Blackjack! Las Vegas 1-3 Oakland

 

Oh hell yes. Roots are back, baby! Under the lights Saturday night in Las Vegas, Roots bagged 3 second-half goals. It was the second time this season Roots have scored 3 in the second half, and they are now 2-0-0 in those games.

Roots’ shape against Las Vegas looked like their shape against New Mexico: A sort of 4-1-4-1. The interesting changes were among the attacking 5 in this one: Quincy Amarikwa occupied the #9 role, Yohannes Harish and Chuy Enriquez were the wingers, and Jose Hernandez paired with Lindo Mfeka inside.

Oakland had control of the game from the off. They found plenty of joy down the left hand side, with Harish moving centrally and Soya Takahashi making overlapping runs. We also saw what Amarikwa brings to the #9 role, as he used his strength to get and retain possession on a few occasions. Oakland were able to generate a few half-chances in the early going, but were unable to capitalize on their early momentum.

Las Vegas eventually grew into the game. It looked to me like their big adjustment was to press up on Oakland’s fullbacks. Vegas were content to sit back and absorb Roots’ pressure, but they funneled the ball through the middle of the park. Their early attempts at this were less than successful, and we were treated to about five minutes of real end-to-end football.

The biggest difference in Oakland’s shape between this match and the New Mexico match is that Hernandez, who was in the role Wal Fall had played against New Mexico, did far more roaming about the pitch. We saw in this middle stretch of the first half how that could pay dividends. You see here both Roots fullbacks are pressed up, but not particularly high. Max Ornstil has dropped into the backline, and Hernandez has dropped essentially to fill Ornstil’s role. Given these rotations, Hernandez finds himself with acres of space between the lines, and plenty of time to turn and pick out Enriquez 60 yards downfield.

Perhaps most impressive, the final shot from Oakland in this sequence came from...Hernandez, who hustled upfield to join the attack after initiating it from the other side of the halfway line. Hernandez's willingness to drop in order to facilitate the attack at least briefly muted the effect of Vegas's adjustments. 

Eventually though, Las Vegas figured things out, clogging the midfield and bowing up at the back. As the half wore on, Oakland found less and less joy down the left side. Frankly, it looked like the schedule started to wear on Harish, and without Takahashi as an outlet, attacks down the left would die an untimely death. Mfeka started dropping deeper to try and spring attacks down the right, and at the very end of the half, Harish and Amarikwa also swapped spots to try and manufacture a threat down the left. A few Oakland attacks looked promising, but Vegas did a creditable job snuffing anything out.

At the half, Oakland subbed Wal Fall on for Harish. Amarikwa resumed his spot at the top of the formation, and Hernandez moved out to the left to take Harish’s spot on the wing. This was a clear sign of attacking intent.

But it was, in fact, Las Vegas who came out of the locker room with the bit between their teeth. Early on in the second half, Vegas started running directly at Oakland’s midfield, and it took just two-and-a-half minutes for this to pay off. Lights’ left beck Quezada made a blistering run into the attacking third with the ball. Klimenta took it off him but couldn’t clear the zone. The ball got sent back into the mix, and Kai Greene simply mistimed his clearing header, letting Danny Musovski in on goal alone. He didn’t miss.

That was essentially Lights’ last moment of joy in the entire game. Roots leveled the score just 4 minutes later with an incredible team goal. Vegas tried to play out of the back, but couldn’t break the Oakland press, so they played it back to their keeper, who attempted to play it long. Ornstil won the second ball, and played a little 1-2 with Hernandez. He then found Takahashi making an overlapping run. Takahashi got to the byline and sent a cross in. It was off-target but Amarikwa wouldn’t let it go out for a goal kick, instead heading it to Enriquez. Enriquez played it to Memo Diaz, and then hustled out wide, where he received a return pass. Enriquez created just a little bit of space, then sent it back into the box to Hernandez, whose first touch was exquisite. He gathered the ball, shook off the first defender, and slammed it home near post.

The second Oakland goal was also a real beaut. Vegas had a free kick in their attacking half which could not penetrate the Oakland wall. Hernandez cleared it to the halfway line with an over-the-head volley. Amarikwa fought off a Lights defender and carried the ball into the Roots’ attacking half down the left flank, trailed by two defenders. Enriquez came flying forward and bent his run out wide to the right, causing the two Lights defenders to split:

That opened space for Mfeka to charge down the middle of the field. Amarikwa played it to Mfeka, drawing the last defender away from Enriquez:

That left Enriquez wide open in the center of the box, and he played Mfeka's pass one-time past the keeper. Absolutely clinical counter-attacking.

Lights’ determination to get back on terms meant the game got really stretched at this point. Both sides had a couple good opportunities over the next five minutes. But Oakland smelled blood in the water. In the 65th minute, Jordan Ferrell opted to bring on both Jeremy Bokila and Johnny Rodriguez, two forwards, for Hernandez and Mfeka, two mids. Big Ricky Bobby vibes with these subs.

From the moment of his introduction it was clear that Bokila was bound and determined to get on the score sheet. And he almost had his goal less than 3 minutes after his introduction: Vegas tried to play the ball back to the keeper, but Bokila chased down the pass and pressed the keeper into a mistake, namely playing the ball right off Bokila. A Lights defender collected the loose ball, but his first touch was awful, and Bokila grabbed the ball right back. His shot got past the keeper but thudded off the post.

Jordan Ferrell made two more substitutions, both defensively minded. In the 72nd minute, Matias Fissore came on for Quincy Amarikwa. Bokila became the lone striker in what was essentially a very defensive 4-5-1 at that point. In the 81st minute, Akeem Ward spelled Jesus Enriquez, pushing Memo Diaz up into the midfield.

But despite the defensive orientation of these substitutions, if you have Jeremy Bokila on the pitch you are never too far from a goal. In the 79th minute, Bokila was inches from a tap in, and in the 82nd minute, he finally got his goal, finishing off a two-man counter-attack in style, with an assist from Johnny Rodriguez.

Fluid play. Oakland have had a real stop-start season, and, when you combine that with injuries, have lacked fluidity on the pitch. That may well be a thing of the past. All three goals came on essentially picture-perfect sequences, and Oakland generally bossed the game. They are now 2-2-0 in their last 4, a stretch which was preceded by the near-miss against Phoenix Rising and the refereeing debacle against Tacoma, either of which, if played again, might have resulted in points for Roots. I’m personally ready to get my hopes up for the rest of the season.

Some perspective on the season. If you remove the three games following the covid pause (Lights, Los Dos, OCSC), Oakland are 3-5-5, with 13 GF and 17 GA. Is that great? No, absolutely not. But it looks a lot different than their current situation. Also, their injury record this season is shocking. On the list of players who have missed multiple games: Tyler Blackwood, Tarek Morad, Tarn Weir, Jose Hernandez, Wal Fall, Johnny Rodriguez, Jeremy Bokila, Matias Fissore. Given all of this, Oakland are in a decent spot. Unfortunately, 2 of the next 3 fixtures are against 2 of the 3 best teams in the USL, Phoenix and Tampa Bay. So next Saturday’s tie with Tacoma is hugely important. This team is moving in the right direction, and, honestly, the postseason is not out of the question, but they cannot drop points at home to non-Phoenix divisional foes.

So about that midweek home fixture against Phoenix Rising. Rising have drawn their last three matches (including against Las Vegas and Sacramento), while Oakland is starting to look like a really threatening team. A pessimist probably points out that their two wins have come against a 10-man Los Dos and arguably-worst-team-in-the-division Las Vegas, but that person should honestly shut up and let us enjoy this. On paper, this may be the best possible time to catch Phoenix.

Oakland's current form has to have given Jordan Ferrell a lot to think about as far as team selection. Surely we'll see Akeem Ward and Wal Fall reenter the starting XI. And the center back pairing seems settled. But there are still plenty of possibilities at the moment. For instance, do you play Amarikwa in the #9 role again, or do you use him and Johnny Rodriguez as the wingers, and start Jeremy Bokila up top? Do you start Akeem Ward on the left again (to shadow Phoenix's Solomon Asante), or do you move him to the right to allow Soya Takahashi to play in his preferred left back role, hoping his forward movement can generate chances? Do you play a double pivot, or continue to play 4 across supporting the striker? And, of course, whatever decisions are made, Roots will have plenty of guys who can come off the bench and change the game if need be. 

Here's hoping neither the wind, the heat, nor the smoke ruin what should be an excellent midweek fixture in Livermore.