New Mexico United vs. Oakland Roots - Match Preview (August 18, 2021)
Oakland Roots play away to New Mexico United on Wednesday, August 18, 2021 at 6:30 p.m. Pacific Time, and will be broadcast on KOFY TV and ESPN+.
The Roots' injury report this morning confirmed that Tarek Morad and Tarn Weir remain out with "lower extremity" injuries.
The Club
New Mexico United is a relatively new team, founded June 6, 2018. Per Wikipedia, professional soccer came to New Mexico in the 1990s in the form of the player-owned New Mexico Chiles.
The team folded in 1996 , and the following season was replaced by the even-more-MLS-namey Albuquerque Geckos
[Source: NM United Website via Wikipedia]
Cool as hell.
Less cool and more weird is that one of their kit sponsors is Meow Wolf, an “arts and entertainment company that creates large-scale immersive art installations as well as produces streaming content, music videos, and arts and music festivals” [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meow_Wolf]
I’m struggling here, because it is kinda cool that this is a kit sponsor for a professional soccer team, but it is also just the most New Mexico thing I can imagine. New Mexico is the state that posits: what if always Burning Man?
Apparently the older versions of the jersey also used the Paper Mario font:
My wife would leave me if I did not point out that the New Mexico United website includes a “Front PAWffice.” I have a feeling my Christmas present next year will be season tickets to New Mexico United.
2021 Season So Far
United are 6-5-6, with a +1 goal differential, and sit sixth out of seven in the Mountain Division. However, three teams in the Mountain Division have six wins, and United are only one point behind fourth place San Antonio, and five points behind second place Switchbacks. Parity!
Moreno scored United’s goal in their most recent match. United had the lead from the 33rd minute. In the 77th a Diego Luna (not the Diego Luna) was sent off. And In the seventh minute of stoppage time Locomotive equalized off of a corner kick that fell to Locomotive’s keeper (unfortunately he did not get the goal or the assist, but I’d have given him the assist just for being there). Here are highlights, including Moreno’s impressive goal:
Josh Suggs # 5 - A ten-year veteran of the USL, 32-year-old Las Cruces, New Mexico-native Josh Suggs has captained United in the vast majority of United’s matches so far this season. Weirdly, he did not captain United in their most recent match, with that honor going to Devon Sandoval (also a New Mexico native). Wikipedia says that Suggs plays as left back and center half, which is consistent with FBRef’s lineup cards. Suggs is an alum of Humboldt State--a University that has sports programs.
Predictions
Bloom - Vindication. In my last preview I argued that, in fact, excuses do matter when you’re trying to show improvement. With Saturday’s win, the Roots look like a team that belongs in USL, and a team whose five-straight losses was primarily from a perfect storm of field issues, COVID difficulties, and questionable refereeing. All else being equal, this match against United should be a good test of how Roots stack up against a decent, but maybe not good, USL opponent. Unfortunately, all else is not equal: the United match will be Roots’ 7th game in 24 days. Obviously I want a win, but I think 0-0, with Roots generating some chances but stifled by a clogged midfield.
Lawson - Friends, I’m feeling it. A win streak is coming. Roots have rotated players quite a bit (except at the back, where options are limited), so I think they’ll have the legs. And they’ve been in New Mexico for a few days, so the elevation shouldn’t be a problem. 2-0 Roots.
The Club
New Mexico United is a relatively new team, founded June 6, 2018. Per Wikipedia, professional soccer came to New Mexico in the 1990s in the form of the player-owned New Mexico Chiles.
The team folded in 1996 , and the following season was replaced by the even-more-MLS-namey Albuquerque Geckos
The actual badge of New Mexico United is yellow, for the state flag of New Mexico, black for no obvious reason, and includes four diagonal stripes in reference to the Zia symbol used on the New Mexico state flag. The club say that they received permission from the folks at the Zia Pueblo to use the symbol.
[Source: NM United Website via Wikipedia]
Cool as hell.
Less cool and more weird is that one of their kit sponsors is Meow Wolf, an “arts and entertainment company that creates large-scale immersive art installations as well as produces streaming content, music videos, and arts and music festivals” [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meow_Wolf]
[My editor tells me I have to disclose that the connection is that "Meow Wolf" sounds a little bit like "Meat Cat."
I will point out that if you pay for a premium subscription to Roots blog you get the deluxe version of these posts
that is otherwise exactly the same but with tighter jokes]
I’m struggling here, because it is kinda cool that this is a kit sponsor for a professional soccer team, but it is also just the most New Mexico thing I can imagine. New Mexico is the state that posits: what if always Burning Man?
Apparently the older versions of the jersey also used the Paper Mario font:
Couldn’t they have the self-respect to be sponsored by a real company, like a bank or an indentured servant-trading autocracy or a robber baron or a pyramid scheme.
United play at Rio Grande Credit Union Field (that’s better) at Isotopes Park.
United play at Rio Grande Credit Union Field (that’s better) at Isotopes Park.
My wife would leave me if I did not point out that the New Mexico United website includes a “Front PAWffice.” I have a feeling my Christmas present next year will be season tickets to New Mexico United.
2021 Season So Far
United are 6-5-6, with a +1 goal differential, and sit sixth out of seven in the Mountain Division. However, three teams in the Mountain Division have six wins, and United are only one point behind fourth place San Antonio, and five points behind second place Switchbacks. Parity!
[Source: FBRef.com]
United started their season 4-2-2, then lost three straight, then won two, lost one, and will come into the match against Roots on the back of three straight draws.
On its face, that seems like the Roots might be catching United in a bit of a rut, but two of those draws, a 0-0 and a 1-1 in the last match, were against El Paso, the class of the Mountain Division and the stingiest defense in all of USL by a decent margin. The other 0-0 draw was away at Tacoma, a ludicrously tiny field that punished the Roots.
United are ninth in the USL in goals against per 90--that is, they concede fewer goals than average. They are also ninth from the bottom in USL in goals scored per 90, more or less explaining their record. We think it might be noteworthy that they are very close on both of those metrics to Tacoma, another team that plays on a baseball field.
United’s last match was on August 14, but that was at home and they had two weeks off before that, so we assume United will be well rested for the Roots fixture.
Players to Watch
A thing I noticed in preparing this post is that United's youngest player with more than eight minutes of playing time is two months shy of his 24th birthday. That means any of Danny Flores, Tarn Weir, or Ariel Mbumba would be the youngest regular player on United. I am not exactly sure how FBRef calculates average age for a squad (that is, whether it weights by playing time), but United’s average age is 28.2 to the Roots’ 26.4 For comparison, the Roots’ average age is about the same as Sacramento Republic’s, but LA Galaxy II’s is 21.9! Looking at FBRef, as you might imagine, the youngest teams in USL are the developmental teams for MLS clubs. Oakland sits pretty much dead in the middle of the league as a whole, which means it is one of the youngest teams if you discount the developmental teams (which does not matter much for on-field performance, but I think has some relevance for divining the Roots’ FO’s strategy). United’s average age is third oldest in the league.
Sergio Rivas # 11 - Rivas is joint-top scorer for United, and is listed on their website as a midfielder, but as midfielder/forward on FBRef. Rivas is fifth on the team in total minutes played, and the only forward in the top five. He has three goals and an assist, spread out over the courts of the season. Rivas was on the Reno team that won USL last season, contributing two goals and three assists to that effort.
Amando Moreno # 10 - 25-year-old forward Moreno shares the top scorer title with Rivas, but has played notably fewer minutes after featuring for El Salvador in the CONCACAF Gold Cup, including an assist in El Salvador’s loss to Qatar in the Quarter-Finals. Moreno’s assist came on a slick one-touch pass through Qatar’s backline, at the 3:02 mark of this video:
On its face, that seems like the Roots might be catching United in a bit of a rut, but two of those draws, a 0-0 and a 1-1 in the last match, were against El Paso, the class of the Mountain Division and the stingiest defense in all of USL by a decent margin. The other 0-0 draw was away at Tacoma, a ludicrously tiny field that punished the Roots.
United are ninth in the USL in goals against per 90--that is, they concede fewer goals than average. They are also ninth from the bottom in USL in goals scored per 90, more or less explaining their record. We think it might be noteworthy that they are very close on both of those metrics to Tacoma, another team that plays on a baseball field.
United’s last match was on August 14, but that was at home and they had two weeks off before that, so we assume United will be well rested for the Roots fixture.
Players to Watch
A thing I noticed in preparing this post is that United's youngest player with more than eight minutes of playing time is two months shy of his 24th birthday. That means any of Danny Flores, Tarn Weir, or Ariel Mbumba would be the youngest regular player on United. I am not exactly sure how FBRef calculates average age for a squad (that is, whether it weights by playing time), but United’s average age is 28.2 to the Roots’ 26.4 For comparison, the Roots’ average age is about the same as Sacramento Republic’s, but LA Galaxy II’s is 21.9! Looking at FBRef, as you might imagine, the youngest teams in USL are the developmental teams for MLS clubs. Oakland sits pretty much dead in the middle of the league as a whole, which means it is one of the youngest teams if you discount the developmental teams (which does not matter much for on-field performance, but I think has some relevance for divining the Roots’ FO’s strategy). United’s average age is third oldest in the league.
Sergio Rivas # 11 - Rivas is joint-top scorer for United, and is listed on their website as a midfielder, but as midfielder/forward on FBRef. Rivas is fifth on the team in total minutes played, and the only forward in the top five. He has three goals and an assist, spread out over the courts of the season. Rivas was on the Reno team that won USL last season, contributing two goals and three assists to that effort.
Amando Moreno # 10 - 25-year-old forward Moreno shares the top scorer title with Rivas, but has played notably fewer minutes after featuring for El Salvador in the CONCACAF Gold Cup, including an assist in El Salvador’s loss to Qatar in the Quarter-Finals. Moreno’s assist came on a slick one-touch pass through Qatar’s backline, at the 3:02 mark of this video:
Moreno scored United’s goal in their most recent match. United had the lead from the 33rd minute. In the 77th a Diego Luna (not the Diego Luna) was sent off. And In the seventh minute of stoppage time Locomotive equalized off of a corner kick that fell to Locomotive’s keeper (unfortunately he did not get the goal or the assist, but I’d have given him the assist just for being there). Here are highlights, including Moreno’s impressive goal:
You can also see in these highlights that United’s field is tiny.
Josh Suggs # 5 - A ten-year veteran of the USL, 32-year-old Las Cruces, New Mexico-native Josh Suggs has captained United in the vast majority of United’s matches so far this season. Weirdly, he did not captain United in their most recent match, with that honor going to Devon Sandoval (also a New Mexico native). Wikipedia says that Suggs plays as left back and center half, which is consistent with FBRef’s lineup cards. Suggs is an alum of Humboldt State--a University that has sports programs.
Predictions
Bloom - Vindication. In my last preview I argued that, in fact, excuses do matter when you’re trying to show improvement. With Saturday’s win, the Roots look like a team that belongs in USL, and a team whose five-straight losses was primarily from a perfect storm of field issues, COVID difficulties, and questionable refereeing. All else being equal, this match against United should be a good test of how Roots stack up against a decent, but maybe not good, USL opponent. Unfortunately, all else is not equal: the United match will be Roots’ 7th game in 24 days. Obviously I want a win, but I think 0-0, with Roots generating some chances but stifled by a clogged midfield.
Lawson - Friends, I’m feeling it. A win streak is coming. Roots have rotated players quite a bit (except at the back, where options are limited), so I think they’ll have the legs. And they’ve been in New Mexico for a few days, so the elevation shouldn’t be a problem. 2-0 Roots.
One of your funniest posts yet. I honestly thought the pyramid scheme thing would link to a joke but nope, Herbalife.
ReplyDeleteGood luck Roots!