Pacific FC head coach James Merriman didn’t hold back in unloading on his team following one of its most miserable performances in the six seasons of franchise history in the Canadian Premier League.
PFC was blanked 2-0 Wednesday evening in Toronto by a surging York United club that played the majority of the game with 10 men after Austin Ricci of the Nine Stripes was sent off with a red card at 37 minutes with his team leading 1-0, thanks to a goal at 36 minutes by 2017 MLS first-round draft-pick and former New England Revolution striker Brian Wright. But instead of using the man advantage to tie or win the game, the Tridents allowed former Toronto FC MLS striker and Syrian national-team capped Molham Babouli to score at 53 minutes to give York United a two-goal lead
“There was no urgency, no desire and no push and that’s not acceptable,” said Merriman, following the game.
“There needs to be a certain amount of urgency. We did not have a pulse. It was very poor. We didn’t bring anything to the game. We can’t have many more of these. Today was not enough. It was massively disappointing. This is just not going to do it. We gave three points away. It’s about focus and mentality.”
York United (5-4-2 wins-losses-draws in league) now has two wins and a draw under new head coach Benjamin Mora, who has coached Atlas of Liga MX and took Johor Darul Ta’zim to the 2021 Malaysian Super League championship. The Mexico City native replaced 38-time Canada capped Martin Nash of Victoria this month as York United gaffer.
Pacific FC fell to 4-3-4 in league and Merriman challenged his group: “We’ve got to figure out what we want as a team.”
PFC started third-string goalkeeper Daniel Zadravec as top-two ’keepers Emil Gazdov and Sean Melvin remained out with illness and an ankle injury, respectively. But Merriman did not blame the goalkeeping situation, or Island Wave, Reynolds Secondary soccer academy and Victoria Highlanders product Zadravec, who played U Sports for the UNBC Timberwolves. He said Zadravec was man of the match for the Tridents: “It has nothing to do with Daniel [Zadravec]. He was our brightest player out there, to be honest. The goals were not his fault. We gave them the two goals.”
Zadravec was backed up by University of Victoria Vikes starting goalkeeper Callum Weir, a 20-year-old from the Yukon, who was also named to the Canadian team for the CONCACAF Futsal Championship. Both Zadravec and Weir were dressed Wednesday under CPL short-term replacement contracts.
PFC returns to host Vancouver FC in the cross-strait derby next Thursday at Starlight Stadium.
“I know the quality and character of our team and know we will regroup,” said Merriman.
