RIFC head west to California for a meeting with Oakland Roots at 4pm on Saturday. RIFC come into the game on the back of a….let’s just say “underwhelming” performance at Loudoun United that saw the team lose 2-0. Meanwhile, Oakland just earned their first point of the season in 4 games with a 0-0 draw at home against Las Vegas Lights. As much as this pains me to say, this is an early-season matchup between two basement dwellers in the table. Sure, we’re only 4 weeks into the season, but it still really stings. Nevertheless, let’s take a look at both teams and try to figure out how they can get on the right track after a bumpy start.

So I know I started this blog out by calling the team’s last performance “underwhelming”. But in reality, it was awful and one of the worst in team history. Yeah, I’m aware that saying “team history” is a little hyperbolic, as the team has only played 42 games (don’t quote me on that, but it’s somewhere around there). But there was really nothing positive to glean from that performance. You can check out Timmy’s Player Ratings if you want to fully relive it.

But this blog is meant to look ahead. So look ahead we shall. This starts with how the team sets up, which I’ve been wrong on in each of the blogs so far. I’m going to chalk it up to Khano moving pieces around, but this is what I’m thinking for this weekend:

As much as I’d love to tinker and change the formation completely, I don’t think that’s realistic. So I’m assuming that Khano comes out with the same system. This isn’t perfect, but I feel that it gives the team the best chance given who is available. Here’s a quick position by position breakdown:

• Goalkeeper:
  • Koke should start here but with Jackson Lee returning to bench last weekend, I think there’s a little more pressure on him to perform. Despite the team’s overall performance, I don’t think Koke did too much wrong against Loudoun.

• Back 3:
  • As poor as the back 3 has been as a whole to start the season, unfortunately there isn’t really much you could do here. The team only has 3 fit CBs and one of the players who could possibly fill in (Zach Herivaux) is suspended for the game. I do think Frank Nodarse and Grant Stoneman should swap back to the left and right respectively, as the experiment with Stoneman on the left hasn’t worked.

• Midfield 3
  • Without the aforementioned Herivaux, the options in midfield are also a bit limited. The other bench pieces are more attacking players and I don’t think that’s what is needed here. I think this game calls for Holstad on the right side of the 3 so that he can help out on that side defensively. Ybarra should be in instead of Okiyoshi because of his experience. And of course, Maxi Rodriguez must be in there

• Wingbacks
  • RWB has been a disaster this season. The team has started 3 different players in that spot (Kwizera, Fuson, Holstad) in as many games. None of the 3 have had good performances out there but I think it’s time to give Kwizera another chance.

• Forwards
  • The notable change here is bringing back the Noah/JJ partnership. It worked so well late last season, so I’m not entirely sure why this hasn’t been utilized this season. Bringing that partnership back would also leave a more traditional striker in Albert Dikwa on the bench. He can be utilized as a sub late on if the team is chasing goals

Overall, I feel like this setup is a move towards normalcy. A return to what worked last season. Obviously it’s not exactly the same, but this team had a lot of success last season with a midfield trio of Ybarra, Holstad and Herivaux. We always knew that Maxi Rodriguez was going to take one of those spots. We here at Tide Talk were having debates about who he was going to replace as far back as the trip back to the airport after the final last year. For me, it was always Clay who would be moved out due to his versatility. But this really can’t happen until Herivaux is fully available. Hopefully that happens sooner rather than later.

Although we’ll soon look at what Oakland Roots bring to the table, for me the focus here for RIFC needs to just be on performing better themselves. That starts with the back line cutting out the mental errors. That, along with a more balanced midfield, is what should bring this team success in this game. It remains to be seen if it will happen though. After the team’s first 3 performances, it’s hard to have a lot of confidence.

For as bad of a start as RIFC have had, Oakland have had arguably a worse one. They started the season with losses away at Orange County and Monterey Bay before losing their home opener against San Antonio. As I mentioned at the top, Roots did get a draw last weekend against Las Vegas Lights, earning their first point of the season. That leaves Miami FC and Hartford Athletic as the only teams in the league with 0 points.

What immediately jumps out when you look at the numbers is that Oakland have conceded the 2nd most goals this season with 9 (Phoenix Rising have the most with 10). On the bright side, the team has seemingly gotten better from game to game as they conceded 4,3,2, and 0 through their first 4 games respectively. Continuing that trend will be important for Oakland as they move forward through the season.

As for the attacking end of things, one of the biggest storylines for Oakland coming into this season was the loss of Forward Johnny Rodriguez. Rodriguez led the team in goals in each of the last two seasons with 12 in both years. The 2nd leading scorer last season was Jeciel Cedeno, who moved to Detroit City FC just over halfway through the season. So needless to say, the team is really lacking in returning firepower this year. They also didn’t sign any big names to replace Rodriguez. The team has adjusted decently well to start the year though, as they’ve scored 5 goals over their 4 games. However, those goals were scored by 5 different players and none of them are forwards. If a consistent goal-scorer doesn’t emerge, it could be a really long year in Oakland.

As for players to watch out for in this one, here’s a few:

• Kendall McIntosh (GK)
  • Not Paul Blanchette

• Neveal Hackshaw (CB)
  • Strong, physical defender. Missed the first game this season where Oakland conceded 4. Red card vs RIFC last season

• Tyler Gibson (MF)
  • Important leader in the midfield. Key addition this season from Indy Eleven

• Jose Luis Sinistera (FW)
  • Best wide attacker for Oakland. Leads the team in goal contributions with 1 goal and 1 assist so far this year

• Peter Wilson (FW)
  • New signing who has started the last two games up front. Last played in the Norwegian 3rd division

After getting their first point and first clean sheet of the season last time out, Oakland has something they can build on as they head into this one. It’ll also be their third consecutive game at their new home, the Oakland Coliseum. Away from the field, it’ll be interesting to see what happens with attendance as the season goes on. The home opener saw over 26,000 in the stands but that sharply declined to around 7,000 last weekend. With 3 major teams leaving the city in recent years, including the Athletics just this season, the Roots are surely hoping to capitalize. I think there’s reason to be concerned about the nostalgia of the Coliseum wearing off though, especially if the team doesn’t improve on the field.

This is a really difficult one to call. Coming off of the performance against Loudoun, I fully intended to predict an RIFC loss. I didn’t care how talented this team is on paper. They haven’t put together a full performance yet this season and took a big step backwards last weekend. However…..

The word is that the team had a player’s only meeting after the Loudoun loss. While it’s unfortunate that the team needs that only 3 games into the season, it still gives me as a fan the confidence that they know things needs to improve. So because of this, I have a 2-1 RIFC win. I just think that this team is too good to keep putting forth poor performances. And after taking a closer look at Oakland Roots, very little has impressed me.

Per usual, The Guild will be the place to be for a watch party on Saturday. At the moment, I don’t think I’m going to make it this week. But if you want to get outside and watch the game away from your couch, it’s the best place with the most fans. Regardless of where I watch the game though, I just need a good performance from the team. That should be enough for 3 points and to get things rolling as we head towards the home opener.

Thanks for checking out the blog and as always, UP THE TIDE!