AGR's High Press: The Eagles soar to 2nd place after big derby win | Is it time to worry about Halifax?
The seventh matchday of the Canadian Premier League is now in the books after another entertaining weekend of action.
One that featured two top-of-the-table clashes, those two battles certainly ended up living up to expectations, too, turning out to be two entertaining games that both produced a victor, further opening up the table.
As a result, it’s put some teams in an interesting position at the quarter-mark of league play. With everyone having played each other at least once except Forge and Halifax, the current table is now a fair reflection of where teams are at, which wasn’t always the case until now.
With lots of games still left to play, it’s still too early to take too much away from where teams sit, of course, especially for those in the middle of the pack, although it’s certainly eased the pressure of Atlético Ottawa at the top, and has ramped up the expectations on the winless Halifax Wanderers to turn things around, quickly.
GOAL 🏠🏠🏠
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) May 25, 2024
RUBÉN IS ON FIRE.@atletiOttawa secure the 3 points in fashion as Rubén del Campo scores ONCE AGAIN to make it 3-0 for the hosts 🔥
Watch #CanPL LIVE on OneSoccer 🔴 pic.twitter.com/zhvCBYbLTd
Speaking of that, here’s a look at what stood out around the CPL and where teams sit at the quarter-mark in this week’s “High Press”.
Vancouver back on track after slump:
When opening the standings this weekend, a surprise may pop out to some, and that’s the climb of Vancouver FC up to second place thanks to their big Salish Sea Derby win over rivals Pacific on Saturday.
Along with Forge’s loss to Atlético Ottawa, that win was enough to ensure the Eagles would finish the first round in the top two, as they continued their strong start to the year.
Of course, it wasn’t always smooth sailing for Vancouver, who started hot with two wins in their first two games but slumped afterwards, falling in back-to-back road games to York United and Cavalry.
Since then, however, they’ve turned things back around completely, drawing Atlético Ottawa before beating Forge and Pacific, giving them seven points against the CPL’s other top four teams to start the year.
GOAL 🦅
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) May 25, 2024
Moses Dyer finds the back of the net after a mess inside the box to tie things up for @vanfootballclub! ⚽️
It wasn't pretty, but he won't care 😎
Watch #CanPL LIVE on OneSoccer 🔴 pic.twitter.com/izza3txU9J
For them to do that, however, they needed to have a strong mentality, as their season could’ve easily gone off the rails after those back-to-back losses. For context, they faced a similar situation last year, their first in club history - after picking up five points in their first four games, they only picked up two points over their next six games, all starting after a 5-0 loss to Atlético Ottawa.
Yet, that helps put this start in perspective, as it took them 14 games last year to get the 13 points they’ve already got under their belts at the quarter-mark of this campaign.
And this Pacific game may have been one of their best showings yet. After a slow start saw them give up a sloppy penalty to go down 1-0 inside six minutes, they put their heads down and slowly started to mount a push, finding an equalizer in the 40th minute before getting an 85th-minute winner to ensure they’d bring home all three points.
In that, they showed the value of some of their new signings, too, who have played a massive part in this push. Last year, head coach Afshin Ghotbi noted that they got some of their recruitment wrong off the bat, leading them to make some big splashes last summer and this winter to try and fix that.
Now, those new names have given them a big boost, and this game was the perfect example of that.
At the back, the centre back pairing of David Norman Jr and Allan Enyou stepped up and held the fort despite the absence of Rocco Romeo, who had a knock, as that pairing helped Vancouver keep Pacific to 0.88 non-penalty xG on the day. Along with the performance of Paris Gee at left back, who was excellent defensively and chipped in with an assist, it was a solid showing from the new faces at the back for Vancouver.
Moving up the park, the midfield pivot of Renan Garcia and Vasco Fry were key, especially in the second half, with Garcia’s defensive play crucial in the second half, while Fry’s play in possession was a big boost to his side, and he then capped off a strong game by scoring the winning goal, too.
GOAL 🦅🦅@VANFOOTBALLCLUB LEAD WITH JUST OVER 5 MINUTES TO GO 🔥
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) May 25, 2024
The Eagles have the go-ahead goal as Vasco Fry takes advantage of the rebound inside @Pacificfccpl's box 💪
Watch #CanPL LIVE on OneSoccer 🔴 pic.twitter.com/olhwFHBFSK
Then, up front, Moses Dyer was the player of the match, putting in a gutsy effort at striker, scoring the equalizer and putting in a massive shift on and off the ball for his team.
Of course, some of Vancouver’s day one players played a big part, as usual - Callum Irving did his job in goal, Kadin Chung was excellent going forward at right back (although he did struggle defensively), Gabriel Bitar helped pull the strings in the middle and Mikaël Cantave was lively out wide.
Through all of that, Vancouver were able to come together as a group and craft the comeback win, one they thoroughly deserved, pushing them up the table.
And they seem poised to build on this strong start, too. They’ve got a deep squad at all positions, which they’ve shown as they’ve battled some injuries across their back line, and are still integrating new faces into the lineup after a busy offseason.
Now, the big goal for them will be consistency, as they’ll want to avoid any other two-game dips like the one they had against York and Cavalry, but they’ll be wary of that.
They’ve now proven it - the hype they had about them being a playoff contender is real, as they’ve shown in large flashes across the first seven games. Now, the real challenge will be to maintain it given that the other teams have all seen them at least once, which will be interesting to see.
Perhaps, however, that’s where their depth will come into play, giving them the flexibility to adjust tactically and throw a few other looks at other teams. Having exclusively done well in their 4-2-2-2, struggling when experimenting with other formations, that will be the big job they have over the next seven games - finding a plan B if teams Catch on to what’s working with their 4-2-2-2.
Until then, there’s no reason for them to move away from that, allowing them to build off what they’ve shown so far, as they look to show that this start is no fluke. 
Time for the Wanderers to panic?
Now the owners of the CPL’s worst-ever start through six games, it looks like it’s time to start panicking about the Halifax Wanderers, who fell 2-1 to York United on Friday.
They didn’t play that badly against York, but were undone by two frustrating goals that put them down 2-0, before mounting a comeback push that came up short.
GOAL👑
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) May 24, 2024
Austin Ricci opens the scoring for @yorkutdfc vs Halifax with a deft chip from outside of the box, channelling his inner Eric Cantona with the finish🪄
🔴Watch #CanPL LIVE on OneSoccer pic.twitter.com/uq8XByHVB7
Not only that, but they seem to be stuck with the worst team that a struggling team can have, too - a shortage of confidence, as they seem unsure of what they need to be doing in and out of possession. And, another sign of a slump, head coach Patrice Gheisar has started to adjust his team’s shape, employing a 4-2-3-1 instead of the 3-4-3 he’s experimented with to start the year, which is a surprise given how committed he seemed to be with the latter formation.
Especially for a team like the Wanderers, who are supposed to have a clear identity on both sides of the ball, that’s a big worry, showing why they sit with a record of 0W-1D-5L (1 PT) through six games. When everything is going wrong as it has for them, little mistakes can seem to compound, and that sunk them against York.
GOAL👑👑@yorkutdfc have doubled their lead over Halifax at York Lions Stadium, as a red-hot Brian Wright tees up Dennis Salanović to make it 2-0 through 32 minutes of play
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) May 24, 2024
🔴Watch #CanPL LIVE on OneSoccer pic.twitter.com/vqDNxlUxpD
These slumps happen, however. The Wanderers saw that first-hand in 2023, as it took them eight matches to win their first game, and they weren’t the only CPL side to go through a rut, as every team in the league had their dips last year - even Forge and Cavalry.
How one responds to those slumps is key, however, and that was the big worry when watching this latest Wanderers match. In the first half, especially, players started to get chippy with each other when mistakes were made, which led to some frustrated body language, which didn’t help them get the win they were chasing.
The good news, however? The Wanderers finally offered a glimpse of their old selves in the second half. After some changes, they put together some strong passing moves, which led them to find a goal and set up an entertaining finish with a nice Ryan Telfer goal.
One can wonder why they weren’t able to find that earlier, but that gives them something to build around. In particular, they’ll be pleased with how good Lorenzo Callegari looked in his return from a suspension, while the insertion of Vitor Dias off the bench was also a big plus, which are two positives to look at from an individual standpoint.
Because of that, look for them to build off those glimpses of optimism. It might not be much, but with a tough matchup against Atlético Ottawa looming this weekend, they’ll have to cling to that hope if they’re to beat an in-form Atléti side.
To do that, they’ll need a complete team effort on both sides of the ball. With that in mind, it’ll be interesting to see what Gheisar ends up doing to pick a lineup for this Ottawa game, as he may turn to some of the names who brought a spark off the bench against York such as Dias or Riley Ferrazzo, for example.
Every week they go without a win, their playoff chances dip significantly, so there’s no better time than to end their slump, and doing so against a side of Ottawa’s calibre could be exactly what the doctor ordered for them. 
Quarterly update:
Lastly, with this game now marking the quarter-mark for six of the eight teams, this is a good chance to dive in and see which teams have been full value for their start statistically, and who has work still to do, and that’s thanks to the xG table.
Of course, with it still being early in the year, there are still some anomalies, which can be caused by one or a few outlier results. At the same time, it still gives an idea of who has still some growth to come, and who might want to tidy things up.
When looking at this, a few things stand out, when going by team, using data from WyScout. 
First, Atlético Ottawa could be due for some regression offensively, although score effects could make those numbers look smaller given that they haven’t had to chase many games, sitting in control for most of their first seven matches, of which they have a record of 5W-2D-0L (17 PTS) in. Their elite defensive record backs that up, suggesting that their hot start is pretty legit.
After them, Vancouver will have to watch out defensively, as they’ve given up the most xG, something they’ll want to tighten up on, although their two losses can be seen as the main culprit for those inflated numbers. Offensively, however, they’ve been quite good, which they’ll look to keep up as they look to tidy things at the back.
As for Pacific, they’ve continued to be defensively elite, and they have decent offensive numbers despite struggling there, which is a point of optimism as they try to find more goals in their lineup.
Continuing on, it’s been business as usual for Forge - they’ve been good offensively and defensively, and have only likely slumped a bit in league play as they’ve balanced a Canadian Championship run in which they upset CF Montréal. Once they’re rested and healthy, they’ll look to push back up the table in league play with the Canadian Championship semi-finals not coming until July.
Elsewhere, York United have been a high-event team at both ends of the pitch, which may be why they made a coaching change last week. They can score on their day, but figuring out how to be more sturdy defensively is a priority, one they may look to fix with their next coach.
Then, reaching those three outside of the playoff picture, things get interesting.
To begin, there’s Cavalry, who are poised for a breakout soon, having put up some elite numbers at both ends of the pitch. Similar to Forge, injuries and Canadian Championship duty have hit them hard, but with only CPL play to focus on now, they seem primed for a jump soon.
After that, Valour is in a bit of an interesting situation, as their underlying numbers suggest they’ve struggled at both ends, which isn’t fully applied by the eye test. When looking at their game-by-game numbers, that’s skewed by some individually poor games, as well as the fact that they’ve only played on the road, but it shows that consistency will be a goal as they get set to return home after their seven-game road trip to start the year.
Lastly, Halifax will look to fix their defence to turn around their slow start, as they’ve been solid at generating chances despite scoring just four goals in six games, but they’ve been far too permissive defensively, which they’ll look to change.
Overall, however, the interesting note is that there are more strong offensive teams than strong defensive ones, which has given an edge to those who are very good at keeping the ball out of their net like Ottawa or Pacific. Finding a similar balance will be a goal for teams who want to push up the table in the second half, although as Vancouver has shown, sometimes scoring goals can also be the way to go. 
Who caught my eye? Manny Aparicio
Ottawa cruised to a dominant 3-0 win over Forge, and Manny Aparicio was a central figure in that, showing why he’s an early candidate to win the CPL MVP award.
Not only did he score a banger of a goal that ended up standing as the winner, but he was all over the pitch, too, on both sides of the ball, making some huge tackles defensively.
GOAL 🏠
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) May 25, 2024
HAVE A HIT, MANNY!@atletiOttawa take the lead at home against @ForgeFCHamilton as Manny Aparicio fires a beautiful shot past Chris Kalongo 🔥
Watch #CanPL LIVE on OneSoccer 🔴 pic.twitter.com/7GPDJfuqvH
Yet, it shows why his signing might be the most important of those Ottawa made this offseason. In terms of the impact he can provide on both sides of the ball, there aren’t many other players who can match what he brings to the table, as he’s one of the most complete players in the league. He showed that in this game, which was quite the sight to see in action, as he stood out despite facing off against a deep Forge side. 
What to watch: Atlético Ottawa vs Halifax Wanderers
On paper, this game should be pretty straightforward - a battle between an undefeated Atlético Ottawa side and a winless Halifax should only have one result… right?
At the same time, this could be a trap game for Ottawa, who have to be wary of the Wanderers, who have a point to prove. Especially after how their first meeting went, in which an early red card to the Wanderers ended up sinking them, they’ll want revenge for that match, too.
Because of that, this could be an interesting test for Ottawa. Now the top dogs of the league after round one, teams will put a target on their backs, putting the pressure on them to prove themselves each week.
They’ve so far been up to the task, but that will only get more challenging as the year wears on, especially as they continue to juggle Canadian Championship commitments, as they’ll have to do this week.
