RootsBlog

Oakland Roots dropped its third straight game without a goal in a 1-nil loss to Monterey Bay FC at Pioneer Stadium, bringing their record to 1-3-3 through five games. The game ended ugly with a fight between the two clubs after the final whistle, where red cards were issued to Neveal Hackshaw and Baboucarr Njie for Roots along with Walmer Martinez and Carlos Herrera from Monterey Bay.

Jack Morris provided a recap in the blog, detailing the postgame brawl and what went wrong schematically for Oakland.

Here are our talking points coming out of Saturday’s match.

Anemic attack

Roots failed to record a shot attempt until the first minute of first-half stoppage time when Irakoze Donasiyano’s shot took a deflection out for a corner, which was also their first corner of the match. Oakland’s attack improved in the second half, but they still couldn’t overly challenge MBFC GK Antony Siaha. It resulted in Oakland’s third consecutive game without a goal.

“We didn’t start well in the first half, we were giving away too many balls and making it a real transition game, which goes to Monterey’s style. I thought the decision-making was struggling the first half and once we start finding pockets between players and making correct decisions, we’re going to create some chances. Second half, I thought we did alright, for the most part. I thought we created some chances, I think we were solid,” coach Noah Delgado said.

Saturday’s heat map of the first half shows how ineffective Roots were at breaking down Monterey’s defense. Oakland took just two touches inside the opponent’s penalty area in the opening 45 minutes and mostly moved the ball before the midfield line.

Nearly all of Roots’ first-half offensive action came on crosses from the right side. Oakland’s attack finished with 12 touches inside Monterey’s box in the second half, but still hovered around the midfield line. Perhaps their tendency to move the ball horizontally instead of pushing downfield played to MBFC’s advantage in Chase Boone’s goal.

“We knew transition moments was an important one. The goal came from a transition moment where we’re attacking and getting momentum going forward. I think our initial shape was okay, I have to look at it, I think we did have the numerical advantage but then it broke down in the second phase,” Delgado said.

But the attacking woes have been a trend. So far, Roots rank last in the USL Championship with eight shots on target and with a shots on target per 90 minutes rate of just 1.60. Their 33 shots and 6.60 shots per game rank 23rd out of 24, only ahead of first-place Orange County. The difference with OCSC is they are finishing at the league’s highest clip at 0.29 goals per shot attempts.

Johnny Rodriguez gave Roots’ offense some life in the second half with four shots and three touches within Monterey’s penalty area, but Delgado thinks the entire squad must do a better job at finding shooting lanes.

“It’s cohesiveness and, with us, its taking the shots as well. We had a couple of opportunities where we were close, but we’re still trying to make an extra pass. It’s important to test the keeper and you never know if you can find a deflection or what can happen. We’re getting into some good spots but I think the final execution is key.”

Lineup inconsistency continues

The constantly changing lineup has been a talking point over the last couple of weeks. Now through five games, Delgado has been forced to deploy five different lineups. The trend will continue into Week 6 against El Paso with the red cards and impending suspensions for starting midfielder Neveal Hackshaw and left wingback Baboucarr Njie.

So far this season, 11 of Roots’ 20-man roster have missed time due to injury, illness, international duty, or red card suspensions, including Rodriguez, Hackshaw, Njie, Koze, Memo Diaz, Camden Riley, Bryan Tamacas, Justin Rasmussen, Gagi Margvelashvili, Lindo Mfeka, and Napo Matsoso.

Only Paul Blanchette, Niall Logue, Danny Gomez, and Jeciel Cedeño have appeared in every game. Matsoso as well, but he left the 1-1 draw against Charleston after 11 minutes.

It’s a situation that has left Delgado unable to identify what starting lineup works best for whatever system he’s trying to implement.

“No excuses, but it’s not the easiest thing when you’re changing week-in, week-out at the beginning of the season,” Delgado said. “But credit to the boys for the way they responded; we struggled early, we had the break for Ramadan, then after the break we settled in and got a bit more comfortable. We talked and they listed to our ideas and they came out well. Just a poor goal to give up at the end when I thought we were going to take home some points.”

In addition to Rodriguez returning from injury, Lindo got his first start of the season. Delgado has tried five different pairings up top, including Johnny alongside Miche-Naider Chéry and Cedeño, Chéry and Cedeño once, while Trayvone Reid has two starts opposite of Jeciel and Mfeka most recently.

“Johnny is coming off injury, Lindo’s coming off injury, so getting everyone fully healthy is one goal. We wanted to get Lindo early in the game to maintain possession and get ahold of it, then we knew Johnny could come off the bench and make a difference,” Delgado said.

Losing Rasmussen and Riley against Monterey meant Hackshaw was pushed to the back line, rotating Gomez to the holding midfield role next to Donasiyano while Cedeño moved to the CAM spot with Mfeka playing up top. It was the fourth different midfield combination.

“I think some of our problems are execution. I think having everyone back will help out as well, but we need to focus in important moments of the game. I have to look at it again, but I think our coverage was okay in the beginning of transition. But once you lose that, then you’re running 50 yards back to your goal. We need to get that first goal, build momentum, and believe,” Delgado said.

Is there an end in sight?

With just one win in the 14 matches since the 2-1 win over New Mexico on August 23 of last year, it’s difficult to see the end in sight. Moreover, it feels like things that plagued Oakland for the final two months of the 2023 season has stretched into the new year. They scored 10 goals over the nine match winless streak to end last season and have just put up three through five.

In fact, Oakland hasn’t completed a clean sheet since its 1-0 win over Charleston 17 games ago. At one point in 2023, Roots were beating teams as a top-10 defensive squad when they allowed just 24 goals through the 23 matches, but conceded 24 over the last 11. Currently, Oakland has a -4 goal differential with seven allowed. Having Riley and Rasmussen unavailable hurt Roots, but the inability to keep a clean sheet is another carry over from the 2023 downfall.

“We had another starting group for our back line. We just have to keep going with our principles. The first half, we dealt with them pretty well even though they were under a lot of pressure. Second half, I thought we were really good just keeping them in our half, but the late goal is still something I want to see on film,” Delgado said.

Without Hackshaw and Njie for at least one game, it’s difficult to say if the team has hit rock-bottom with the postgame fracas, or if the ship is still sinking.

Opportunity ahead?

There are currently three teams worse than Oakland Roots in the Western Conference; Memphis with three points (one game in hand) in 10th, El Paso with one point in 11th, and Colorado Springs with zero points in dead last. Roots are entering a four-match stretch, including U.S. Open Cup, that can allow them to find a groove.

This upcoming Saturday, Roots will have 11th-place El Paso Locomotive, which is in dire straights itself at 1-3-4 and also possess a -4 goal differential. It’s a critical time to find answers.

Roots will then return to Pioneer Stadium just three days later for their U.S. Open Cup match against El Farolito. Although the Burrito Boys are the current sweethearts of the Open Cup, Oakland will be the obvious favorite. Can they make El Farolito the punching bag they should be?

After traveling to Detroit, which undefeated and tied for first-place in the Eastern Conference, Roots will host the winless Colorado Springs Switchbacks. Despite acquiring Ronaldo Damus, they’ve scored just one goal and have allowed a league worst eight goals.

If Oakland can at least get back in the win column against El Paso, El Farolito, and Colorado Springs while taking points at Detroit, we might be singing a different tune come May 1.