Payback: Oakland 3-1 Tacoma

We have heard on several occasions this year that Oakland Roots want to play possession-based football and control the middle of the pitch. So I was shocked when Oakland had between 29 and 32% possession (depending on whose stats you looked at) in the first half Saturday at Laney College Stadium.

Oakland pressed high early. Tacoma’s keeper (Christian Herrera--nemesis of the Blog’s Jon Comeaux) demonstrated some shakiness using his feet, and it's difficult to break a press with a keeper whose passes you cannot trust. The first goal was (sorta) the result of this press: Oakland’s front line turned Tacoma over, and, after recycling possession all the way back, Oakland got a corner because Tacoma’s wingbacks had dropped momentarily into a back 5, giving Soya Takahashi some space between Tacoma’s front and back lines to receive a ball from Klimenta over the top. The goal itself was gorgeous, although I think Klimenta’s assist was accidental:

Cobra Kai Greene puts Oakland up early!#OAKvTAC pic.twitter.com/Wy73uh4RKg

— Oakland Roots (@oaklandrootssc) August 29, 2021

Oakland kept the high press up for a few minutes after the goal, though they failed to generate a second shot on target for the balance of the half. Martin Rennie noticed on the broadcast that Oakland’s pressing trigger appeared to be whenever either of Tacoma’s holding mids received possession, which made it difficult for Defiance to sustain any kind of buildup. Oakland bracketed one of the mids, Carlos Anguiano, with Matias Fissore and Wal Fall, while Jose Hernandez absolutely hounded the other, 16-year-old Obed Vargas. Fissore also did double-duty, generally positioning himself between Sam Adineran and the ball, preventing any balls into the feet of Tacoma’s absolute unit of a center forward.

But Oakland were also vulnerable on the counter. Kai Greene picked up a yellow in the 5th minute for a tactical foul, and Tacoma had glimpses in the 7th and 9th minutes as well. So around the 20 minute mark Oakland shut the press off. Tacoma also started to have their forwards drop deeper to help with buildup play, especially Reed Baker-Whiting, who functionally served as an attacking mid for the latter part of the first half, helping to spring the wingbacks down the flanks. Defiance dominated possession over the last 25 minutes, but had trouble breaking down what was essentially (though not completely) a low block. It should be no surprise that Tacoma’s goal came from a set piece and not open play. I thought the even scoreline was a fair reflection of the first half.

Roots came out of the locker room the livelier of the two sides. Clearly discontent with having been out of possession for most of the first half, Roots asked Hernandez and Fall to drop deeper (so the shape bore a lot of resemblance to a 4-3-3), and subbed on Jeremy Bokila for Chuy Enriquez, shifting Quincy Amarikwa over to the wing. The impact of these tweaks was to give Oakland more options in the build-up, but apart from that, Oakland returned to a high pressing style. It took less than three minutes for Oakland to put together one of the intricate passing sequences which have become their calling card recently, culminating in a Wal Fall pass over the top to Jeremy Bokila. (Passes over the top to Bokila were a theme of the second half.) And five minutes later Ariel Mbumba’s pressing work ultimately led to a penalty, which Fall could not convert.

Jose Hernandez’s pressing was the catalyst for both of Oakland’s second half goals. In the 57th minute, Roots had lost possession in their attacking half, but as Tacoma were working the ball out, Hernandez stepped in the way of a Defiance pass, turned, and found Ariel Mbumba in the box. In the 82nd minute, he did almost the exact same thing, this time picking up the hockey assist: He sent Johnny Rodriguez through, and Rodriguez found Bokila far post to seal the win.

A tale of two halves. This match was a tale of two halves for Oakland. They spent much of the first half sitting deep, and generated very little attack from their defensive crouch. They spent the second half pressing high up the field. I think in the final analysis possession was about even in the second half, but by virtue of their high press, Oakland regularly got the ball in good spaces.

So mark this game down as evidence that Oakland are not as effective playing out of possession. But at the same time, we have seen several times over the past few matches that Oakland have the ability to put together strings of 5-10 passes to advance the ball nearly the entire length of the field in the blink of an eye. That suggests to me some potential on the counter. Why does this matter?

San Diego Loyal - Oakland have three match left against San Diego Loyal, who currently sit 3rd in the division, behind 2nd place OCSC only on goal differential, 3 points ahead of Tacoma, who have 3 games in hand. So just over 20% of the remaining schedule is against a team Oakland is ostensibly battling for a playoff spot. Oakland will need a lot of help (in the form of losses) from someone else (likely Tacoma, who, you might have heard, were on an 8-match unbeaten streak before Saturday) if they can’t get any points off of San Diego.

Here's the problem: San Diego dominate possession. In fact, they lead the entire USL in passes attempted. In their first tie this season, San Diego had 63% of the possession. You may recall from our recap that San Diego dominated the game as well as possession. Roots had a brief spell of positive play just after the interval but were otherwise smothered. Roots' roster has turned over quite a bit since that match. Among the players who may be available now but were not at the end of June: Jose Hernandez, Wal Fall, Quincy Amarikwa, Johnny Rodriguez, and new lad Brian Brown. Enough to make a different? You would think so, but then you probably also just watched the first half of the Tacoma match, which would suggest that Oakland still have not found the formula when they can't keep possession. Oakland will need to figure this out to continue this playoff run.

Tampa Bay Rowdies - On the other hand, are Roots poised for another shock upset on Friday? We’ll obviously be getting into this more in our pre-match coverage, but Tampa Bay Rowdies, for all of their success, do not spend much time in possession. This could be a real strength versus strength matchup. Tampa Bay will likely be happy to let Oakland dominate the ball, and hope to hit them on the counter. Oakland likely cannot afford another rocky start in transition, but Oakland have had great spacing and an effective press over the last few matches. A little more of that, and this could become a bicoastal unbeaten streak.

Improvement along the wings. It seems like no coincidence that consistency in the midfield and central defense has allowed the wingers to flourish, but both sides of the attack have been high quality the last few weeks. In the early part of the season, Oakland’s insistence on controlling the middle of the park often resulted in an attack that was too narrow to really concern the other team. Any width was coming from the fullbacks, but they weren’t consistently creating big chances from crosses and, as you know, Oakland weren’t converting any chances anyway. All of that has changed. Ariel Mbumba, Chuy Enriquez, Quincy Amarikwa, Johnny Rodriguez, Jose Hernandez, and Yohannes Harish have played in either a RW or LW role at some point during the current run, and all have made positive contributions in attack. Mbumba shone against Tacoma, but Enriquez has made some brilliant contributions over the last few matches, officially with a goal and two assists, and at least one hockey assist. In limited time Johnny Rodriguez has looked like a man with a goal or two in his boots. Obviously, when you win three consecutive matches by a score of 3-1, lots of things will look good. But the quality of the wing play means we’re no longer mining games for little nuggets of hope. Instead, we’re watching a squad capable of striking at any moment.