa Amador of Panama, who has been touted as a Claude Makelele box-to-box midfielder (would that not be great?), who can help solidify an area of the club’s weakness.
After five matches, Pacific FC are well off being title challenges for the CanPL Spring season, having claimed only 5 points in their first 5 matches (the Spring season consists of 10 matches total). Undoubtedly, the club has suffered from a thin squad, injuries to veteran players and thrusting young and inexperienced players into prominent roles. Although much of the talk from owners Rob Friend and Josh Simpson before the season was to bring a title challenger and Canadian Championship threat to Vancouver Island, it appears as though the priority may have shifted for this season to that of player development, as Silberbauer continues to rely on largely young, although promising, players in his lineup.
Though the result was disappointing, the match against York 9 did provide a slight peek into the energy and excitement that Pacific FC can provide on the pitch, if and when those young players blossom. There remains no doubt however that much work remains in the coming months for the on-pitch product to match the youthful, energetic and fun one found off the pitch.
Jaideep Kanungo
Jaikan Sport 