Ah, its good to be back, RootsFam. Saturday night at Pioneer Stadium was rocking with a sold out crowd of 5,146 attendees, Los Roots’ drum line bringing non-stop rhythm, the blog’s Peter Bloom adding a tuba to the mix, and Homegrown Hooligans unveiling a beautiful opening night Tifo. The magic of Roots soccer is back to carry the torch for Oakland sports.
Saturday’s win meant much more than just three points for the squad, but a triumphant turn of the page from last year’s tragic end.
“New season, a new start, and a fresh start. It was a long offseason for the players, staff, and a lot of people at the club. It didn’t end well last season, but to come out on the front foot and get a good result tonight at home as important. It was important to just build belief within the team and go from there. It’s just one game, we’re very happy, but it’s a good start,” coach Noah Delgado said.
Jeciel Cedeño got Roots on the board first in the third minute of action when a ball deflected off of a defender to him inside the penalty area, sending in a shot to the right post. After conceding at a goal to Indy’s Jack Blake in the 43rd minute, Roots came out hot int he second half with Bryan Tamacas sending home a left-footed shot after being left unmarked in the box at 50′.
Delgado explains one of their keys to the game was getting goals within the first 15 minutes of each half.
“It’s on the board, ‘first 15 in each half.’ That was good to see because we put focus on that. It’s important for us to get going in the first 15 here; brand new season, a great crowd. We were hoping to get that energy started right away,” Delgado said.
Second half changes
Cedeño’s goal in the third minute of action was Oakland’s only shot on target through the first half, while they didn’t draw their first corner kick until the 33rd minute. Delgado wasted no time to make a change, rotating out Chery for midfielder Danny Gomez while slotting Cedeño into the center forward role.
It marked the first time Cedeño featured in the #9 spot for Oakland after appearing as a winger in last year’s system. Gomez entered the #10 role vacated by Cedeño moving up.
“We talked at halftime and made some tactical changes and made a sub at half. We got another player [Gomez] into the midfield and more of a possession-based forward with Jesse as a nine. Him coming in there, finding some gaps and giving good pressure because they had four in the midfield. That tactical change worked out,” Delgado said.
After finishing the first half with just two shot attempts, Oakland’s offense finished the night with 10 shots and four on target. They’ll need to improve those numbers going forward to sustain success, but it shows how Delgado quickly understood he needed to make a change. With considerably more depth in this year’s roster, perhaps we can see more mixing-and-matching in the future.
“We went to a place where we could make some changes and got Jesse on the ball a bit more and get Gomez in there, who is another good player on the ball. So, it’s important for us to have possession at times and not have long spans without the ball. I thought the attitude of the boys who came in was great, they executed the game plan,” Delgado said.
Gomez, playing the CAM position, gave Delgado some defensive stability centrally and allowed Cedeño to use his hold-up ability.
“We wanted to push Cedeño a bit higher so we can get more possession,” Delgado said.
Irakoze Donasiyano’s solid performance
We named Irakoze Donasiyano our RootsBlog Man of the Match after being one of the most heavily involved players on Saturday night. He played all 90 minutes, completing 30 passes for an 88 percent completion rate, created two scoring chances, won 3/4 tackles, won five duels, and recorded the game-winning assist on Tamacas’ goal. He earned FotMob’s highest rating with an 8.4.
But Koze’s productivity meant much more than a strong return to the starting lineup, but a moment of triumph after undergoing surgery last season to miss the majority of the year. In 2023, Donasiyano had 1,031 total minutes in 17 appearances and didn’t record any goals or assists.
“He can run, we know that he covers a lot of ground. I’m excited to see his numbers of how much ground he actually covered. Credit to him, he came into the preseason in extremely good shape. He had a game with his national team against Algeria and he continued with that. He had a knee surgery last year, so now he’s feeling really comfortable and you can see the difference,” Delgado said.
“It takes time. It requires time to come back and feel comfortable. I think he got enough time to relax and fully recover. Now he feels good.”
Early Impressions
Saturday marked the debut game for Roots new back line, starting Camden Riley at RCB, Gagi Margvelashvili centrally, and Niall Logue at LCB. Baboucarr Njie also got the opening night start at LWB.
“I thought they were pretty solid,” Delgado said. “Tamacas is the only returner who really had a full year, Babou came in midseason. It takes time, we’re still jelling, we’re still not even close and still working on what we have to do. But I thought the new boys came in and did a really good job. And credit to Indy, they are a very dynamic team with Augi Williams and Sebastian Guenzatti, they are a dangerous team. I thought the boys handled it really well.”
Although Chery was subbed out at halftime, there were still some bright spots. Notably on Oakland’s first goal, Chery and Johnny being present in the box helped create the opportunity that fell to Cedeño. With the twin strikers forcing multiple defenders to stay checking on them, a defensive move pushed the ball to Cedeño in the area.
“I thought Johnny worked really hard. Chery had 45 minutes, had a shot, he’s still getting used to it. All that stuff is still going, but he’s a very talented player. I thought Johnny showed a lot of stuff off the ball, holding the ball, and winning it too,” Delgado said.
Coach Noah also thought Johnny paired well with Cedeño in the second half.
“In the second half, the combination of Johnny and Jesse was causing some danger was causing some danger,” Delgado said.” The goal that Johnny hit that they called a foul would have been an unbelievable strike. He didn’t get on the scoresheet, but I thought he did a lot of stuff off the ball that was very good.”
Tamacas’ goal in the 50th minute was his second goal in a Roots’ uniform. Tamacas finished 2023 with one goal and three assists, scoring his single goal in his last regular season appearance against San Diego on October 7 and all three of his assists coming over his final nine appearances. Getting Tamacas ramped up early will be critical.
“He hit the pole maybe four times last year. With him, being an attacking wingback, if he could contribute those goals, I think could have a really big year,” Delgado said.
More Paul magnificence
Paul Blanchette doesn’t want to lead the league in saves again, neither does the club, but he showed off his prowess once again with five saves.
He made a diving leap to stop a free kick in a dangerous area by Blake in the 21st minute. Then in the 39th, he made another critical save amid chaos in the box where..
In the 49th minute, Blanchette made a pivotal leaping save to tip a shot from Guenzatti on the bar, where the former Rowdies forward recovered a defensive header–volleying the ball to himself about a yard above the penalty area for an athletic strike. It was the last challenging look of the game for Indy.
USL Championship rule change
The USL Championship made an interesting change to roster rules last week and never made it public. You’ll notice by looking at Saturday’s subs list for Roots that they had nine players on the bench; . Gomez, Napo Matsoso, Justin Rasmussen, Trayvone Reid, Etsgar Cruz, Javier Bedolla-Vera, Ilya Alekseev, Thomas Camier and Tim Syrel.
As Evans writes, home teams are now eligible of listing 1-2 additional players who were 17-years-old or younger at the time of being signed to a pro contract or academy deal. This means Roots will have a big backend of the subs list for home games due to their pipleine through Project 51O.
This will be beneficial for players like Cruz, Bedolla-Vera, Alekseev, Camier, Syrel, along with 51O center forward Luis Saldaña.
The Town FC, will they hold Roots back?
Scorned former Roots’ owner Benno Nagel, who failed to sue to club, made noise with his The Town FC project being announced as San Jose Earthquakes’ new MLS Next Pro affiliate.
You may remember back in June 2023, I reported A’s owner and Earthquakes owner John Fisher was touring the training facility on Harbor Bay Parkway in Alameda with members of the Earthquakes’ technical staff. Perhaps Monday’s news helps illustrate The Town FC’s goals.
So, will the Town FC hold back Roots from proceeding with the training facility, or potentially moving into the Coliseum for 2025 and Malibu Lot by 2026?
I doubt it.
The Summer of Sell Documentary’s string on Twitter (X) is speculative, but points out how John Fisher has Alameda County Board of Supervisor officials in his back pocket and had a growing partnership with Town FC. It’s an interesting turn, knowing The Town FC are now stooges for Fisher and would love any opportunity to supplant Roots as the East Bay’s predominant soccer club.
But Roots already have City of Oakland officials publicly on board with Coliseum and Malibu Lot plans. A swing in the other direction with Roots approaching the finishing line on facility, Coliseum, and Malibu projects would show extreme disingenuity for the City and County. It’s too ugly of a look for all involved.
Oakland Roots will have a public agenda item to finalize terms for the playing at the Coliseum in the near future. With mayor Sheng Thao on board with Roots and Soul, its hard to see Roots playing anywhere but the Coliseum in 2025.