The Roots lost 4-1 to Lexington on Saturday, and for the first time in the history of this column, I don’t have a “Loved,” “Unsure,” and “Hated.” I have three things I hated.
Hated: The “Prayer Circle Formation”
I wish I had come up with the moniker. I really do.
In the midst of the United States women’s national team struggles at the 2023 World Cup, The Athletic writer Kimberly McCauley attempted to identify the root of the problem. How could a team with dynamic players like Sophia Smith, Rose Lavelle, Lindsey Horan Heaps, and Trinity Rodman struggle to score goals?
McCauley found the issue with what she called, “the Prayer Circle Formation.”
McCauley described the formation as a formation in which “everyone’s occupying a space on the perimeter of the pitch and no one’s in the middle. Intelligent and technically adept players who regularly show the ability to combine in tight spaces … are being made to appear inept, as they look up for passing options and find no one.”
Does this look familiar?
This season, it feels like the Roots have become converts to the “Prayer Circle Formation.” Once you see it, you can’t unsee it. It happens so frequently during matches. It especially appeared during the five-game stretch of the season where the team only scored one goal. On Saturday, without Bruno Lapa, the Roots lacked a presence in the middle of their attack to link play. Florian Valot got the start, but he often drifts wide to try to create overloads on the wings.
“The Prayer Circle Formation” often results in the Roots cycling possession around the perimeter before a winger carries the ball toward the corner flag and either loses possession or lofts a hopeful cross into the box.
The result is what I’ve dubbed, “empty calorie possessions.” Oakland moves the ball around the perimeter of the attack, but the lack of a force occupying those central spaces creates a situation where opponents are rarely forced to make defensive decisions. Possession is neutered.
It’s extremely inefficient. There’s a reason the Roots’ best attacking moments often come immediately after an aggressive press. It happened on Saturday, especially after the entrance of Bobosi Byaruhanga in the game. It creates moments in transition for the attack before it bogs down into the “Prayer Circle Formation. “
“The Prayer Circle Formation” name also works on another level. Too often, it seems like the attack is hoping something will happen instead of creating the conditions for it to happen. They don’t stress the defense. The attack often settles for hopeful crosses and is too often reliant on moments of individual brilliance. At its worst, the attack feels like a hopeful prayer for a goal.
How’s that famous stadium anthem go? “Whoa, we’re halfway there…We’re livin’ on a prayer…..”
Hated: How the Roots Folded
I’m no body language expert. It’s definitely not a hard science. Still, at times, I’m a believer.
After the first goal, it felt like the Roots were going to find a second. Ryan Martin agreed: “I felt like we were going to win the game. Our momentum was building. If we stick the second goal, it probably would have ended our way.”
From the 52nd minute to Lexington’s goal in the 79th minute, it truly felt like the Roots would gain the lead. They created several dangerous moments and looked increasingly likely to score again.
But they didn’t.
Then Lexington scored.
The reaction was interesting. At that moment, the Roots looked dejected. It appeared the goal sapped their energy. Shoulders appeared to sag. After an extended period of sustained pressure and threatening to take the lead, the Roots found themselves behind.
At that moment, I told my wife, “Lexington is going to get a third.”
I didn’t expect them to get a fourth.
One of the defining characteristics of the Roots early in the season was their grit. They consistently found ways to respond after going down, with the matches against Tampa Bay, Loudoun, Birmingham, and El Paso all coming to mind.
Saturday felt different.
After Lexington’s second goal, it felt like the air had been let out of the ballon. And the goals kept coming as a result. Maybe it is the frustration of going months without a match scoring multiple goals. Maybe it was the disbelief of dominating large stretches of the match without finding a second goal. Maybe it was the realization that this result would severely damage their playoff hopes. Or maybe it was some combination of all three.
Still the fact remains: earlier in the season, adversity seemed to energize the Roots. On Saturday, it appeared to break them.
Hated: That the Season is Technically Still Alive
The thing I hated most about Saturday? I still hold a smidgeon of belief that the Roots could make the playoffs.
Saturday should have been the nail in the coffin. The Roots are now seven points behind Lexington SC for the final playoff spot with six matches remaining. San Antonio is nine points ahead in the seventh seed. Oakland sits in 11th place with Phoenix and Las Vegas sitting in front of them. Things appear dire.
Still, a lot of the teams face each other and will cannibalize each other to a degree.
Beyond that, the Roots will face a difficult schedule that gives them plenty of opportunities to gain ground on some of the teams ahead of them. It’s obvious that the Roots have been in a months-long funk. Still, the USL is a weird place and teams can turn it around on a dime.
The Roots have too much talent for me to completely write them off. Peter Wilson, Wolfgang Prentice, and David Garcia are all good players in the league. Solid players fill out the roster. It’s not crazy to believe that things can snap together for the final stretch of the season.
And Oakland still has one card to play: Bruno Lapa and Peter Wilson together.
The two have yet to share the field together much this season. Lapa missed the match on Saturday, but his importance to the attack was apparent in his absence. He is one of the few players capable of occupying the central spaces that sit vacant in the “Prayer Circle Formation.” He can be the connective tissue that unlocks opportunities for Wilson.
If the Roots can get Lapa and Wilson on the field together, they develop chemistry, and discover a consistent attacking formula, a late surge isn’t impossible.
Is it unlikely? Absolutely.
Is it impossible? Not yet.
And as I walked across the BART Bridge back to my car on Saturday night, that lingering possibility was what I hated most about the match.