Oakland Roots vs LA Galaxy II - Things To Watch
At 1-8-4, the Roots are still looking for its first win since May 23 when beating Galaxy II 3-2 in their first meeting. It’s been quiet the journey since then with the documented field issues thus far resulting in more matches at Livermore’s Las Positas (three) than their home at Laney, now leading to the club returning to Oakland at a different venue, Merritt College over in the Oakland hills.
The Roots are coming off a 0-0 draw with Sacramento
Republic, where
The Blog notes that Oakland did better to fill the center of the park, keep
a solid back four, and finally find some of its attacking formula.
In
our preview of today's match against Los Dos, our guy Peter
Bloom takes a look at Galaxy’s recent run of form.
With the team coming back to full health and a near-complete
roster formulating for head coach/technical director Jordan Ferrell, we’re now
enabled to pull from his thoughts and perceived playing style to make more
valid speculation.
Ferrell’s recent comments on how Roots SC’s system progressed
against Republic gave some insight on what he envisions and his preferred
formation of a 4-2-3-1, which Oakland has now run three straight matches.
"I
think you're seeing a relatively stable shape for us, and there's a couple
piece that are slightly different depending on the personnel… We're also
building relationships, like Brandon [Allen], [Jeremy] Bokila, Quincy
[Amarikwa]; all players who haven't played a lot together. The good thing is we
have a lot of minutes over the next couple of weeks. We'll work those relationships
out as quickly as possible."
Here are some situations to keep an eye on:
Will
the goals come?
The obvious elephant in the room is the Roots shaking
those demons towards three points.
Ferrell has said after each of our discussions, “We’re
going to get you guys a win,” and we try to reflect that optimism in our match
preview on Friday.
Ferrell added that Roots feel like they are at the doorstep of
an offensive breakthrough, but also stressed the importance of defensive
foundation—pointing out that Oakland didn’t have a full squad in its July 25
match loss to LA.
“Yeah
it does, for sure. The goose-egg on the defensive side of things is something
we prioritize, I've reiterated that a lot because it gives us a platform for
everything and confidence. I think it's the next step for us, the game against
the Galaxy this weekend will be a big challenge for us. Last time we saw them,
we didn't have our full squad. This time, I think we're starting to get closer
and closer to our full squad, so it'll be a much different game than we've seen
the first two outings."
Brandon Allen, as well, is another target man still
looking for his best form after signing on June 28.
Can either score on Saturday?
Quincy
Amarikwa back in the lineup?
Will Saturday be Quincy Time?
Ferrell had high praise of Amarikwa’s instant impact on
Wednesday’s game, making sure to mention the veteran running down a ball from
50-yards just to knock it out of bounds.
“It's
not something that a player of his caliber usually does [close down a ball from
distance], but it’s something he does with his type of personality. The group
sees a guy that has played more than 200 MLS games come in and chase somebody
down for 50-yards just to knock a ball out of bounds. It changes the way you
work, I think that was really stimulating for everyone to see,” said
Ferrell of Amarikwa.
The forward helped lead one offensive opportunity in the
76th minute against Republic after receiving a pass from Danny Flores, but his
pass in the direction of Bokila came up empty.
More
veteran contributions?
If we’re commenting on Amarikwa, Bokila, and Allen, it’s
also pertinent to mention that Wal Fall has appeared in the last four matches
and scored Roots most recent goal in their 3-1 loss in Tacoma. He played well
in replacement of Ariel Mbumba in Wednesday’s game.
Ferrell also believes that Fissore gives the Roots
stability in the midfield and allows their attack to move with more security.
“What
we tried to do was drop Mati [Matias Fissore], that gave us a little more ball
security as the ball moved side-to-side,” explained Ferrell on
Wednesday.
Does the defense keep its form?
Ferrell’s defensive foundation is proving to be a
building block for the club going forward, making high praise of wingbacks
Akeem Ward, Soya Takahashi, and Memo Diaz, while fellow defenders Kai Greene,
Emrah Klimenta, and Max Ornstil provide more versatility and skilled passing
out of the back.
Tarek Morad has missed two straight games due to injury,
but is another defensive stalwart.
Fall was another good defensive contributor against Sac
with two successful tackles in as many attempts. Fissore, meanwhile, succeeded
on five duels, three tackles, and made four recoveries of possession.
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