April 27th, 2019 was a day for all of us Canadian soccer fans to remember for a long, long time. Our wildest dreams came to fruition at Tim Hortons field, where Forge FC took on York 9 FC in the inaugural Canadian Premier League match. While the event was very much a celebration all-round, we all know that the Canadian Premier League has been split up into 2 seasons, and with this first Spring season lasting just 10 matches, this was a rather important match for both teams – not just a soccer celebration.

With that being the case, both managers put their teams out to play a specific way, to win the match and fulfill the requirements of the spectacle simultaneously. While it did work out a bit better for Forge FC and Bobby Smyrniotis when assessing the full 90 minutes, the equal 1-1 scoreline clearly shows some faults and strengths on both sides. Tactically, there were many interesting elements on both sides of the pitch, as well as some intriguing individual performances that are certainly worth assessing. We start, with the lineups:

York 9 started with a variation of a 3-5-2, with Aparicio spearheading the midfield. While some slight tweaks did take place throughout the match, this was largely the base formation for the team. Forge started with something of a 4-2-3-1, but this was not set in stone whatsoever, as Grant was forced off injured early on and the full-backs, which would later be Frano and Awuah, dropped into inverted roles often to give Forge a very innovative, positive look (see below)



In the first portion of the first half, York 9 were comfortably the better side and played some fantastic football, with their midfield starting the match in an impressive manner. The high-press from York 9’s powerful forwards forced Forge into some mistakes early on, but the physical demands of the match at such an early point of the season clearly took a toll on the likes of Adjei and Rollocks, as their pressing of the Forge backline which gave their side such a massive advantage early on, died down at the midway point of the first half and never truly revived itself.

Before this happened though, of course Ryan Telfer opened the scoring to write his name in the record books. The goal came through a sublime bit of skill from the York 9 captain, Manny Aparicio, who left Alexander Achinioti-Jonsson in the dust with a well-executed turn and through ball, which fell to the feet of Ryan Telfer after a lucky bounce. This goal came in the 3rd minute, and it would actually end up being the only shot on goal that York 9 registered in the entire 90 minutes.

History, made ✅



Ryan Telfer of @York9FC scores the first #CanPL goal ⚽️



York9 FC 1-0 Forge | 3' pic.twitter.com/9d8ffqp8VZ — CanPL (@CPLsoccer) April 27, 2019

Some of Forge FC’s individual performances were very poor, while there were still some standouts.

Once the York 9 forwards started tiring out, it was clear that Forge were trying to utilize the flanks to create their chances. Chris Nanco was the home side’s main outlet going forward, and while he did look positive and up for the challenge throughout his time on the pitch, I can’t help but classify his overall play as extremely wasteful, predictable, and repetitive. It was clear right off the bat that Nanco isn’t comfortable going onto his left foot, and he continued to cut in onto his right foot over and over again, making the defenders job that much easier.

Not only does using just one foot in these sorts of positions make it easy for the defender, but it also cuts down Nanco’s options considerably, and he continued to under-hit his passes as well. Kadell Thomas replaced Nanco in the 2nd half, and while he was less predictable than Nanco, his feet weren’t nearly as quick and he wasn’t as imposing in transition. This is certainly a positional battle to keep an eye on throughout the season with Bobby Smyrniotis’ side, as both players have significant faults.

The under-hitting of the passes was an issue for Forge FC all game long, and it’s something they didn’t fix until very late on in the match. Under-hitting passes can be a sign of a team lacking in fitness, but it can also be a sign of poor playing conditions (the wind and the patchy playing surface). While I did think the latter was the reason for the issue with the passing since Forge were going against the wind in the 1st half, the issue persisted in the 2nd half, which makes me believe it is a mix of fitness issues along with pitch issues.

You didn’t think I’d get through this analysis piece without mentioning the disastrous 90 minutes of Kyle Bekker, did you? The former Canadian international, who is deemed a talisman of this league, put in a truly disappointing performance as captain for the home side. You could tell that Bekker is cut from a different cloth compared to some of the other players on the pitch, as he did drift into some positions very well and executed some nice turns, but his passing was way off, as was some of his decision-making. He also deserved to be sent off for a rash elbow on Joe di Chiara. Again, the conditions might have played their part in his poor passing, and this isn’t too big a worry – Bekker will come good sooner rather than later.

The only target Kyle Bekker has hit for the last fifty minutes was Joe Di Chiara's face. — Van Isle Bobbo (@Lord_Bob) April 27, 2019

The performance of Emery Welshman is worth noting as well, as the Guyanese international, who was born in Mississauga, was electric whenever the ball came his way, and nearly scored a bicycle kick early in the match. His superb run led to Kadell Thomas’ excellent equaliser in the 78th minute. Tristan Borges however, is my pick for man of the match on the home side, as the right-winger looked dangerous throughout the match when cutting in on his left foot. He brought some genuine ruthlessness in the final 3rd to this team, which Chris Nanco on the other flank failed to bring.

There were many systemic issues in York 9’s approach to the match.

After their fantastic opening 20 or 25 minutes, York 9 started to sit deeper and deeper, as their forwards tired out from the immense amount of pressing they did to open the match. As the season continues this won’t become as much of an issue, but for the rest of the match the likes of Adjei and Rollocks were very disconnected from the action. The fact that the 2 wing-back’s that started the match for York 9, Ryan Telfer and Kyle Porter, are very much front-foot players, allowed Forge plenty of space on the flanks. When using a 3-at-the-back formation, the full-backs are comfortably the most important roles, as they have to cover plenty of vertical ground and be disciplined positionally. It can be argued that Telfer and Porter failed to do this. Jim Brennan must address this issue – his lineup was simply too top-heavy, and it put plenty of pressure on Springer, Gasparotto, and Gogarty to defender a vast area from touchline to touchline. Emery Welshman took heavy advantage of York 9’s exposure in wide areas, as he often drifted wide to find more space to work with.

Big save from Nathan Ingham on a rocket by Tristan Borges 🙌 | #CanPL



Forge FC 0-1 York9 FC | 39' pic.twitter.com/HRftRrFLik — CanPL (@CPLsoccer) April 27, 2019

The types of profiles that York 9 had at the top end of the pitch was also a bit strange. Adjei and Rollocks in particular are quite similar, and the fact that neither of them really contributed much to the buildup was the downfall of this York 9 side as the match went on. To put it in a different way, the York 9 forwards were unable to match the technical quality of their own midfielders, making their play very choppy for large parts of the 90. It seems Jim Brennan may have noticed this in pre-season, and that could be the reasoning behind the last-minute signing of Rodrigo Gattas, who can aid the team in that flawed department.

At the end of the day, the brilliant play of Nathan Ingham in goal and Luca Gasparotto at the heart of the defence kept York 9 from losing this match, despite being put under so much pressure.

Overall, Forge FC dominated the match and they will regret their poor first half, as they only found their groove after the 65th minute or so.

The injury to Jonathan Grant was an unfortunate one for Forge so early on in the match, but it allowed Smyrniotis to utilize Kwame Awuah and Giuliano Frano in inverted positions, which allowed them to create mismatches in their favor in the middle of the park, allowing the likes of Bekker and Borges to push further up the field. This put Forge into an almost unrecognizable formation throughout the match, which I can only decipher as something of a 3-3-1-3 or something of the sort. Bekker covered plenty of area both vertically and horizontally, not really fitting into the midfield nor the attack, making him the “1” in that formation. This tactical switch allowed the home side to suffocate their opposition throughout the 2nd half, and this showed in the final match statistics, as Forge FC mustered

With an exciting Inaugural Match in the books, let's take a closer look at the numbers.@PayworksInc | #ForgeFC pic.twitter.com/Rjo2Wq7w16 — Forge FC (@ForgeFCHamilton) April 27, 2019

All in all, Forge will be happy with the way they grew into the match, although I’m sure they’d like to have that first half back. The technical quality of their forwards truly made the difference on the day, as it was a vast contrast to the York 9 forwards at the other end. While both sides have plenty to improve, it’s York 9 who need to be watching the tape for a bit longer this week, as they really did not threaten whatsoever outside the first 20 minutes or so. Overall, this match was an exciting spectacle that really set the inaugural Canadian Premier League season up nicely.

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Mahith Gamage Website An avid football fan right from his first experiences with the sport, Mahith Gamage has been dabbling in football journalism for a few years now, creating his own world football blog and podcast, freeflow football, whilst featuring frequently on many other football media outlets, covering European football. With the start of the Canadian Premier League in 2019, Mahith began coverage of his hometown club, Valour FC, through NSXI. He enjoys spreading his knowledge and opinions of the beautiful game to fellow football fanatics in Canada and throughout the world, using articles and tweets, thriving particularly on tactical analysis and player scouting. You can find him tweeting about world football day and night, at @mahithgamage.

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