Oakland Roots vs. San Diego Loyal - Match Preview (September 22, 2021)
Oakland Roots host San Diego Loyal on Wednesday, September 22 for what is scheduled to be the final “field trip” to Las Positas College in Livermore. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and KOFYTV. I got into it with a guy on the USL subreddit earlier this week about whether Livermore is the Central Valley. I understand that Livermore is not the Central Valley, but let’s just say I will be thrilled when I am no longer missing “home” games because I’m not trying to get on 880 southbound/580 eastbound during rush hour.
Roots’ History Against the Loyal: 0-1-1
Prior Match-Ups This Season
[Source: Jon Comeaux]
We only just saw San Diego, so no need to recap the first match-up again.
The most recent match was a tight 0-0 draw at Laney College, on September 11, which was overall a good result for Roots. The Roots played really well, so we are really hoping this will go down as “a good point well earned” and not “if they’d converted one they’d be in the playoffs.”
As you may recall, Ferrell changed his formation up, switching to 3 centerbacks. I can’t prove this off-hand, but I don’t think we have seen two centerbacks AND Ornstil AND Fissore in a starting lineup since the return of Wal Fall. Ornstil worked really well with Klimenta and Greene, and to his credit, played 81 minutes after receiving a yellow card without picking up a second.
San Diego hosted Tacoma last Sunday, September 19, and beat them 1-0 on a 31st minute goal by Josh Yaro.
In the third minute Alejandro Guido got his head to the ball about a yard out from goal. The keeper could not hold the ball and it bounced back to Guido who shot again directly into the keeper and then a third time AGAIN into the keeper. It’s pretty remarkable and I suspect our friends at Fair Weather Podcast may have worried that the Oakland defense had drained all of the goals out of San Diego forever. Genuinely recommend watching the highlight and appreciating that it’s not us having the heart attacks there.
The Josh Yaro goal is, uh, I mean you can’t really criticize if the ball goes in, but I think he might have full-on missed the header and lucked the ball in off his shoulder. Most importantly, San Diego’s win over Tacoma means that the Roots did not lose ground on their chase for fourth.
Oakland’s Form Since the Last Match-Up
The Roots followed up the Loyal match with a mid-week 3-1 win over Tacoma at Las Positas. I predicted a 3-1 win in this match and if you think I’m going to be humble in success just because I’m usually wrong, well:
Lindo Mfeka banged a brace on either side of Wal Fall trying to reach escape velocity horizontally. Tacoma scored, too.
The Roots’ performance against Los Dos on the 18th was disappointing.. My lovely wife pointed out around the 30th minute that Lawson and I had predicted six and five goals combined goals, respectively. I will not be providing a link to those predictions. Lost to memory.
Ferrell took a risk starting two new players and leaving Fall and Hernandez out of the lineup entirely.
Roots have two more matches against Orange County, and one against Tacoma, the teams they are chasing. They also have one against Sacramento, and really need to break the now 270 minutes of drawn soccer against their northern California rivals.
Predictions
Bloom - I wish, like always, that we had a better sense what lineup we would see. I think if we play our best 11, that we could sneak a 1-0 or 2-1 win. The Roots are certainly more used to Wednesday night fixtures, and windy Livermore fixtures, than the Loyal are. Roots also need this win more than Loyal do. Unfortunately, I would put my money on 1-1. That would still be an okay result for the Roots.
Lawson - Jordan Ferrell seems to think a back 3 is the way to go against San Diego (Oakland have gone that route in both Loyal fixtures). But it would be nice if Oakland could score while playing a back 3. They’ve played a back 3 in three games this year, and gone 0-1-2, while not scoring. No clue if we’ll see this shape again, but I’m frankly hoping we don’t. If we do see it, I predict two things: Oakland will not score, and Joe Malfa on the call for ESPN+ will not realize it is a back 3 until the second half. I’m going to go ahead and say Roots return to their normal back 4, and manage to snag a goal, probably right after the interval, but it will only be enough for the draw. I’m guessing 1-1, too.
Roots’ History Against the Loyal: 0-1-1
Prior Match-Ups This Season
[Source: Jon Comeaux]
We only just saw San Diego, so no need to recap the first match-up again.
The most recent match was a tight 0-0 draw at Laney College, on September 11, which was overall a good result for Roots. The Roots played really well, so we are really hoping this will go down as “a good point well earned” and not “if they’d converted one they’d be in the playoffs.”
As you may recall, Ferrell changed his formation up, switching to 3 centerbacks. I can’t prove this off-hand, but I don’t think we have seen two centerbacks AND Ornstil AND Fissore in a starting lineup since the return of Wal Fall. Ornstil worked really well with Klimenta and Greene, and to his credit, played 81 minutes after receiving a yellow card without picking up a second.
San Diego’s Form Since Last Match-Up
San Diego has played one (1) game since these teams last met.
San Diego has played one (1) game since these teams last met.
San Diego hosted Tacoma last Sunday, September 19, and beat them 1-0 on a 31st minute goal by Josh Yaro.
In the third minute Alejandro Guido got his head to the ball about a yard out from goal. The keeper could not hold the ball and it bounced back to Guido who shot again directly into the keeper and then a third time AGAIN into the keeper. It’s pretty remarkable and I suspect our friends at Fair Weather Podcast may have worried that the Oakland defense had drained all of the goals out of San Diego forever. Genuinely recommend watching the highlight and appreciating that it’s not us having the heart attacks there.
The Josh Yaro goal is, uh, I mean you can’t really criticize if the ball goes in, but I think he might have full-on missed the header and lucked the ball in off his shoulder. Most importantly, San Diego’s win over Tacoma means that the Roots did not lose ground on their chase for fourth.
Oakland’s Form Since the Last Match-Up
The Roots followed up the Loyal match with a mid-week 3-1 win over Tacoma at Las Positas. I predicted a 3-1 win in this match and if you think I’m going to be humble in success just because I’m usually wrong, well:
Lindo Mfeka banged a brace on either side of Wal Fall trying to reach escape velocity horizontally. Tacoma scored, too.
The Roots’ performance against Los Dos on the 18th was disappointing.. My lovely wife pointed out around the 30th minute that Lawson and I had predicted six and five goals combined goals, respectively. I will not be providing a link to those predictions. Lost to memory.
Ferrell took a risk starting two new players and leaving Fall and Hernandez out of the lineup entirely.
The risk did not pay off, although the Roots did not really lose any ground because basically everyone the Roots are likely to catch lost over the weekend.
[Standings 9-21]
Roots have two more matches against Orange County, and one against Tacoma, the teams they are chasing. They also have one against Sacramento, and really need to break the now 270 minutes of drawn soccer against their northern California rivals.
Predictions
Bloom - I wish, like always, that we had a better sense what lineup we would see. I think if we play our best 11, that we could sneak a 1-0 or 2-1 win. The Roots are certainly more used to Wednesday night fixtures, and windy Livermore fixtures, than the Loyal are. Roots also need this win more than Loyal do. Unfortunately, I would put my money on 1-1. That would still be an okay result for the Roots.
Lawson - Jordan Ferrell seems to think a back 3 is the way to go against San Diego (Oakland have gone that route in both Loyal fixtures). But it would be nice if Oakland could score while playing a back 3. They’ve played a back 3 in three games this year, and gone 0-1-2, while not scoring. No clue if we’ll see this shape again, but I’m frankly hoping we don’t. If we do see it, I predict two things: Oakland will not score, and Joe Malfa on the call for ESPN+ will not realize it is a back 3 until the second half. I’m going to go ahead and say Roots return to their normal back 4, and manage to snag a goal, probably right after the interval, but it will only be enough for the draw. I’m guessing 1-1, too.
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