Roots fans! It’s game day again, and somehow the Roots are still not out of the playoff picture. The nice thing about 8 playoff spots is that when you’re fighting for the last one, the teams around you are probably really inconsistent and/or bad. Roots play at 7:00 p.m. in San Diego and the game will be available on KTVU Plus or ESPN+. You can also catch the official watch party at the Good Hop at 24th and Telegraph. Bar comes with the highest recommendation from our friend and yours, Tal.
I remain completely overwhelmed, now hosting my sister’s family, so here’s basically my summary of where we are as a Roots family.
Lineup and Score Predictions
Bloom
Pain.
I think we run the same formation as before and we don’t change it until the 81st minute. There might be different personnel because of injuries or yellow card accumulation. 1-1. The game against El Paso decides if we see Sacramento in a couple weeks or if we’re planning our end of season party.
Jon
I’m keeping Pelaez and Johnny in my starting 11 while Cedeño slots in on the left side. Memo Diaz got his 10th yellow card against Orange County, which should equate to his 8th yellow card and a one-game suspension. Truthfully, I don’t even know what the rules are anymore–this league is confusing. Other than that, no changes from the previous game.
God damnit, Roots. 2-1 win, please.
Aaron
Look, we have a lot of fun down here at the ass end of Bloom’s prediction posts, where we acknowledge that the Roots will run out a 3-4-3 because its their best chance at a clean sheet but maybe not the best use of the attacking talent on the roster, and so we think about how else this team could be deployed, knowing that it will never happen. The “fun” thing about the last few weeks, though, is that the 3-4-3 has stopped being useful for defensive reasons while also still being useless in attack. In their last 9 matches, the Roots have scored 11 and surrendered 18. They are 1-2-6. Before this, they were 10-7-6, 31 for, 24 against. If you’re wondering, in terms of goals per game, the attack has gone from 1.35 to 1.22 per game (probably just noise), while the defense has gone from 1.04 against per game to 2. That’s bad! And yet! We’ll probably see that 3-4-3 again. And also no substitutions until 10 minutes after its obvious we could use fresh legs. Anyway, the keys to the game are, as always:
- Let Danny Barbir, the Macungien Maldini, do literally whatever he wants on the field
- Shoot the ball in the direction of the goal.
That’s all I ask. 2-1 Roots.