USL Tactics breaks down Oakland Roots lack of attack

The Oakland Roots were able to score their first goal in over 300 minutes by a clean Wal Fall free-kick to finish 3-1, but were plagued by costly errors by goalie Zeus de la Paz with a pass the squared into Sam Adeniran in the 36th minute, Jose Hernandez conceding a penalty toward an Adeniran goal in the 45th, then Tacoma went up 3-nil by halftime after Ray Serrano flicked a ball off the end-line over De la Paz to Juan Alvarez at 45+3.

It marked Oakland’s fifth straight loss.

John Morrissey of USL Tactics breaks down the Roots’ lack of sustainability attack against Phoenix on August 4’s 1-0 loss, providing numbers that are pretty painful to see. Oakland was in the bottom three percentile of attacking crossing rate and in shots on target allowed.

Moreover, the defense was in the bottom 10 percent of deep actions allowed. The heatmap shows the Roots barely took a step with the ball above the penalty area.

Oakland’s attack is one of the most consistently underwhelming forces in the USL by the numbers and the eye test, and I’d put a lot of the blame on their ability to drive offense into the attacking third. You can see the lack of danger touches in the heatmap against Phoenix. pic.twitter.com/PpM5Yx8Ddq

— john morrissey (@USLTactics) August 9, 2021

Morrissey points to another instance where the Roots’ defense backtracks successfully in the 62nd minute but fails to sustain any attacking momentum when turning the other way.

The Roots defend really well in shape here, but the transition movement is poor and static. Everyone stays within the bounds of the 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 shape; there’s so literal horizontal movement, overloading, or convergence to the center. pic.twitter.com/sg4zw1ztcf

— john morrissey (@USLTactics) August 9, 2021

Further down the field, Morrissey also notes that Chuy Enriquez had no viable running options in the 63rd before laying off to Brandon Allen, who dropped to Ariel Mbumba for the shot through traffic.

You can see that same lack of impetus here in the final third. No one moves in behind, and Phoenix simply has to sit pat to force the lowest of low-percentage shots. pic.twitter.com/jUlK6lZAhX

— john morrissey (@USLTactics) August 9, 2021

Morrissey is confident that players like Allen and Tyler Blackwood can create more consistency up top, but they must be fed by the midfield.

“This team has a ton of potential if they can start to be better in this regard. [Brandon Allen] and Tyler Blackwood are bonafide finishers. Still, someone like a Wal Fall needs to step up as a presence in the hole to feed them, and there has to be more movement,” wrote Morrissey.

Fall had his best performance in a Roots uniform with a 7.8 overall rating by FotMob. He was among the first signings by the program when joining the USL Championship.

Among the team captains and veterans on the roster, the combination of Matias Fissore, Hernandez and Fall on Sunday appear to be a potential foundation of leadership.

But with the losses piling up, Jordan Ferrell and co. continues their work on finding the answer for the first-year USL club.

 Photos courtesy of Oakland Roots SC.