The Oakland Roots and El Paso Locomotive played to a scoreless draw on Saturday night at the Oakland Coliseum.
But while the crowd of 7,586 may have been disappointed by the lack of offense in the match, new Roots Head Coach Benny Feilhaber started to reveal some of his upcoming plans for the remainder of this season.
Poor Passing Hampers Roots’ First Half Offense
The first half started out well for Oakland, with a chance in the third minute. Panos Armenakas’s sailed into the penalty area. Neveal Hackshaw chested the ball down and into the path of Julian Bravo, whose one-timer from close range appeared to be a sure goal. But El Paso goalkeeper Sebastian Mora-Mora smothered his shot before it crossed the goal line.
But as the half went on, El Paso started to get the upper hand.
In the third minute, Hackshaw nearly scored an own goal when he deflected Roberto Avila’s cross away, but he was able to redirect it wide of the post.
In the 12th minute, El Paso’s Amando Moreno got a shot off from inside the box, but it bounced off of the side netting.
In the 23rd minute, Moreno had a good look after a give and go with Eric Calvillo, but it was an easy save for Oakland goalkeeper Kendall McIntosh.
In the 44th minute, Avila made a long run into the penalty area, but his shot went well wide of its target.
“The first half was not good, and it was not good for one very simple reason: we couldn’t complete passes,” Feilhaber said. “I thought the energy was excellent from the guys. I thought, for the most part, we were organized defensively, with a couple exceptions in the game. But we just could not complete simple passes from A to B, and so when you’re killing yourself defensively to win balls and put yourself in good positions to attack, but then instantly you give the ball back to the other team it’s deflating, and to be fair, I didn’t think any of the guys slowed down, which is probably what kept us, you know, at zero zero at halftime.”
No Goals in Second Half, But Improvements
But the second half was better, as Oakland shut down El Paso’s chances and started to create a few of their own.
“It was a 180 in the second half, Feilhaber said. “In terms of creation, I thought we had tons of chances. Could have easily gotten one of them and turned a drawn to a win. But performance wise. I think it, you know, it was perfect in the sense that we saw the bad and the good, and now we can show these guys the things that we need to continue to improve on and the things that are working well.”
In particular, Feilhaber credited his second half substitutes: Gagi Margvelashvili, Jürgen Damm, and Danny Gomez.
“I thought the subs came in and made a massive difference.” Feilhaber said. “I thought Jurgen was very, very good. I thought Gagi was very, very good and and look, I didn’t think Julian and Maury played poorly. But, um, Gagi was just cleaner with the ball in possession, finding the right passes. And I thought Jurgen, same thing. I mean, he provided us not only a lot of defensive effort, but the ability to get forward and connect passes in the attacking half. So, those guys made a big difference. I thought Danny came in and did well as well. Connecting passes through the middle. I mean, at the end of the day, our whole team just looked more cohesive with the ball. And that allowed us to grow into the game. I don’t know what the possession stats were, but El Paso’s a very possession-oriented team, and I’m assuming that we had the vast majority of the possession in the second half.”
After the match, Tyler Gibson also commented on the team’s performance.
“It wasn’t perfect,” Gibson said. “But the second half, we turned it up a bit. First half, we were a little errant on too many passes. We gave it away. We’d win it back high pressing, win it back and then give it right back away. There are little frustrating things that we’ve got to clean up, but I think we did a better job at that in the second half and put together more of a performance. Still gotta finish those chances. I had one tonight that I’ve gotta finish, but yeah, I think overall, it was a good, performance, especially in the second half.”
Oakland Soul Fall to Stockton
Yesterday also marked the Roots’ annual doubleheader with their women’s team. The Soul lost their match to the Stockton Cargo by a score of 2-1.
Stockton got on the board first in the 28th minute, as both teams crowded into the box for a corner kick. Stockton’s Haley Bostard headed the ball toward goal, but Oakland goalkeeper Dina Frenkel was able to deflect the shot off of the crossbar. The rebound bounced off of one of Oakland’s defenders and into the goal.
Oakland’s veteran striker Sam Tran scored the equalizer in the 54th minute. Miranda Nild fed the ball to Audrey Lam, whose quick touch pass found Tran unmarked and her shot tucked just inside the far post.
But Oakland’s happiness was short-lived. Samantha Tristan won the match for Stockton in the 57th minute, intercepting a lazy pass from an Oakland defender and firing a shot that bounced along the ground, eluding a diving Frenkel.
About Feilhaber’s Future
Feilhaber also commented on his contract to manage the club through the end of the season.
“It’s a project,” Feilhaber said. “It’s short-term. I think that it’s my guess and I wasn’t necessarily told this, but how many coaches has Oakland had in the four and a half years in the USL? So, we had five before and I think that’s a worry. You don’t want to keep putting coaches in there for long-term contracts and not necessarily believing in them or getting the right person. For me, with the size of the project and the opportunity for myself to showcase what I can do. I thought it fit in for me as well. So, my guess is from the club’s perspective is a ‘we like what you’ve done, but come and show it’ kind of thing and then we’ll see what the future holds. And for me, I’m totally okay with that, too.”
“I can tell you the goals that I have for myself and for the club.” he said. “I think that one of the things that Oakland has struggled to do in the last four and a half years in the USL Championship is have a true identity of how they play. Definitely. I think it’s extreme. I mean, I come from Sporting Kansas City that anybody that watches MLS knows exactly how Sporting wanted to play, how Peter wanted to play. I want to have that right and I want to have an ability to say, hey, that’s the way Oakland plays. That’s the way Benny coaches. Win, Lose, or Draw! The fans can understand what we’re trying to do. They can talk about our team and, you know, educate other people like, hey, this is the way Oakland plays. You’re going to go to a game and you’re going to see this. Yeah, and I think that’s an incredibly important thing. And so, you know, 18 games down the road. I hope that, you know, fans can say, okay, whether we did well or not, this is the way Benny played. This is the way Oakland’s identity is, so that if I’m here further, you know, after this season, that’s what they can expect.”
