HFX Wanderers have lessons to learn from CanChamp exit

Atlético Ottawa's quick transition led to three unanswered goals

The Halifax Wanderers won't be hoisting the Voyageurs Cup this year thanks to a drilling from Atlético Ottawa.

But anything seemed possible, if only for an instant, as head coach Patrice Gheisar and his squad took ownership of the ball early on and put together a dazzling show through nearly 40-minutes of possession-filled football.

They struck first off a lovely free kick from rookie Massimo Ferrin.

As a squad, they moved confidently across the York Lions Stadium throughout Wednesday, playing as a unit and ended the match with a sparkling 65 per cent possession rate.

But possession isn't everything and Atlético Ottawa scored three unanswered goals to knock the Wanderers out of the 2023 Canadian Championship despite being on the defensive for much of the match.

The issue isn't that Halifax lost but the manner of their losing, leaving Gheisar to say post match: "I leave that game scratching my head. If I had hair, I'd be pulling out my hair."

It began to unravel in the 39th minute as a long ball put Ottawa attacker Miguel dos Santos behind Halifax's defensive line. Cutting back towards the middle of the pitch, dos Santos sent a fantastic cross into the box which was headed in by attacker Malcolm Shaw.

Now tied, the Wanderers again began their build up only to lose the ball and have defender Diego Espejo put Atlético up before half-time after a goal-mouth scramble.

Halifax would have its chances to reply but multiple Wanderers were left looking skyward at attempts that went high or in Ferrin's case, kept out by Ottawa keeper Nathan Ingham.

When Atlético scored its third goal off the transition, Halifax's CanChamp dreams lay in tatters and left them only to wonder what went wrong.

There are certainly lessons to take from this defeat.

From the Notebook

1. Halifax's starting eleven had a fine debut on April 15 but I expected Gheisar to rotate more of his squad for the CanChamp game. My gut feeling is that the players he started on the opener (Fillion, Ferrazzo, Nimick, Omar, James, Callegari, Daniels, Rampersad, Ferrin, Fernandez and Nwafornso) are the ones he trusts the most coming out of camp. If nothing else, he has a comfortability with the Vaughan players from League1 Ontario and the experience of seasoned pros like James and Rampersad. Add in a quick turnaround with the Forge FC match on Saturday and I expected Callegari, Daniels and one of Nimick or Omar to sit for a few reasons.
2. Atlético was surprised on opening day by the Wanderers' ball movement and Ryan James' positioning on the left. They tested the left side of the pitch multiple times in the season debut, having expected Ferrazzo to play as an inverted fullback on that side. The result is that James calmly collected everything flung his way and Halifax earned a well-earned draw. But with James on the bench, Halifax lost some of that steadiness. I felt Ottawa also put more pressure on Callegari having seen what he can do with time and space and changed their formation to more of a 3-5-2 to overload the midfield. The proof, as they say, is in the pudding: all of Ottawa's goals started with high through balls meant to exploit the space behind the backline of Nimick, Omar and Campagna. Although he had his moments and some fine passing, Campagna failed to mark Shaw on the first goal and both he and Omar failed to box out Espejo on the second.
3. Atlético Ottawa head coach Carlos Gonzalez had a great quote which summed up the match. “There’s different ways of controlling a game,” he said. "I feel that most of the time today, in a large amount of minutes in the game, Halifax had the ball in areas that weren’t threatening areas for us." The Wanderers dominated possession but lacked the killer instinct to finish their chances. And that's perhaps the biggest lesson to take from the match: possession doesn't necessarily translate to attacking football. To win, to really embody Gheisar's philosophy, his players must capitalize on what the game gives them. I have no doubt that will come in time because the bones are there.
4. Something I liked is that Gheisar is putting players in positions to test themselves. Daniel Nimick, who was recognized as part of the CPL's Team of the Week, had another fantastic showing while being asked to play a bigger role with Ferrazzo pushing forward. Callum Watson again came off the bench and took a free-kick in the 87th minute. Nwafornso and Collomb both showed their pedigree while Halifax was in search of a goal. They may have fallen short but the experience they are gaining is invaluable.
5. I wanted to jump back to Nimick for a moment. I have a natural bias given the Canadian/English defender is the first Newfoundland and Labrador-born player to suit up in the CPL and my own roots originate from the Rock. But I thought he was exceptional. He did a fantastic job boxing out players, looked dangerous on set-pieces and had a highlight reel block in the 56th minute on dos Santos. Several other outlets like Down the Pub Podcast and From Aways mentioned in pre-season that the coaching staff was very impressed with Nimick and it's easy to see why.
6. It's one thing to be told that Ferrin won the Golden Boot in League1 Ontario but it's another to see him curl a free-kick into the back of the net. That moment showed everyone that Ferrin can and will be a goal scorer in the CPL. In terms of the attacking players, I thought he was easily the most dangerous with the ball.
7. Although the CanChamp game constitutes a collapse, Halifax's goal this year isn't to chase trophies. Don't get me wrong, competitions like CanChamp or the FA Cup provide magical stories like the TSS Rovers upsetting Valour FC 3-1. Cup games add that extra little something to the everyday but, looked at critically, often represent a flash in the pan if you're not playing consistently in the league. And although the early exit smarts, the Wanderers are on the path to building something greater with this squad. They out passed, out shot and out possessed Atlético over the two games. If they can build on these first few games to make a run up the table, the lessons learned early on will be worth it. We saw a glimpse of that something great, albeit imperfect, on Wednesday.
8. Not a game note but I wanted to take a moment to say thank you to everyone who read my first piece or reached out on social media. The Wanderers community and football community at large is best kind and I'm excited to see where this goes. I plan to have another piece out before Saturday's match and I'm hoping to update the website next week to something a little more, uh, modern. Like the Wanderers, I'm still learning.

Cheers,

-WN