Saturday night will be emotional for many in the stands. Unless something unforeseen occurs, it will be their last visit to the Coliseum. A place near and dear to so many. A repository for countless memories. A location that turned into a community on random Wednesday afternoons, Sundays, and Saturday nights.
Still, it feels like the right moment to depart.
With that in mind, here are the three questions at the center of the Coliseum finale:
Can the Roots Give the Coliseum a Proper Farewell and Build Momentum for Next Season?
It’s fitting that the Roots play San Antonio in the final game at the Coliseum. The two teams faced off in the first match there.
The Roots lost the game 2-1. Still, the night gave us some memories that we won’t forget. Justin Rasmussen’s bicycle kick. Too $hort. The Coliseum packed. Everyone cheering for San Antonio’s opening goal because a lot of the fans didn’t know the Roots were wearing their white and green Coliseum kits.
After that night, the Roots struggled at the Coliseum. Of their 15 league matches, they lost over half of them (8). They only won four matches, and each was spaced at least six weeks apart. The Roots attack often went silent, as opponents shut out the Roots six times at home.
This year has been better, but not substantially.
The Roots have played 15 matches and boast a 4-5-5 record at the Coliseum. Saturday’s match offers an opportunity for the Roots to at least end the home slate on a non-losing note.
Still, Saturday’s match offers so much more for the organization than giving the Roots a chance to avoid finishing the season with a losing home record.
I expect Saturday’s match to be well-attended. Sure, the match will be attended by season ticket holders and people who closely follow the team. I also know that the match will be attended by plenty of people who want to visit the Coliseum one last time. I’m taking 12 people to the game, a mixture of folks who haven’t attended a game this season and people who’ve only attended a few. People who want to take in the Coliseum’s sights. The sounds. The smells.
The BART Bridge. The concrete ramps. The parking lot. The sight of that field as you walk down to your seat.
Frankly, many will be there for the Coliseum just as much, if not more, than they are for the Roots. That’s the reality. But the Roots can still leave an impression on those people.
I’ve always thought that last year represented a failure by the organization to foster the enthusiasm people had about the Coliseum into momentum for the club. The club’s poor performance, parking prices, concession prices, and a myriad of other reasons led to diminishing crowds as the season went on.
Saturday represents a mulligan of sorts. A second chance for the club. Not everyone gets one.
A second chance to make a positive impression on someone who’s attending a Roots game for the first time.
A second chance to make a positive impression on someone who attended at CSUEB or Laney and felt the vibe was off at the Coliseum.
A second chance to make someone say, “that was fun, we should do it again next season.”
As the Roots move to a possible temporary home at their facility in Alameda next year, the team can begin to lay the foundation on Saturday.
Saturday may be the end of the Coliseum’s story. But, it’s also the beginning of the Roots’ next chapter.
Hopefully, it starts with a win.
Note: As much as Saturday is about saying goodbye to the Coliseum, it will be my son’s first match there. I’ll be sharing his experience next week.
Do the Roots Concede Possession Again After Some Mixed Results?
The last three weeks have seen the Roots undergo a stylistic transformation.
After dominating possession throughout the season, Oakland has lost the possession battle in three straight matches. The results have been mixed.
The match against Indy Eleven saw the closest possession battle, with the Roots losing the battle 48-52. Indy created the most dangerous moments in the match. They outshot the Roots (17-13), while more than doubling Oakland’s shots on target (7-3) and touches in the opposition box (41-16). Still, the Roots walked away with the three points.
Against Phoenix, the difference in possession was drastic. The Roots had just 32% of the ball. Yet, the Roots dominated the match. They more than tripled Phoenix’s shots on target and more than doubled Phoenix’s big chances in the 3-0 victory.
Then came Colorado Springs.
The Roots only managed five total shots and one shot on target in the match. They logged 5 touches in the opposition box to Colorado Springs’ 31. All this added up to an xG of 0.73 against Colorado Springs’ 1.98. The only positive was the point they earned.
The last three matches presented a version of the Roots we haven’t seen much this season. They’ve ceded possession, defended deeper, and attempted to strike in transition.
The results have been imperfect. The performance in Colorado Springs was ugly. Still, Oakland collected seven points from three matches and kept their playoff hopes alive.
Now comes San Antonio.
San Antonio wants to possess the ball. They are tied with the Roots for third in the Western Conference in possession rate. They want to build up slowly, as they are near the top of the conference in passes per possession. Yet, they don’t really do anything with the ball. In their last five matches, they’ve only scored one goal.
They are exactly the kind of team Oakland could allow to have the ball.
Still, the question remains: will they concede it?
The match is as close to a do-or-die situation as it gets.
And what do people do when their back is against the wall? They typically go with what they know.
Previously, that meant controlling possession.
Now? I’m not so sure.
Saturday may tell us whether the last three weeks were a genuine evolution or just a temporary detour.
Can the Roots Score on San Antonio?
The flipside of the statistic that San Antonio has only scored once in the last five matches? They’ve only conceded three goals in their last five matches. Two of them came in a 2-1 loss to Colorado Springs last month.
Goals have come at a premium for the Roots when they face any team not named Phoenix Rising.
In three matches against Phoenix, the Roots have scored 9 of their 33 goals. In the other 24 matches, the Roots have managed 24 goals. In those 24 matches, they’ve been shut out 8 times.
The last outing against San Antonio reflected this reality. The Roots struggled to generate chances in the attack. A last-minute penalty in stoppage time awarded to Peter Wilson after a foolish decision by San Antonio’s goal-keeper allowed the Roots to escape with three points.
On Saturday, this will not be good enough.
With the final two matches on the road against Tulsa and a surging Sacramento side, three points are needed. To do that, the Roots will need to seize the moments where they have the advantage. They’ll need to take risks. They’ll need to be fearless.
Expect Peter Wilson to make the start. All the offensive weapons need to be on the field, especially the most dangerous one.
I may be in the minority. I’d rather see the Roots lose 2-1 and go down swinging than watch a feckless 0-0 draw.
We need some fireworks before the actual fireworks.