Oakland Roots Postgame Presser: Full Quotes From Jordan Ferrell Following 2-2 Draw With Las Vegas

By -

It was a disappointing 2-2 draw for the Oakland Roots against Las Vegas Lights after conceding a goal in the 89th minute. Although Roots came away with a point, it left an all too familiar sour taste similar to their recent 2-1 loss to OCSC.

Technical director and interim head coach Jordan Ferrell's bitterness after the match was easy to sense. Perhaps some annoyance from having to answer questions added to a night of frustration. 

With an 8-7-11 record in sixth place, Oakland is still one point shy of a playoff spot but also one point up on Tacoma Defiance in seventh. 

It builds up to a critical Wednesday night at Laney between the Roots and Sacramento Republic. It marks the final match between the two sides this season and also the first time Republic returns to Oakland since they initiated the USL postponing June 19's match. 

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

Your reaction from the game:

Ferrell: "We gave away two points tonight, for sure. We saw a couple of minutes before the end, it was certainly overconfidence from being up 11 players to 10 that killed us.

"You saw one ball in behind and all of a sudden Cal Jennings is one-on-one. It's not like they require a lot of positional attacks to be able to create opportunities. We had plenty of chances, balls fizzed across the face of goal. It wasn't like we didn't have chances. The PK is criminal on our side of things, but we're glad to be creating chances." 

Regarding the missed chances in the last two matches:

Ferrell: "It hasn't been up to snuff, we've put ourselves in good situations. Against OC, there were a lot of really good chances left on the table. Today, I felt like we created more clearcut chances to be able to finish. A lot of slipping and sliding out there tonight." 

On Lindo Mfeka's recent impact:

Ferrell: "His progression has been awesome. Having last year off, we knew it was going to take some work to get his engine going. You saw a couple of moments tonight where he can do things that other players can't do; whether it's dribbling the ball in tight spaces, playing one versus two, or seeing passes. I think it's our responsibility to put him in good positions and to really put players around him who understand what he needs. 

"He needs runners, he needs people attacking space for him to play people through. As the season has gone on, the relationship between him and others has progressed. And then we also have the ability to use him differently, we used him as a #9 against Tacoma, have sometimes used him as a #10, and then we can ask him to drop a little deeper when we need control.

"He's a super-intelligent footballer. Especially in the first half, there was a lot of good stuff from him. He'll be a really important player for us down the stretch." 

Regarding the team's mentality going forward:

Ferrell: "We focus on Sac. There's no looking at the table to determine how we feel. Every single game, we reset and focus on the next game. When we got done with OC, we started focusing on Vegas. This is a race, there are games going on right now that affect us. It's going to go up and down, if we start changing our emotions or approach based off of what the table looks like, three days later things can look very different. 

"For us, it's about coming back and sealing the deal against Sac and making sure we see out a 90-minute performance. There's really nothing else that we are looking at."




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Las Vegas Lights vs. Oakland Roots (July 10, 2021) - Match Preview

By Bloom -
Image
 T he Roots host the Las Vegas Lights at 7:00 p.m. at Las Positas College in <checks notes> Livermore, California.  If you think the Roots playing in Livermore means that we’re going to give the Central Valley and the rest of the non-Bay Western United States less shit, you are 100% wrong.  Our takes are only going to get worse. The Club The Las Vegas Lights Football Club was founded in 2018 and have played all of their seasons in the USL.  Their erstwhile rival Reno 1868 (former employer of familiar faces Emrah Klimenta, Chuy Enriquez, Tucker Bone and Duke Lacroix ) folded last year, leaving them in the market for a new rival.  Lights are the passion project of Brett Lashbrook, owner and General Manager, who served as Special Assistant to the Commissioner’s Office & Legal Counsel for Major League Soccer, and apparently also was COO for Orlando City SC’s transition from USL to MLS.  Lashbrook’s bio states that his extended family has called Las V...
Read more

Oakland Roots Song & Chant Tracker

By -
Image
What's a soccer franchise without fans singing (screaming) its songs? Being an Oakland Roots supporter, you find yourself in the unique position of building traditions commonly affiliated with the Beautiful Game. The Roots already have a growing amount of chants in the Mosaic and Deep Roots sections, and as La Brigada Del Pueblo' s founder put it, we're here at the start: "Oakland fan culture is being built week by week, game by game, in the stands, on the streets and in the dang parking lot." Now, we're no songwriters, so we'll do our best to translate songs we receive into lyrics and provide an updating list of Oakland Roots chants.  Scroll down for all the latest updates:  "Let's Go Oakland"   Ah, the chant which is distinctly Oakland A's; it's also become the default song for the Roots. It's taken me a bit to warm up to this one due to its lazy execution compared to the majority of EU football songs, in addition to being a his...
Read more

El Paso Locomotive vs. Oakland Roots - Match Preview (November 5, 2021)

By Bloom -
Image
Against all odds, the Oakland Roots will travel to El Paso to face the Locomotive on November 5, 2021 at 6:30 p.m. PST.  The match will be broadcast on ESPN+. The Club El Paso Locomotive F.C. made their USL debut in the 2019 season.  Locomotive play at Southwest University Park, which is called (at least by the people on the Seriously Loco Podcast ) the "Swup."  Locomotive share the Swup with the El Paso Chihuahuas the San Diego Padres Triple-A affiliate (Tatis Jr. never played there, he jumped from AA to the majors). The Locomotive website claims that their colors are "West Texas Sky" and "Desert Dusk" and "High Noon Sun."  Oakland Roots' gear gets worn on Blindspotting.  Per their site, "the Locomotive is the engine that drives the train.  It is strong, loud and its booming sounds can be heard from miles away."   Anyway, their logo is pretty dope, but the color names are incredibly lame. Interestingly (I will not be reading the co...
Read more