RootsBlog

Oakland Roots winless streak has now stretched to over a month after taking a 2-1 loss at New Mexico United on Saturday, putting them to 11th place in the USL Championship Western Conference with a 2-2-6 record. Roots’ last win came against El Farolito 2-1 in its Open Cup match on April 16, while their most recent league victory was April 13 at El Paso.

Interim head coach Gavin Glinton made some notable changes to the lineup, indicating an official switch to a 4-4-2 diamond formation. It featured four central midfielders including Neveal Hackshaw in the CDM spot, Etsgar Cruz as the CAM, while Irakoze Donasiyano and Danny Gomez paired to give the CM positions a compact look.

Coming off of its Tuesday meeting in San Jose, the traveling lineup to New Mexico was without right back Bryan Tamacas, Jeciel Cedeño sat to enable Cruz to take the #10 spot, and Justin Rasmussen also began on the subs list after playing nearly a full game against San Jose.

Saturday’s game was marred by an opening mistake by Roots’ usually ultra-reliable goal keeper, Paul Blanchette. New Mexico’s first goal was a product of a miss-kick by the keeper, playing it straight to the feet of Greg Hurst while atop the penalty area, allowing Hurst to easily chip it in.

Then two minutes after halftime, Neveal Hackshaw scored his goal when unleashing a shot from around 30 yards that took a deflection off of Talen Mapels and into net.

New Mexico went ahead in the 74th when awarded a free kick a foot above Roots’ penalty area on the left side. Mukwelle Akale’s shot went over Cedeño in the two-man wall with Lindo Mfeka to the left post and in. Blanchette reacted late to the shot and maybe was looking for a pass.

Oakland’s stats were still somewhat productive with 11 shots and drew five corners, but just two shot attempts were on target. They missed one big opportunity in the 43rd minute when Babourcarr Njie sent a low cross to Johnny Rodriguez a few feet in front of the net, but Johnny couldn’t redirect the hard pass on target.

In the 23rd minute, Donasiyano was called offside after taking a shot that was saved by NMU’s Alex Tambakis when Reid played him a pass on a run into the penalty area. Interesting enough, Koze was clearly around five yards onside with three defenders in front of him. It would’ve been highly disputed if it went in.

Rodriguez also had a look in the 25th and his shot redirected atop the box was blocked out for a corner.

Oakland was on the front-foot after scoring in the 47th with three more shot attempts seven minutes. Baboucarr Njie had a shot from a free kick go wide in the 50th minute after Jeciel Cedeño did well to win the ball in a good area. Roots also showed good work in transition 53rd when Rodriguez had an athletic scissor kick attempt deflected wide for a corner after Reid made a nice run down by the touch line. Reid skyed a shot in the 61st after making a cut inside, then Koze sent one wide in the 67th.

After conceding in the 74th, Roots struggled to create without another shot attempt until the 89th minute when Johnny had a shot deflected out for a corner after Miche-Naider Chéry played him a nice header pass after receiving a long pass from Napo Matsoso. Lindo then had a shot sail after a loose ball from a corner fell to him in the 90th.

Here are four talking points coming out of Saturday.

Roster build

With Roots’ available roster on Saturday, chasing a goal isn’t a situation where Oakland is totally set from a personnel standpoint.

Cedeño entered for Cruz at halftime while their only other true attacking-minded change was striker Miche-Naider Chéry replacing midfielder Donasiyano in the 84th minute. Justin Rasmussen, who was signed as a wingback and left-side center back, entered two minutes after Oakland conceded New Mexico’s 74th minute go-ahead goal in exchange for Trayvone Reid. Then Napo Matsoso, who is a defensive-minded midfielder, replaced CDM Hackshaw in the 77th.

Lindo Mfeka entering for Danny Gomez in the 68th gave Oakland a midfielder with attacking prowess, but he was largely ineffective with just one shot attempt on eight total touches.

Listing Gomez and Koze as two CMs gave Oakland an ability to stay condensed against New Mexico’s attack, which finished with 60 percent of possession time. But even so, Donasiyano only made four defensive actions, one interception, won one tackle, and took just one shot attempt. Gomez, meanwhile, made just two defensive actions, had no tackles, no shot attempts, completed zero long passes, and went 0/6 on duels.

If Dom Dwyer is available for Orange County, he’ll require service that Koze and Gomez were unable to provide. Perhaps an option could be having Memo, Njie, or Rasmussen providing better width as midfielders that can also tuck inside.

More on the midfield spot below.

Still no Dom Dwyer

Roots were without veteran striker Dom Dwyer, once again, after signing him to a contract on April 25. After fan were hoping he could appear against San Jose Earthquakes and New Mexico, Glinton mentioned they were still getting him fully integrated into the lineup during his interview following the U.S. Open Cup match versus Earthquakes.

“We’re just integrating him into the team. We’ve had a group that’s ready and we want to make sure we put out a group for every game that’s competitive and able to win. We’re still working him into the group, we like having him available and as soon as the time is right, you’ll see him,” Glinton said the previous week.

It’s clear that Dwyer making his debut is being taken game-by-game and the club is being extra cautious about deploying him. One club source expressed they aren’t going to rush him back given there are still 24 games left in the season.

Without a preseason ramp up for Dwyer, the club feels there’s an increased risk of injury to quickly toss him into the physical nature of the USL Championship. And with Oakland still in the hunt for a playoff spot, they are still cognizant of the season’s rigors.

Roots posted today that “all eyes” are looking toward Saturday versus Orange County, so it could be the day for Dwyer’s debut.

Memo Diaz’s 100th appearance for the club

Memo Diaz made his 100th appearance for Oakland Roots against New Mexico, becoming the first player to do so for the organization. Diaz’s career has come a long way while in Oakland in 2021, becoming a member of the community and routine starter.

Diaz was nearly an every-game starter in 2021, but appeared mostly as a substitute in 2022. He re-earned a starting spot last season with 33 appearances and 30 starts, recording a career highs of three goals, five assists, and 2,731 minutes. This year, Diaz is on-pace for similar numbers with eight appearances, seven starts, two assists, and 657 minutes.

“They took a chance on me when I played around 10 games in the two years I was on El Paso. It’s been great, I love what’s going on with the club outside of the sport. There’s been ups and downs in every season, but my career here has been great, I love the club,” Diaz said.

Memo represents a veteran player in Roots’ locker room that is still reeling after departing from Noah Delgado. He explained during his previous interview that the players being united

“The staff is one thing, but I feel like the important thing is the players and the locker room. We have a strong locker since we’ve started. Yeah, we don’t want to change coaches during the season but we have a good locker room, so the change wasn’t that big on us,” Diaz said.

Changes for Orange County?

Looking ahead to Saturday against Orange County, Oakland Roots should have a full roster to choose from without any injuries of note. If Dwyer is ruled to be match-fit, he’ll slot into the starting CF spot alongside Johnny. Cedeño will slot back into the CAM spot to provide them service, Hackshaw backs up the midfield at CDM.

The question is whether Glinton opts for Koze/Gomez in the midfield or figures out another rotation. It could be the targeted area for improvement; Tamacas being available could push Memo Diaz up to the Right Midfielder spot in the 4-4-2, while Rasmussen and Njie are both fit for the Left Back and Left Midfielder role.

Below is my early guess for the starting 11.