The Roots found a way to get three points, but the match raised as many questions as it answered. Against a ten-man El Paso side, Oakland struggled for long stretches before finally asserting control of the match. The factors that helped turn the tide could shape how this team looks going forward.
Loved: Tucker Lepley’s Giving the Roots Another Way to Attack
The frustration started to appear on various Roots’ players’ faces.
Playing a man down, El Paso’s low block formed a wall that proved impenetrable for the majority of the first half. At points, the Roots looked out of answers, resorting to sending in hopeful crosses. After the match, Martin discussed how he utilized a pause in play to remind the team not to, “settle for crosses… we want to be patient and get into the gold zone instead of just lumping balls in the box”
The team found an equalizer, but it came from a moment of individual brilliance. Peter Wilson took a pass from Jesus de Vicente, volleyed the ball into the air with his back to goal, jumped, rotated his body in the air, and finished. Still, nothing about the first half gave much hope that the Roots would break down the Locomotive’s block.
The second half changed that and Tucker Lepley was a huge reason.
Lepley changed the match immediately. In 35 minutes, he completed 25/26 passes, completed five passes into the final third, and recorded 32 touches. The Roots’ attack sharpened the moment he entered.
But the most important moment came on his game-winning goal. Lepley received the ball right outside of the box, cut inside, left two defenders in his wake, and launched a worldie into the corner.
That goal demonstrated something sorely lacking in the Roots’ attack: the ability to win 1 v. 1.
The Roots attack has been productive to start the season, but it has depended on structure and distribution. Goals like Lepley’s have been rare. Martin acknowledged this after the Orange County match by stating, “Him (Bertin Jacquesson) and Trejo are the only two who can really beat people 1-on-1.”
With the uneven form of Trejo and Jacquesson, the arrival of Lepley becomes even more critical. He adds another path to the gold zone: not just through buildup, but through individual creation.
After the match, Martin remarked, “In this league, it’s so hard to get results when you’re not at your best… at the end of the season, you’re judged on your points.”
Lepley provides the Roots with an X-Factor for those moments when the Roots are not at their best. At times, when things are even, individual brilliance is needed to break a stalemate.
On Saturday, Lepley displayed just a little bit of that magic. Hopefully, there is more to come.
Unsure: Jacquesson’s Role Going Forward
Lepley’s arrival adds another weapon to Martin’s arsenal. It also adds another option for Martin to ponder when filling out his starting eleven.
A player who may be looking over his shoulder? Bertin Jacquesson.
Since his debut off the bench against Orange County, Jacquesson has started every match. Saturday, however, was his weakest and most inefficient performance of the season.
His struggles began early. A heavy touch in the second minute led to a dispossession that sparked the sequence resulting in El Paso’s opening goal.
After El Paso went down a man, the Roots tested their defense with long balls along the flanks. Jacquesson served as the outlet, but won just 2/6 ground duels. When he did get on the ball, the results did not improve. He was dispossessed three times in the match, tied for the team lead despite only playing one half, and completed only six passes.
Martin pulled him at halftime, and the players who replaced him helped Oakland take control.
Coming off a weak performance against Loudoun, Danny Trejo responded with a strong showing. In 25 efficient minutes, he tied for the most touches in the opposition box and shots on either side. Two of three shots could have easily found the back of the net.
The difference between this week and last for Trejo? Finding himself in wider positions.
Against Loudoun, Trejo operated in the more congested central areas, making it more difficult for him to utilize the skills that make him dangerous.
Against El Paso, Trejo started centrally before moving outside when Jackson Kiil entered the match. Playing on the outside allowed him to isolate defenders, take them 1 v. 1, and create havoc. His most dangerous moments of the game came from those wide positions.
Below is Trejo’s touch map against El Paso:
Trejo’s effectiveness out wide complicates things for Jacquesson, who primarily occupied that role. Adding pressure is the continued impact of Florian Valot, who again stabilized the team after entering.
Last week, we wrote about how Valot’s entrance into the match changed the entire dynamic of the match. This week brought a different opponent, but the same story.
Valot replaced Jacquesson in the match on the outside before again moving into a deeper, more central position that allowed him to connect all levels of the team. He tied for fifth in passes completed despite only playing the second half. More importantly, the team looked more cohesive with him on the field.
Then, there’s Lepley. Martin minced no words when discussing Lepley: “He’ll feature heavily as we get into it.”
If Trejo continues to be more effective wide, Valot improves cohesion, and Lepley demands minutes, the question becomes: where does Jacquesson fit going forward?
Saturday may have been the wrong time to have his weakest performance.
Hated: The Opening of the Match
With all the emotional catharsis that came from slowly breaking down El Paso’s defense, it may be easy to lose sight of the match’s opening.
It shouldn’t be. The first few minutes nearly cost the Roots the game.
Martin stated the team was “sluggish” and “lacked urgency” to open the match. El Paso scored in the second minute, but the goal was wiped off for offsides. Moments later, Rubio Rubin scored. In the sixth minute, El Paso logged another dangerous shot on target that Raphael Spiegel saved.
The key to their success: targetting unfamiliar defensive pairings.
The disallowed goal tested Keegan Tingey and Bobosi Byaruhanga’s communication. The goal and subsequent chance targeted Wolfgang Prentice and de Vicente. For the second consecutive week, a team found success attacking that side of the pitch.
Both of El Paso’s opportunities attacking Wolfgang and de Vicente saw a massive amount of space open between the two in the buildup.
Below is a still from the El Paso’s goal, note the massive amount of space on the wing:
In a near-identical image, see the still from the sixth minute. Again, note the massive amount of space on the wing:
El Paso could have scored three times in the first six minutes. Starts like that are unsustainable. Despite all the attacking firepower the Roots possess, overcoming a start like that will be a tall task for any offense, no matter how potent.