Following two disappointing results, Oakland Roots head to Tampa Bay facing new questions. Here are three that stand out heading into Saturday’s match:
Can Roots earn their first-ever points at Tampa Bay?
Al Lang Stadium in Tampa Bay has been a shop of horrors for the Roots. Oakland has lost both matches there by a combined score of 0-6, including 3-nil defeats in the 2021 and 2023 seasons. Roots are currently 1-1-2 in the total series.
Saturday presents a difficult test. Tampa Bay enters in strong form, sitting atop the Eastern Conference. They have won all four of their matches and boast the league’s best goal differential (+7). Their success has been anchored by the league’s best defense, having only allowed one goal across four matches, with their goalkeeper, Austin Pack, making just three saves in that span. By comparison, Raphael Spiegel has made 15 saves over the same number of games.
Coach Ryan Martin will need to find a formula to help Roots solve this problem. He may have some answers from his time at Loudon.
Early on, Tampa dominated the matchup against Martin’s Loudon side. Loudon only earned one point across five matches at Tampa in Martin’s first four seasons at the helm. However, Martin eventually found success in his final two years with a 2-0 win in 2024 and a 2-1 victory last season
Martin will look to the Roots’ offense to continue that trend. Forward Peter Wilson should return and help address the massive gap at the center forward position against Orange County. Wolfgang Prentice and Danny Trejo led the attack against OC, while Oakland funneled the offense to the wings and left the center of the field underutilized. Below is the heat map for both Wolfgang and Trejo against Orange County that reflects the lack of a presence in the center of the park.
Without Wilson, Roots lacked a central attacking presence. With Wilson’s return, Oakland gains a dynamic attacking presence in a part of the field sorely lacking any presence at all in the previous match. Still, even with Wilson in the lineup, the Roots have lacked a consistent secondary threat in the box to capitalize on the attention that he draws. With the week between matches, Florian Valot could also return, as Martin noted, “We will see him in the next little bit.” Valot can exploit the space created by Wilson.
After the Orange County match, Martin lamented that Roots “were very reactive, especially in the first half.” The return of the offensive firepower should allow Oakland to get on the front foot, test the Tampa defense, and potentially secure the club’s first points in Tampa Bay.
Will Oakland use a back three again?
Against Orange County, Roots started with a back three with Michael Edwards, David Garcia, and Neveal Hackshaw. Martin explained the decision after the match, stating, “With [Mark] Fisher and [Keegan] Tingey out, we don’t have a true right back.”
Martin hoped to make up for their absences through the veteran presence of both Hackshaw and Gibson. As Martin noted, the decision to start a back three stemmed from a desire to get “one of our veterans in Hackshaw on the field.”
However, the back three produced underwhelming results. The offense stagnated in the first half with the Roots recording only two shots and one on target. They tied for their lowest number of touches in the opposition box in a half this season with just four.
Martin noted the impact of the formation change, stating that “it disjointed things a little bit with Wolfy and Bravo in their rotation. Danny couldn’t find the right seams to get in the right place to be dangerous. Even when we did get in the box, our actions after that were poor.”
More concerning is the consistent trend of the poor performances getting worse with a back three. Before Orange County, the Roots switched to a back three in the second half of each match. In each match, the Roots performed more poorly.
With Fisher and Tingey expected to miss extended time, Martin faces a tough decision. He can continue with a back three that has proven less effective to keep trusted veterans on the field, or he return to the back four that has proven more successful, while incorporating a less proven player, like Jesus de Vicente, into the mix.
His decision will loom over Saturday’s match and the stretch ahead.
Can Kendall McIntosh seize the opportunity?
After Raphael Spiegel’s straight red card on Sunday, he will miss the next two matches. In his place, Kendal McIntosh will start and possibly reignite the goalkeeping competition.
In his post-match comments, Martin spoke about the competition for the goalkeeper spot in the preseason. He admitted that, “it was neck-and-neck with Spiegel. In the end, Rafa earned the spot”
Although Spiegel earned the job, he may not have done enough to cement his role. In an interview with USL All Access last month, Martin laid out the qualities he seeks in a keeper: “someone that can affect the structure and the players around them to help us build and make the right decision to play out.”
A month into the season, it remains debatable whether Spiegel has helped the Roots build out the back. Spiegel’s passing metrics reflect mixed results. His successful pass rate barely ranks in the top half of the league (51.4%). His accurate long ball percentage of 30% ranks in the bottom 40% of the league. More concerning is the decline in his long-ball accuracy over the course of the season.
In the same interview, Martin stated, “What I value right now is someone who can make decisions consistently, someone who’s brave in terms of the way they want to approach the game.” While Spiegel’s decision to launch another ball into the field of play to prevent a scoring opportunity could be categorized as brave, this is likely not what Martin had in mind.
As for consistency, his performance against Orange County was defined by inconsistent decision-making. Martin singled out Spiegel’s decision to come off his line on Orange County’s goal by stating, “Rafa should’ve stayed where he was in the goal and let his defenders handle the situation. There was enough pressure on the ball.”
A decision to launch a long ball to an isolated Danny Trejo surrounded by Orange County players left even the broadcast team questioning the choice. And then, there was the decision to launch the second ball onto the field. The performance may have weakened Spiegel’s grip on the starting role.
With Spiegel suspended, McIntosh has a chance to make his case. Saturday could reopen the goalkeeping competition.