Oakland Roots Postgame Presser: Full Quotes From Jordan Ferrell After 1-0 Loss To LA Galaxy II

The Oakland Roots couldn't take three points in last night's 1-0 loss to Los Angeles Galaxy II after conceding a penalty kick in the 75th minute. As Oakland Roots' interim head coach and technical director Jordan Ferrell puts it: "That was a tough one to swallow." 

With the loss, Roots record becomes 7-6-10 and still three points back of Tacoma for fourth place in the Pacific Division, but have now played two more matches than Defiance. Sacramento, meanwhile, has 26 points in sixth and faces Tacoma on Wednesday. As for Galaxy, the club also has 26 points down in seventh.

Saturday's match featured Brian Brown and Joseph Nane making their Oakland debuts while Wal Fall and Jose Hernandez were out due to injury and card accumulation respectively. 

Roots SC now looks ahead to another critical match on Wednesday against San Diego Loyal at Las Positas. 

Here is a full transcript of Jordan Ferrell's post-match press conference. 

Tough loss, your initial reaction?

Ferrell: "That was a tough one to swallow. I don't think we were sharp enough in front of goal tonight, and one decision gives them a goal. These are important ones to win and its a sour taste, for sure. But, there was a lot of good stuff tonight too, so we shouldn't lose that piece."

LA controlled the midfield, what's your assessment?

Ferrell: "The communication of the midfield in the first half was really poor. It was disjointed on the ball and they were closing down spaces off the ball; they felt like they were overloaded, it was very frustrating for them. We talked about it at halftime and in the second half we were a little bit better and we created quite a few chances playing through the midfield first and then being able to get the outside backs in. So it’s something we’ll go back to and look at the issues in the first half, then come back next Wednesday.

How much of a factor was the absence of Wal Fall and Jose Hernandez? 

Ferrell: "They are the brains of our operation. We saw on Wednesday night what it does for the team when they are really humming, they are a big loss. Mati came on and did a really good job in the #8 just finding that rhythm and you saw it right away with a couple of good chances created from it. It's challenging whenever you don't have those guys available, the team needs to step up and prove that other people can fill that role. 

"There were moments that we did, it wasn't like we were poor tonight, we just weren't sharp enough." 

There seemed to be a lack of intensity at times and a lot of space. What's your reaction to that? 

Ferrell: "I don't know what it was, because the energy tonight in the stadium was great and the game was there for us to take. They had a couple of half-chances and what-not, but we really limited their quality chances; we probably created their quality chances throughout the night. 

"It was our indecisiveness and getting caught out that created their opportunities. That's something we've got to look at." 

What was your take on Brian Brown's debut?

Ferrell: "You saw in the first half a couple of moments where he was able to hold, connect, and make some good runs. He's also trying to find a rhythm with teammates, so there were some miscommunications in a couple of moments. What we didn't see from the wide positions that would've favored him was some good service, in the first half especially. 

"In the second half, we wanted to give Bokila a look and change the look that LA was seeing and it created some good chances for us. It's good to get Brian running with us, he'll get more chances that he'll like to see. 

"Tonight, there was a couple of moments where there was just some miscommunication; people thought he was running into a certain area, or he thought someone would play into space, but those are natural when you're building relationships." 

As for Joseph Nane? 

Ferrell: "I think he did really well defensively and controlling their top forwards; Ethan Zubak's been with the first team, Preston Judd has been a handful throughout the USL, and Jonathan Perez in transition. That's why we went with three at the back tonight because we expected some sort of diamond formation.

"I think JoJo did really well. When you pass the ball like we pass the ball, you're going pass the ball a lot as a center back and be making a lot of different decisions. For him, being in that situation, we saw him sometimes caught in between two decisions. 

"We'll look for him to continue progressing at that and be more fluid in those positions."

Your reaction to LA's approach and the foul?

Ferrell: "They needed three points, and they brought quite a few first-team players... We knew what to expect. I thought we did well matching their intensity. Early, there were quite a few play-on rulings from the referee, and then he got really ticky-tacky in the second half. 

"I think the PK was soft, to be honest. Did we put our foot on the ball? Yes. And did the guy fall over? Yes. But that's not a PK; even more so, there was quite a few tiny touches that he was calling later on that was a different tone than in the first half. It's a challenge for the ref to play in a game like this, everything is getting tight with single-digit games left on the schedule."

Nine games left, how do you approach the final stretch? 

Ferrell: "I think we don't change, what's got us here to this position is looking at things one game at a time and trying to get three points from each game possible. I don't think that changes, the schedule sets up well for us to be able to have a good run. Some of the teams in the running don't have as favorable a schedule down the stretch, but now we're in a completely different position. 

"You saw when Phoenix took us lightly and that got our engines turning. I don't think teams are going to overlook us again, I think now teams are watching us climb the table and we're going to get everybody's best-game down the stretch."