Just One of Them Days: Oakland 0-3 OCSC

 

Somehow, the Oakland Roots are going to have to find a way not to take last Saturday’s match against Orange County personally. But it really did feel like the universe had it out for them.

Tactically, I think this might be as close to what coach Jordan Ferrell wants to do as he’s gotten all year. Paul Blanchette was between the pipes again. Your centerbacks were Emrah Klimenta and Kai Greene, with Tarek Morad coming on for Greene at half time. Memo Diaz and Soya Takahashi occupied the fullback roles. Max Ornstil played as the defensive mid, with Jose Hernandez and Danny Flores further forward. The wingers were Tarn Weir and Joe Restani, and Brandon Allen started in the striker role. (I should note at this point that the ESPN crew mentioned on several occasions that Oakland were playing a back three. That’s not what I saw. Formationally, I would have described what Oakland were doing as a 4-3-3, or a 4-1-4-1.)

The big story of this game was the wind.

Winds up to 30mph rn 💨😧

— Orange County SC (@orangecountysc) August 1, 2021

All that wind had an obvious effect on the game. The first 15 minutes or so were a little unkempt, as both sides tried to feel out what kind of impact the wind would have. Oakland were playing into the wind, and simply could not pass the ball any distance in the air. OCSC did not have that problem; instead, they could simply loft a pass into the jet stream and let the wind carry it downfield. And once the players figured that out, OCSC began to impose themselves on the match. Because there was no credible threat of a ball over the top, OCSC inched their defensive line higher and higher, squeezing the pitch and putting plenty of pressure on Oakland.

The first near-strike came in the 22nd minute: After some honestly very good buildup play from Orange County, there was a bit of a scrum at the top of the 18-yard box. OCSC striker Ronaldo Damus (who the Blog highlighted in our Preview) leaked out, and none of the Oakland defenders tracked his run. He wound up with a clear shot on goal, but Blanchette reacted marvelously, coming out to close down any angles, and preserving the nil-nil scoreline.

That moment aside, Oakland generally did a creditable job preventing OCSC from getting big chances in the early going. But the Roots were no match for Mother Nature, and in the 31st minute, a wind-aided free kick got past Blanchette. (Scored by Mikko Kuningas, who we also highlighted.)

OCSC’s second goal, however, cannot be chalked up to divine forces. That sequence began with a pass back to Blanchette. He played it out to Greene, but his pass was significantly under-weighted, allowing an OCSC forward to put Greene under pressure. Greene’s clearance was intercepted before the halfway line, but Oakland had a chance to get out of things, as OCSC’s first touch was sloppy. But neither Memo Diaz nor Greene, attacking the ball on the right side, could get possession or clear the ball, and in the process they took themselves out of the play. OCSC’s Brian Iloski collected the ball and played it to Eric Calvilla, who ran into the space vacated by Diaz and Greene, and dribbled all the way to the byline. As Calvilla made his move, Klimenta, who had been marking Damus, moved to cover the near post. As he began that move, he signaled to Takahashi to track any run from Damus, but Takahashi was about 15 yards too wide to be of any use. It appeared that Takahashi thought that Ornstil should cover Klimenta’s six, but Ornstil was tracking a different runner. The end result is that Ronaldo Damus is all alone at the far post. 2-0 OCSC.

To be honest, I cannot get too upset about that sequence. Only the best defenses in the world maintain their organization at all times. But what has really characterized the Roots’ recent form is that these moments always seem to result in goals for their opponents, but Oakland is unable to capitalize when presented with similar opportunities. Surely that will change at some point.

Oakland had the wind at their backs in the second half and, accordingly, came out of the locker room on the front foot, spending the first 7 or 8 minutes with possession in their offensive half. That spell would come to a screeching halt when Max Ornstil was given a red card, a decision which was, in the Blog’s opinion, an absolute fucking joke. During a scramble for a loose ball off a corner, Ornstil and Brian Iloski came together. The collision seemed to leave both worse off: Ornstil got up limping and Iloski stayed down for an extra second or two. It seemed like a basic football play, but Iloski took offense, and got up and shoved Ornstil in the back. Ornstil has several inches and a comparable number of pounds on Iloski, so a shove in the back is probably the most Iloski could have gotten away with. Ornstil took appropriate offense to that bullshit move, got in Iloski’s face, and pushed back. At this point, the other 18 outfield players converged on the two, and Chris Wehan showed up and also shoved Ornstil. In the end, Ornstil got a red, and Iloski and Wehan got yellows. Like I said, truly unbelievable. Perhaps Ornstil said something, but nothing that could be seen on TV, even when you slow down the tape and analyze it Zapruder-style, warranted a sending off. Like I said, it was just one of those days.

As in past games, though, Roots refused to give up. Over the next 15 minutes or so, they would have the two biggest opportunities. In the 61st minute, Danny Flores played a nifty pass between the lines to Restani, who sent a cross across the face of goal that Tarn Weir missed by just a foot or so.

12 minutes later, Klimenta sent a great ball down the right side to Memo Diaz, who passed to Yohannes Harish (on for Restani). Harish’s cross took a deflection and came to Flores, who played another ball across the face of goal. Weir got to this cross, but skied his shot.

OCSC put the final nail in this one in the 76th minute. Some great, sustained buildup play left Oakland at 6’s and 7’s at the back, and two (2!) OCSC players found themselves unmarked in the 18-yard box. A wind-altered cross found the feet of Kuningas, who quickly passed to Aidan Apodaca (one of the two wide open OCSC players), who slammed it home.

Oakland continued to show life, generating decent chances (by my estimation) in the 86th, 87th, 88th, and 93rd minutes. Obviously none of these got them on the scoreboard, though this is certainly a testament to how dangerous Jeremy Bokila can be. 

Weir and Restani make their case. The two fellas Oakland started on the wings acquitted themselves decently well, despite the lack of goals. Each showed the ability to drop deep and carry the ball forward on multiple occasions in the first half. But these dribbling runs came to naught because they started so deep, and because their only outlet was Brandon Allen, who was on an island against the OCSC back line. So what to do about this? One likely switch is to get the attacking mids further forward. There was one sequence in the 28th minute in which Weir picked the ball up in space and was able to find Hernandez charging towards the goal. I’d imagine we’re likely to see more of this, but it was simply not feasible on Saturday given the wind conditions in the first half, and OCSC’s man advantage in the second. I would also look for Oakland to try and utilize a false nine on occasion.

The chances are there. Offensively, Oakland hit rock bottom against Austin Bold. What we’ve seen in the weeks since then is a team that is generating opportunities (both from open play and on set pieces) but just not converting them. A first-half goal in either of the last two matches might have made a huge difference to how the games played out. (Though the result against Las Vegas shows that one goal is not a cure-all.) I get the feeling that we’re close to the dam breaking. Getting the preferred 18 together would probably help.

Not yet worried about the defense. Roots have now surrendered 8 goals in the last three games. The last two against OCSC were the first truly worrying goals against, in my book, and even then one came with a man down. I imagine we should brace ourselves for another couple of goals against Phoenix, but I’ll be watching to see if the defensive organization returns. Even in difficult games Oakland has been well organized at the back. That organization was missing for periods against OCSC. That might be attributed to the absence of Akeem Ward, and hopefully he will return soon. If Oakland go another 90 without their defensive solidity, then we start to worry.