Q&A with HFX Wanderers head coach Patrice Gheisar

Canadian football is in full swing and the Halifax Wanderers are already one month into this year's CPL season.

Wanderers head coach Patrice Gheisar is still in search of his first CPL win, having drawn all four league matches, including his home opener to Vancouver FC. The club was also knocked out of the Canadian Championship by Atlético Ottawa.

Despite the lack of wins, the club has looked dominant for large swathes of matches and sits 6th on the table — tied for points with this weekend's opponent, Cavalry FC.

This season has also been fairly competitive, meaning the margin between clubs is razor thin.

Josh Healey of the Wanderers Notebook had a chance to interview Gheisar last week to get his thoughts on the first month of the season.

JH: Thank you so much for taking the time to meet with me, Patrice. It's lovely to meet you. To kick things off, you're a month into your first CPL season. How are you feeling?

PG: I’m feeling really good. I feel, in regards to lots of different parts of our game, we’re well ahead of where I anticipated us to be. Of course, there’s areas to improve. This is a 28-game season so you don’t want your peak to be now, you want your peak to be about July, heading into the playoffs, which is our ambition.

I think the brand of football we’re trying to play is probably the most complex, not only for a new team but for a lot of new players. We're taking strides the right way everyday and looking forward to this weekend.

JH: Obviously, there are a lot of teachable moments when you have new players. You're teaching new systems, new tactics. What have you liked that your players have picked up so far?

PG: They have the bravery to follow and execute our plan, which is to keep the ball. We look to take a lot of chances in the attack, to take guys on and go forward. Obviously, with our system, it takes a lot of running. Our guys are motivated and competitive to do the work.

JH: Training is an opportunity to teach and to pick out things that may have fallen during matches. Specifically I'm talking about, you know, the squad playing really good for the first forty minutes just before the half and you just lose that momentum, take your foot off the gas a little bit.

PG: Sure.

JH: So how do you translate what you guys were just doing in training into a game situation like on Saturday?

PG: Because we started our preseason a little later than everyone, our legs are still coming. Knock on wood, there’s a reason we’re staying injury free today — or at least mostly major injury-free — because we’re managing the loads that the guys are getting.

In training, we really have not surpassed and played heavy minutes of 11 a side. It’s one of the things we’re targeting to get caught up so we can stay focused for the 90-minutes.

JH: Okay. I might know your answer to this question but you talked about what you've enjoyed about what your players have brought so far and they're doing really well in terms of having high possession, starting on the front foot and playing attacking football. What do you still have to work on, and I saw some of that today, but in your own words, what do you think you can continue to improve on?

PG: I think we’re creating good chances, we just got to look at scoring more goals. This league is a very low-scoring league so I think anytime you get two goals, you’re pretty much setup to win the game. So we got to look to get more goals and finish more chances.

Second one is managing moments, you know. Slowing things down and picking it up but that part comes with experience and we're trying to work on that right now.

JH: Others clubs are of course scouting your team and are watching what you're doing in terms of maneuvering and tactics. How do you counter other teams predicting what you're going to do? How do you stay unpredictable?

PG: Some of the most successful teams in the world have had the same system for the longest duration. I just think that if you’re really good at what you do, it’s very difficult to match it. Yeah, we have some personnel unpredictability but our principles will never change.

If a team has a plan that’s better than ours, then credit and kudos to them but we’re not going to change to try and play more direct or counter. The teams that are similar to what we have the ambition to be, let's say Manchester City and Brighton, they play the same style all the time. Everyone scouts them and they still win.

JH: That's all I have for right now. Is there anything you want to add about the season so far?

PG: Yeah, I just think all the fans are starting to wonder if this is different than last year and I think that anytime you’ve had something bad happen or you’re disappointed, you don’t want to get your hopes high. But I think, you know, what they’ve got to focus on is these guys are working hard for them. If that’s not the core principle of our club, then there’s something wrong.

Sure, things could go disappointing like last year but if you’re group is giving you 200 per cent and trying to play the way they want to be seen, just give them the patience and the support they need.

JH: That's definitely something to keep in mind with the season so young and it is your first season. Perfect, thank you so much.

PG: Alright, thanks Josh.

Editor's Note: This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Cover Photo Credit: Halifax Wanderers FC