HFX Wanderers 2020 Season Preview

Arrivals and Departures

As most fans know, there’s been heavy turnover at CanPL’s easternmost club since last season. This is perhaps not surprising given the Wanderers won just 6 games all year, averaging 0.75 goals/game, but some of the players released raised eyebrows. This will be a longer section than usual, so bear with us....

Starting with some of the surprises, gone are all players who scored for the Wanderers in either CanPL or the Voyageurs Cup last year aside from top scorer Akeem Garcia (8 goals), and Andre Rampersad and Peter Schaale who added 1 goal each. This means the following are all gone:

• striker Luis Alberto Perea (5 goals in all comps)

• striker Tomasz Skublak (4 goals)

• forward Mohamed Kourouma (4 goals - to Ottawa)

• midfielder Juan Diego Gutiérrez (2 goals)

• centreback Matthew Arnone (2 goals - to York)

• fullback André Bona (1 goal)

• midfielder Kodai IIda (1 goal)

Joining the exodus from Wanderers Ground were goal-less midfielders Elton John, Elliott Simmons and Kouamé Ouattara; popular fullback Ndzemdzela Langwa; centrebacks Chakhib Hocine and Duran Lee; and forwards Abd-El-Aziz Yousef and Vincent Lamy, neither of whom had much opportunity to make an impact. Trinidadian keeper Jan-Michael Williams also retired to become the team’s goalie coach, but has recently been drafted in for the Island Games to replace the injured Christian Oxner.

So that’s who’s gone, now who are the replacements? Halifax made one of the early splashes of the CanPL offseason when they secured the signing of box-to-box midfielder Louis Béland-Goyette after he left Valour, instantly improving the middle of the park. Stephen Hart’s side made a number of other significant additions, including Jamaican international winger Alex Marshall from Cavalier in his home country, Brazilian forward João Morelli from Levadia in Estonia, Canadian winger Alessandro Riggi from Phoenix of the USL, leftback Daniel Kinumbe from l’Impact, Haiti international centreback Jems Geffrard, Canadian rightback Mateo Restrepo, and former Impact keeper Jason Beaulieu. Brazilian defender Eriks Santos was supposed to have joined as well, but ended up the club’s lone casualty of the pandemic.

Perhaps most importantly, the Wanderers secured the re-signing of leading centreback Peter Schaale after he returned to Cape Breton University midway through last season, per the terms of his USports contract. More than any other side, Halifax took advantage of the untapped USports and Canadian college markets, also adding striker Ibrahima Sanoh from PEI’s Holland College, Montreal Carabins teammates Omar Kreim and highly-rated Aboubacar Sissoko (fresh off a trial with the Whitecaps), 1st overall pick Cory Bent from Cape Breton, and defender Jake Ruby from Trinity Western in BC. Toss in local product Luke Green, and *that* wraps up the offseason’s comings and goings for the Wanderers.

Projected Lineup

Of all CanPL sides, Halifax has the squad most suited to a straight 4-4-2 or a 4-4-1-1 variant, which is how we expect them to line up in PEI. Last season’s top scorer Garcia will likely lead the line again, with Brazilian Morelli likely playing just off him in more of a number 10 role.

In midfield, LBG and Rampersad all of a sudden give the Wanderers one of the best centre-mid pairings in the league, with Rampersad providing much of the energy and Béland-Goyette acting as more of a playmaker. Expect them to start most of the Island Games, though Sissoko figures to play a significant role as well.

At the back, eyebrows were raised when Matthew Arnone was released, as he was the lease of Halifax’s problems last year. However, in Geffrard Hart has a more than capable replacement (see: Haiti-Canada at the last Gold Cup, where Geffrard partnered Valour’s Andrew Jean-Paptiste in their 3-2 win). Captain Peter Schaale should partner Geffrard throughout most of the tournament, but 21-year-old Chrisnovic N’Sa impressed last season and should slot in regularly as well. Newcomer Kinumbe will share the field with more defensive-minded Alex de Carolis at leftback with Langwa’s departure, and Restrepo should take most of the minutes on the right.

In net, it was looking like a split between newly-arrived Beaulieu and local product Christian Oxner until the latter unfortunately got injured early in the Island Games bubble period. With goalie coach Williams acting as backup, expect Beaulieu to play at least 630 minutes on the island.

The Big Questions

How much turnover is too much turnover?

The Wanderers clearly needed some roster improvements after last season, but with 15 departures it’s close to a repeat of their inaugural season, chemistry-wise. That said, the extended training camp leading up to the league finally announcing the Island Games may have mitigated this. But it would be impossible to wonder if the squad will have the time to gel given their off-season turnover and no friendlies under the belt. That said, of any CanPL coach, Hart would have the ability to bring a squad like this together.

Where are the goals coming from?

Garcia proved last year that he can be relied upon for a few goals, with 7 in the league last year, which he parlayed into a Trinidadian national team recall last October. But beyond him, a lot of responsibility will rest on Morelli, Marshall and Riggi to replace Perea, Kourouma and Skublak’s output. Keep in mind that despite Halifax’s low-scoring season, those 3 combined for 13 goals in all competitions (though only 5 in the league), a rate that will need to be the absolute minimum of their three replacements in order for the club to see any improvement.

What will they get from the USports guys?

We mentioned it earlier, but Halifax have led the way in USports signings (even beyond the league’s strange draft system). This might owe something to Hart’s history with the league, and could be an x-factor for the club. While the starting lineup is pretty well set, if Halifax can get some quality appearances off the bench or in rotation from guys like Bent, Kreim and Sissoko, they could surprise in the Island Games.

The Main Lads

Peter Schaale

A rock at the back for Halifax in his 17 appearances (all 10 in the Spring Season, and 7 in the Fall), the team noticeably fell off after he returned to school on Cape Breton last year. The Wanderers were a mid-table squad in the spring remember, and won 2 of their 3 fall games while Schaale was still around (yes, I know they did lose the other 5). He added a goal and an assist, and organized the backline despite only being 23. The German’s re-signing was arguably the club’s most important off-season move, and that’s saying something.

Louis Béland-Goyette

Béland-Goyette brings 12 games of MLS experience to the club, along with 2 seasons in the USL and 21 games with Valour last year. This experience can’t be overstated for a club like Halifax, and he should be an ideal complement to André Rampersad in the centre of the park. “LBG” only scored once last year, but keep in mind how awful Valour were. He did add 3 assists - good enough to tie for 13th in the league in this category. Last year, Halifax lacked any sort of creativity in the centre, which LBG should address while remaining defensively responsible.

João Morelli

It’s tough to predict how CanPL’s international signings are going to work out (case in point - our prediction for Jair Cordova to start for Cavs yesterday when he didn’t even end up being one of the 5 subs), but we have a good feeling about Morelli. At 24, he’s not a pure prospect anymore, and indeed he’s scored in double digits twice already in his career (both with Estonian top tier side Levadia - a comparable level to CanPL), and has spent time in the northeast of England - which we value more than most - with Middlesbrough. Morelli looks to sit in behind a centre forward, running onto the ball for most goals. If he and Garcia can develop any sort of partnership, the Wanderers’ goalscoring woes might be coming to an end.

X-factor

Alex Marshall

It wasn’t a sure thing that the Jamaican would even make it to Prince Edward Island with the pandemic, but here he is, and the Jamaican international could be a difference-maker for the East Coast side. The left winger is a talented dribbler with a strong left foot, and offers something offensively that Halifax simply didn’t have last year.

Disgruntled Thought

If anyone’s got a home field advantage…...

Prediction

We have no ill will against Halifax, and we want to see the smaller market clubs succeed. Between an improved squad, and the club closest to home in Charlottetown, there’s a chance for the Wanderers to surprise a few folks. But with such a new league, it’s natural that everyone has improved, now that the talent level has been more or less established. So the big question is, has Halifax improved enough? Unfortunately, we don’t think so, but they’re in a tier with the Eddies and Valour where each team is pretty interchangeable. They better at least win that Ottawa game...

Round-robin prediction: 7th