Phoenix Rising came back from a half-time deficit of two goals for the third consecutive week to claim a point at home against Oakland Roots.

After the match, head coach Pa-Modou Kah questioned the desire of some members of his squad, saying that they were “wasting their talent” and “don’t know what it is to be a professional football player.”

Another poor start for Rising

Within one minute, Phoenix Rising was already trailing against Oakland Roots thanks to former Rising man Danny Trejo. Within ten minutes, they trailed by two thanks to Peter Wilson.

“Very, very, very, very, very poor first half,” Rising coach Pa-Modou Kah said. “I was missing hunger and desire [from the team]. Some players are full, some players are full.”

Things only got worse from there, as Wilson added his second in the 22nd minute.

“Disappointing to start like that because it’s been a common theme throughout the season,” midfielder Charlie Dennis said, who later described the poor starts as “deflating.”

That marked the third week in a row that Phoenix conceded multiple goals to start off a match.

The Comeback came, again

Shortly before the half-time break, Phoenix Rising found their way back into the match thanks to a Charlie Dennis strike from close range.

From there, several accounts described the team being asked at half-time how much they actually wanted to win.

“Challenged them at half-time, and they reacted,” Pa-Modou Kah said. “But that should not be the norm.”

Rising had several chances in the second half, but it took until the 86th minute for Dennis to double Rising’s goal tally with a free kick just outside of the penalty area.

“Every time you put him in, whether it’s for one minute or he plays 90 minutes, he wants it,” Kah said. “Charlie wants it, and you have to commend that. This means a lot to Charlie, as well. Today he walked on the pitch with his daughter. I know what it means for him, and he showcased that on the pitch.”

Then, in stoppage time, Rising completed the comeback. After referee Elvis Osmanovic pointed to the spot, substitute Rémi Cabral stepped up to tuck away the ensuing penalty.

“Rémi will never shy away from those situations,” Kah said. “He’s a guy that if you wake him in his sleep, he’s ready to take the penalty.”

Pa-Modou Kah highlights missing “hunger and desire” among some players

After falling behind by multiple goals early on in the match yet again, Pa-Modou Kah hit out at the attitude of some of his players in the post-match press conference.

“As soon as the whistle goes, either you’re ready or you’re not,” Kah said. “Many of them are not ready. Some of them are not ready. They don’t know what it is to be a professional football player. They pretend to be football players, but they’re not.”

Kah mentioned several players, including Pape Mar Boye, JP Scearce, Daniel Flores, Charlie Dennis, Xian Emmers and Ascel Essengue who had showed enough desire. Another list of players, left unnamed, were not up to his standards.

“They don’t understand what it is and what’s required to play for a club like Phoenix Rising,” Kah said. “For me, it’s a shame. It’s really a shame.”

“When you play this game of football, it starts with respecting the game. Understanding that you are part of a game, you’ve been given an opportunity to do something with your talent. Some of them right now are wasting their talent.”

Owain’s Take

Let’s start with the positive: Rémi Cabral’s goal is likely the most consequential we’ve seen from this Phoenix Rising team this season.

If Cabral hadn’t tucked his penalty away, Oakland would have trailed Rising by just three points while also having a game in hand. Instead, they remain six points behind Phoenix, and Rising can sleep a little easier in the knowledge that their playoff status is a bit more secure.

That said, they probably shouldn’t. Two points out of two games so far on what is likely a season-defining homestand? That isn’t really making the most of the opportunity at hand.

And to once again fall behind so badly in the first half? Well, it leaves me feeling like a broken record.

The thing that’s so frustrating is that Phoenix Rising’s team does have enough talent to do better than they have in some of these matches, even if they shouldn’t be at true contender status quite yet. Instead, every match feels like yet another example of this team shooting themselves in the foot.

The second half against Oakland shows, just as the second half against Loudoun and the second half against Sacramento did, that this team can come out and cause trouble for opposing sides.

You don’t have to even ask Phoenix Rising to replicate their second half performances in the first half. A so-so performance in the other 45 minutes would be sufficient to see them claim more points than they have to date. But the first half performances aren’t even reaching the level of so-so. They have been, to be frank, nothing short of atrocious.

And that is why, even with a seven game unbeaten streak, Phoenix Rising has won only two of its last 14 league matches.

That leads us to Rising coach Pa-Modou Kah’s comments in the press conference, in which he accused some of his players of “wasting their talent” and of not knowing what is needed to be a professional.

It’s certainly a bold thing to say publicly. I can’t argue with his comments, because he simply knows these players better than any of us outside of the locker room would. That said, it’s certainly a provocative thing to come out of a head coach’s mouth.

In a couple of weeks’ time, we’re going look back at these comments in one of three ways.

They could prove to be a masterstroke by Kah, lighting a fire under certain players that, frankly, could do with a fire lit underneath them.

They could prove to be a disaster, fracturing the squad at the precise time that you need them to come together ahead of the postseason.

Or, as with last week’s comments about needing to stop getting punched in the face by opponents so early in matches, they could prove to have little impact whatsoever.

I don’t have a crystal ball, so I can’t with any certainty predict which is going to be the outcome. But there will be eyes on training this week, and there will be eyes on the team selection next weekend against New Mexico.

And with New Mexico being the team up next? Well, I don’t think it’d be a good time to have anyone questioning your desire as you go into that match.