Midterm Report: Three breakout performers as Pacific FC hits the 2021 halfway mark
Terran Campbell's return to form, the best PFC midfielder debate, and Callum Irving's run of brilliance
Glancing at the Canadian Premier League table at the 2021 halfway mark, the image of Paul Rudd sharing a moment with Hot Ones’ Sean Evans comes to mind.
Who would have thought, after fourteen games and a Canadian Championship single-elimination match, that Pacific FC would not only co-lead the pack, but claim victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps in a fashion so convincing it would lead to the firing of half the Caps’ coaching staff?
This was always the plan laid out under PFC co-owners Rob Friend and Josh Simpson—only it seemed, perhaps, the timeline for contention wasn’t expected to arrive quite so soon.
“Things take time to play a certain style of football. And it requires certain types of players, also, to fit into your system—and the buy-in of the players,” Pacific FC head coach Pa-Modou Kah told me before the season. “We cannot make one step and then think that we can [leap] three steps ahead.”
Well, here they are—leapfrogging expectations and opponents alike. With 25 points after 14 games, only Forge FC boasts a better goal differential than the Langford-based club—and by a hair’s breadth.1 No CPL club has scored more often than Pacific FC (22 times, for an average of 1.57 goals/game), nor recorded a higher goal conversion rate (17.89%). Only Valour FC, hosts of the Winnipeg bubble, have held opponents scoreless more often than Pacific.2
There are many ways you can break down the West Coast club’s performance if you’re looking for indicators of their success. Having the presumptive league MVP certainly helps—but this club is about far more than Marco Bustos and what he provides. There’s an identity building: one based on smart passing, creative playmaking, and stifling defence.
At the halfway mark of the 2021 season, here are three breakout performers to watch for:
1. Terran Campbell is having a moment
2021 CPL stats: 12 games played, 4 goals, 2 assists, 47% shots on goal | 2020 CPL stats: 10 games played, 1 goal, 1 assist, 25% shots on goal
There was a time, not altogether long ago, when it felt like the die was cast for Terran Campbell. After a frustrating Island Games in which he followed up his stellar 2019 season3 with just a single goal and assist across ten appearances, it felt like the 22-year-old was at risk of becoming a Bob Dylan lyric.
How the times a-change, indeed.
Since July 21st, there hasn’t been a hotter striker on Pacific—perhaps in all of the Canadian Premier League—than Campbell. After scoring as a late-game sub against Atlético Ottawa, Campbell’s recent run of performances looks like this:
August 4th v Valour FC: Finds Marco Bustos in the box in the 87th minute, earning an assist on the game-winning goal for a 2-1 victory—and vaulting Pacific FC into first place in the CPL.
August 7th v FC Edmonton: Serves as both distributor and finisher, notching a goal and assisting on Matteo Polisi’s game-opening goal in a 2-2 draw.
August 16th v Valour FC: Makes a brilliant run into the box in the 72nd minute to finish Polisi’s cross and give Pacific a 2-0 victory.
August 20th v Cavalry FC: Converts from the penalty spot to record his fourth goal in a seven-match span.
August 26th v Vancouver Whitecaps FC: Steps up to the 12-yard mark once again, this time against 11-capped Canadian international Maxime Crépeau, and nets the highest-pressure penalty in club history, giving Pacific FC a 1-0 lead in the Canadian Championship ‘Ferryside Derby.’
The numbers are one thing, but what’s been more encouraging to see from Campbell is the way his confidence—and, even more, his joy for the game—has returned.
“It was difficult for Terran [last season],” Pacific FC CEO Rob Friend told me. “He had expectations on him. But certainly, I can say, we expect a lot from Terran. We know he’s got the quality; there’s no doubt.”
Will he challenge for the Golden Boot again, as he did in 2019? Time will tell. But his resurgence as a reliable second/third scoring option bodes well for Pa-Modou Kah’s squad and its hopes of challenging for a North Star Shield.
2. Has Alessandro Hojabrpour been Pacific’s best midfielder this season?
2021 CPL stats: 13 games played, 89.1% passes completed, 76.9% tackles won | 2020 CPL stats: 10 games played, 80.5% passes completed, 76.5% tackles won
Hojabrpour’s task entering 2021 was a tall one: prove he was worthy of regular minutes in a midfield boasting Canada-capped veteran Jamar Dixon, Island Games standout Matthew Baldisimo, and splash signing Manny Aparicio. Fourteen games into his franchise’s third season, the Burnaby, BC native has done far more than that—all but Sharpie-ing his name into the Starting XI for a midfield that leads the league in possession4 and a squad that sits tied atop the CPL table.
Here are the raw numbers supporting Hojabrpour’s case: through the first half of 2021, the 21-year-old has led all PFC midfielders in assists (2),5 scoring chances from open play (6),6 touches per 90 minutes (72.2), clearances (13), and passes completed in the midfield third (365). What’s more, the margin by which he leads all Pacific midfielders in interceptions and duels won7 is wide enough to fit the car lineup for the Swartz Bay-Tsawwassen ferry. And, if we were to remove the relatively small sample size of Baldisimo’s 2021 output (2 appearances, 44 minutes), Hojabrpour would also lead PFC’s midfielders in tackle success rate (76.9%) and aerial duel success (71.4%).
Hojabrpour may not yet boast the MVP bonafides of Forge FC’s Kyle Bekker or the attacking instincts of Atlético Ottawa’s Alberto Soto, but his greatest assets are his calmness and presence of mind: two things Pacific FC calls upon often. As one of the linchpins of PFC’s build-from-the-back approach, Hojabrpour’s fingerprints extend across the pitch—from box to box.
“I rely a lot on my brain now to play the game,” Hojabrpour told me in 2019. “I’m not the slowest person on the field, but my brain helps me to think quicker than most players, and that’s really useful in midfield.”
There were flashes of those skills under Michael Silberbauer, but they have become even more pronounced in Kah’s possession-focused attack. You need that in a holding midfielder: the kind of unflappability reserved for Dirty Harry and John McClane.
With Hojabrpour, there’s no panic button. Just calm, cool, composure. And at 21, perhaps there’s still another level of football in him.
3. Callum Irving’s career season
2021 CPL stats: 12 games played, 7 clean sheets, 3.0 saves/90 mins, 0.8 goals conceded/90 mins | 2020 CPL stats: 6 games played, 1 clean sheet, 3.7 saves/90 mins, 1.3 goals conceded/90 mins
When Callum Irving arrived from Ottawa Fury FC in 2020, there were some expectations—maybe not certainties, but hunches—that he might emerge as Pacific FC’s no. 1 goalkeeper. Still, it wasn’t yet clear what kind of an impact he would make. Were his eight clean sheets in 2019 the product of individual brilliance or evidence of a sturdy back line? Could he challenge the likes of Marco Carducci and Triston Henry for Goalkeeper of the Year, or would he project more likely as a middle-of-the-pack performer?
In his second season with PFC, Irving has proven to be worthy of his club’s investment. Boasting a CPL-best seven clean sheets after twelve starts, Irving has allowed just 0.8 goals per 90 minutes—fourth-stingiest of any goalkeeper, and second only to Valour FC’s Jonathan Sirois (0.75) when ruling out ‘keepers who have played fewer than 200 minutes.8
Granted, Irving has not been as busy as some other ‘keepers—Sirois, FC Edmonton’s Connor James, and Atlético Ottawa’s Dylon Powley have all had to make more saves for their clubs9—but he has been up for the task when it counts. Against Valour FC (above), Irving’s acrobatics prevented what seemed like a surefire Austin Ricci header, and in his club’s home opener against Cavalry FC, he turned in a four-save, four crosses claimed performance to preserve a 2-0 clean sheet.
Irving answered the question last year of whether he was worthy of a Golden Glove nomination. Can he win it this year? Another run of clean sheets like he’s had, and he’ll have built a strong case.
Forge FC: +9; Pacific FC: +8. (Data as of Saturday, August 28, 2021.)
Valour FC: 8 clean sheets; Pacific FC: 7 clean sheets.
In 2019, Campbell scored eleven goals across 28 appearances—more than any CPL player not named Tristan Borges.
As of August 24, 2021, Pacific FC had tallied 4,857 touches in the midfield third (or 347 touches per 90 minutes), compared to second-place Cavalry FC, with 3,710 touches in the midfield third (or 285 touches per 90 minutes). Pacific’s 3,537 completed passes in the midfield third (253 per 90 minutes) also topped the CPL, ahead of second-place Cavalry FC (2,429 completed passes, or 187 per 90 minutes).
Newcomer Ollie Bassett holds a share of the lead with Hojabrpour, with two assists of his own.
Sean Young holds a share of the lead, with six chances from open play as well.
Hojabrpour’s 24 interceptions through 13 appearances are nearly equal to the combined total of the rest of his midfield teammates’ contributions (26). After Hojabrpour, the next-closest is Sean Young (9 interceptions).
Hojabrpour’s success rate on duels (62%) is the only winning percentage among PFC midfielders, and a full 15% higher than his next-closest teammates, Sean Young and Matteo Polisi (47%).
Both Irving and Sirois have played over 1,000 minutes. Forge FC’s Baj Maan and Cavalry FC’s Tyson Farago boast fewer goals against per 90 minutes (0.5 each), but both have played just 180 minutes.
Sirois (VAL): 52 saves in 12 matches;
James (FCE): 41 saves in 13 matches;
Powley (ATO): 37 saves in 13 matches;
Irving (PAC): 35 saves in 12 matches.
Another great one, thanks Martin.