Roots fans it’s game day again! Off of a hard-fought point in Rhode Island, the Roots are back at home to face Memphis 901 F.C., their current rival for third place, at 7:00 p.m. at Pioneer Stadium on the campus of CSU East Bay, in Hayward, California.
Around the Western Conference
Last week was pretty good for the Roots in terms of keeping them in the race for third/fourth. New Mexico beat Monterey Bay 3-2 and I think I would prefer that separation over Monterey Bay to trying to hold pace with New Mexico, who I just don’t think the Roots are likely to catch for first. Hartford helpfully beat Las Vegas in Hartford, Pittsburgh coughed up a last-second-of-stoppage-time equalizer to share the points with Colorado Springs, and Memphis beat Tulsa comfortably. El Paso beat Orange County, which is helpful as El Paso have a much tougher row to hoe to try to catch the Roots. San Antonio did get the win over an Eastern Conference team, but are 12 points behind the Roots and, while not out of the race, have significant ground to try to make up.
So while the Roots fell out of third with a draw, they probably improved their position as it relates to fourth.
Memphis 901
Memphis are pretty good this year, having just displaced Roots for third in the Western Conference. Memphis have the fourth best defensive record in the Western Conference and the best offensive record, with 40 goals. Those goals from from Bruno Lapa, Marlon, and Samuel Careaga. Memphis’s regular captain is Akeem O’Connor-Ward.
Everything with Memphis’s schedule is weirdly lop-sided because of their brutal five losses in a row starting the the second week of the season. If we set that aside, there is a much more obvious pattern to their results: they have four losses and all are on the road. That includes three losses to some middling teams: San Antonio, Orange County, and Tulsa. More recently they lost 3-1 in Charleston, but that’s defensible. Two weeks ago they were held for 80 minutes to a 1-1 score in Miami, which looked like another entry in this trend, until the 81st minute when Memphis scored four in fifteen minutes. Last week, they hosted Tulsa and won 2-0 with a goal in each half. Here are the highlights, although they are not particularly exciting. AOW has two great shots, but neither are the goals.
Roots’ Form
The Roots remain a complete mystery. This performance looked a lot more like the 5-0 drubbing in Pittsburgh than like the 3-1 win over Loudoun, and yet some modest improvements and a defensive focus meant Roots left with a point against a competent Eastern Conference team.
I really don’t like the “all defenders” line-up, but credit to the Roots for holding the opponent to one goal. Paul had some excellent saves, but no one else really looked particularly great, except Hack, whose day was marred by a (completely justifiable, and the right choice in the moment) red card. What kind of hat trick is “goal, red card, best player on the pitch on either team?” Is that Luis Suarez hat trick? Our captain earned it and I credit our point wholly to him.
Lineup and Score Predictions
Bloom
We know Hack is out, which sucks. I think I’d rather leave Riley in midfield and bring Tamacas in as a right-sided centerback, which is a position he is comfortable in. I am done predicting Dwyer will play, so I can be pleasantly surprised if I’m wrong. Reid makes sense to start, and will be an easy sub for Sinisterra to get his first minutes late.
Unfortunately, I think this one ends 1-1.
Jon
I have just one change from Peter’s lineup with Njie at LW instead of Trayvone. With Hackshaw out, I’d like to see a switch back to the 4-2-3-1, but that would entail Dom Dwyer starting up top and Johnny rotating outside, which is hard to see happening right now. I’m plugging Lindo back at the RW spot while the new guy gets acclimated–hopefully it doesn’t take long.
I’m sticking with a 2-nil Roots win to send the support home happy and officially start the playoff push.
Aaron
If I were managing the Roots, to deal with Hackshaw’s absence, I’d probably go with a 4-4-2, using Rasmussen and Tamacas as the “fullbacks,” with Diaz reprising his more advanced role, and a strike partnership of Chery and Johnny. But I guessed horribly incorrectly last week, so I asked WordPress’s AI to help predict the lineup this week. The above image is what it came up with. It appears to predict a radical shift in the rules, to a sport that is a cross between baseball, volleyball, and cricket, but on a football field. It also predicts the Roots will rebrand to “RMCKIES”, which I do not believe is correct. One thing is sure: neither I nor the AI has any idea how Oakland will line up.
2-1 Roots.