• Can Díaz make an immediate impact for his old club? Of course, while it feels like Díaz will prove to be a good fit for his old team, who are in big need of a profile like his up front, the big question to watch will be to see how long it takes him to get up to top speed. He comes to the club in mid-season form after spending the first half of the campaign with Vancouver FC, which helps, but he hasn’t been on the pitch in over a month, so it might take some time for him to get back up to speed. No doubt, though, the quicker he can adapt, the better his team will be for it. Now, the big question will be to see how the team around him takes shape, especially in terms of how they choose to deploy Yann Toualy, who has been in great form for them lately, as well as Marco Bustos and Josh Heard. On paper, it could make sense to operate in more of a 4-2-3-1, with Heard and Toualy out wide and Bustos underneath, but Bustos has also done good work on the right, and could benefit from staying out there with Díaz’s arrival offering him more of a target to aim at on crosses. At the same time, given what they’ve been able to do in a 5-4-1 as of late, it’ll be interesting to see if they could get all of those players out on the pitch in that system, which would likely see one of those three pushed to the bench if Díaz slots in. In reality, the answer will probably be that Pacific decides to go with more of a fluid attacking system, no matter what formation they choose, and perhaps that could be to the benefit of all, while making them less predictable in the attack. No doubt, though, that Díaz’s arrival gives them more punch up front - now, their big goal will be to figure out how to best take advantage of that new attacking oomph.
• Ottawa looking to continue defensive growth: Quietly, Atlético Ottawa have now kept a clean sheet in five of their last six CPL games, a run that started with a visit to Starlight Stadium on June 7th, which saw them claim a 1-0 win. Since then, they’ve conceded just one goal in league play, coming against Forge, which is not bad at all. A big reason for their defensive success across that span, however? They’re doing a better job of scoring the first goal in games, which allows them to dictate more of the tempo on the ball. That’s huge, because with their style of play, which sees them get on the ball and try and break down teams, it can be easier for opponents to sit back deeper if they can beat Ottawa to that first goal, which then makes it harder for Ottawa to control the tempo of the play, even if that allows them to be on the ball even more. To be fair, that’s not a grand revelation - teams that score first tend to be better off, as goals do change games, but it’s a pretty important factor given that Ottawa’s early hot start was instead mostly boosted by second-half goals. They’re happy to keep leaning on those second-half goals, but they won’t need to rely on those as heavily in the second half of the campaign if they can keep nabbing early goals and defending as well as they have recently, so look for them to keep that same formula defensively as they look to get off to another fast start offensively.
• Big task ahead for retooling Pacific defence: Díaz’s arrival wasn’t the only transfer news Pacific had this week, as they mutually parted ways with defender Pedro Machado. Given that Machado didn’t feature last week against Forge, Pacific got a chance to see what life without him might look like, as they started 22-year-old Finn Tugwell for the first time, giving an opportunity for the U SPORTS draft pick to shine in his debut. To his credit, he didn’t look out of place, either, despite facing off against a tough Forge attack. Now, however, the task only gets tougher for him and his teammates, as they go from fending off the league’s second-best attack in terms of goals scored to taking on the best attack in the league. For a young group, it’s going to be a tough task for Pacific, but it’ll put emphasis on them to be strong defensively as a team, starting from their attackers down the pitch. Against an Ottawa side that has scored 33 times in 15 CPL games, you can’t allow them much time or space on the ball, especially around the box, and it’ll take a team effort from Pacific to keep them away from those areas. One area to watch, in particular? Pacific’s midfield deployment, as their decision to choose between a midfield trio or duo, will be key. Ottawa typically runs with a double-pivot of Manny Aparicio and Juan Castro, and that group has caused problems for a lot of teams, so Pacific might be wise to load up in the middle. At the same time, with the strength of Ottawa out wide, Pacific will also need to be wary of how they defend wide areas. Yet, this shows why Ottawa have succeeded the way they have this year - they can hurt teams all over the pitch, doing a great job of creating overloads in every phase and area of play, and that’s not easy to gameplan for.

“More options mean more competition, and that’s so important to have in the squad. You can already see the level within training has gone up a little bit; there’s a focus on trying to be more clinical in the final acts and the final third, because (Díaz) doesn't miss much in training. It challenges everybody to (focus) on the details, such as the quality of their pass and their finish. He also holds others accountable, which is something we need a bit more of in our squad, player-to-player, that accountability, calling each other out and having that competitiveness is very healthy to have in a squad, and it's what we need to be more competitive down the stretch.” – Pacific FC head coach James Merriman

“It feels good (to be back). I've learned how to play in different positions during my time in Vancouver, and that’s a good thing, I can say that I learned how to play a different role and fulfill different tasks, so now that I have the opportunity to play again in my position, I can bring more to my game, and take those things that I learned over over there, and be a more skilled player. Hopefully, I can show that tomorrow, as playing my position again will be nice; I feel comfortable there, especially with the players that we have at Pacific. I think I can show my best version again.” – Pacific FC attacker Alejandro Díaz