Roots fans it is game day once again! Roots travel to exurban Virginia to face Loudoun United, the erstwhile farm team of D.C. United. The teams face off at 4:00 p.m. Pacific Time and the match will be broadcast on KTVU Plus and ESPN+. I will be following this one on my phone, as I will be on vacation with my extended family in Vancouver.
Around the Western Conference
Things remain tight in the bottom half of the conference, although the games-in-hand difference might make that illusory. Note the difference between Monterey Bay and Orange County. As you can see from the right-most side of the form list there, the top half of the table mostly won and the bottom half mostly lost in the last week. Y’know what’s funny? Roots beat FC Tulsa, one of Tulsa’s three losses on the season, with Wolfgang Prentice accounting for roughly 13% of all the goals they have conceded.
Roots’ Form
Oof.
Roots have largely been lucky under Feilhaber, and that luck more or less ran out against Rising.
Doubled up their xG for half as many goals.
The number one takeaway from this game is that Wilson has got to get his finishing together or the Roots have to do something else up top. He squandered three great chances and that’s just not going to cut it.
Pete. Buddy.
Feilhaber yanked Wilson at halftime for Sinisterra, who would squander this pass from Morey Doner.
<belabored sigh>
The number two takeaway from this game is that Morey Doner is an utter nightmare for our opponents, but that he can’t do it for more than about 60 minutes. Which is not really meant as criticism, I think that’s true of a lot of all-action right backs. It means that until we work out some other plans, we need to score when Doner still has legs.
The number three takeaway is that this is the first time we have seen an opposing couch get the better of Feilhaber in the second half. I look forward to seeing how he responds.
Loudoun’s Form
After a blistering start to the season, Loudoun have sputtered since the start of May, going 2-3-4, with things an especially bleak 0-2-2 since June 20. Those most recent matches include an 0-3 drubbing in Hartford, a 4-1 drubbing at home by Louisville, a 0-0 draw at home to Orange County, and a 2-2 draw away in Pittsburgh.
Loudoun has 26 goals for, which is good but not lighting the world on fire, and 22 goals against, which is not great. It is honestly a little surprising that they are third in the Eastern Conference.
Loudoun’s goals come from Abdellatif Aboukoura, who has 11, and then basically no one else. John Morrissey at Backheeled just released his Top 50 USL Players list, and Aboukoura comes in at 3rd, saying that what Aboukoura does is “get onto his right foot, drive at defenders on the dribble, and score.” Also appearing on the list are midfielder Tommy McCabe and keeper Hugo Fauroux.
Match Predictions
Bloom
I don’t like this cross-country travel, which we have generally struggled with this season. Loudoun are also competent, if sputtering. Still, I think that this team is still going the right direction under Feilhaber and I think he’ll tighten things up after the last game. 1-1 and a respectable point.
Jon
Bonjour RootsFam! One more week until you have to deal with me on a weekly basis. Paris is a blast, Lyon is more of that smaller-city vibe that I love.
Baboucarr Njie was released this week, didn’t I tell you a transaction was bound to happen? I’m still not convinced Roots are done making moves now that two roster spots at the same position has opened up. I could definitely see an incoming move happen before I return home.
Loudoun will be tough as they’ve jumped to become contenders in the Eastern Conference. Amazing what can happen when you’re an organization with direction and a stable coaching staff, huh? Anyways, I want to see if Panos has a fire going up against his second former team in as many weeks and if Peter Wilson can get things going at striker. We’ll see if Feilhaber has any reaction to Wilson’s finishing issues last week.
Roots rediscover its defense, 1-nil.
Aaron
So I was poking around the Loudoun roster to see if any possible reason for their dramatic shift in form (started 8-2-0, 2-3-4 since) could be located. The skeleton key here could be central defender Jacob Erlandson. Here’s a roller coaster for you: On April 18, he posted on his Instagram about what appears to be getting baptized. (He’s coming up out of the water, and his caption cites Psalm 25.) On April 19, he came off after 63 minutes in Loudoun’s 2-1 win over Pittsburgh. I can’t find anything reporting why the sub was made, but he is in crutches in a May 11 photo posted to the Loudoun United twitter feed. His apparent replacement in the lineup, Cole Turner, made a start on May 10, which was his first start since October 2023. I would hazard a guess that he is still basically getting up to speed, and possible even learning to trust his body again, after what was essentially a 581-day absence. Some of their other defenders have been forced to miss a game here and there, as well, and I think what we’re looking at is a team that is just in chaos at the back due to injuries. So this will be a great opportunity to miss a few more sitters. (Also, yes, cross-country travel is brutal.) 6-2 Oakland.