The Oakland Roots have signed attacker José Luis Sinisterra on a free transfer. Sinisterra, a Colombian native who last played for Club Sportivo Trinidense in Paraguay, is already training with the team and will hopefully be ready to play in the final 10 regular season matchups.
An addition down the stretch will be a welcome surprise to the Roots community, but, for those of us not totally queued into club football in South America, what Sinisterra will bring to the team remains a bit of a mystery. To learn more about the newest Oakland Root, I’m diving into the purest science I have at my disposal, YouTube compilations.
For real information, you can read what Jon has heard from the club about the signing here. For vibes, please continue.
What Looks Good
According to Transfermarkt, a website not reliable enough to be used as a Wikipedia source1, Sinisterra has played primarily on the right wing while also logging minutes wide left and as a center forward.
In the highlights, Sinisterra most often appears in possession wide along the touchline or dropping in centrally with his back to goal. His pace can be deadly in transition, a good fit for how the Roots have played their last few games, but can also cause set defenses problems.
Roots also feel like his versatility as a wide player and central attacker fits the Oakland mold.
“With the historical view of Roots players, versatility is crucial. Gavin has talked about using him on the left, on the right, and through the middle. We know he’s comfortable inside and also comfortable towards the touchline. It allows us to find balance in the forward line, he can make the final pass but also make the run to receive the final pass,” a club source described.
Sinisterra shows high level ball control with his right foot when he finds himself on the wide parts of the pitch. His footwork and creativity should be, at the absolute worst, a joy to watch out wide.
When not taking players one-on-one, there are a couple instances of Sinisterra receiving the ball wide with support from his teammates, and playing a quick give-and-go to get in behind the defense.
As for dropping in to receive passes with his back to goal, Sinisterra often shines with a quick turn. He seems adept at finding space in between opposition lines, and has the physical tools to make defenses pay for failing to stop him quickly.
Oakland Roots’ currnt wide players have struggled to get on the ball, turn forward, and build the attack. The likes of Reid and Rodriguez look to play very direct behind defenders, while Mfeka and Njie do a great job holding up play but can struggle to rapidly transition into the attack. He shows good vision in these tight spaces, and looks capable of playing well-weighted passes through defensive lines.
His play in possession should provide reliable buildup for the Roots, and his right-footedness pairs much better with Lindo Mfeka than Jeciel Cedeño.
However, surely the reason the Roots signed him is because of his defensive work rate and ability to play in transition. Below you see Sinisterra commit defensively, before and after he loses possession, before being ready immediately to run at the opposition.
When the Oakland Roots are defending on the front foot, they look capable of stifling any attack in the USL Championship. If Sinisterra’s work ethic matches what the rest of the squad has been bringing, his technical ability, raw athleticism, and ability to read the game should be able to take Roots up notch.
The Finishing
If I told you Oakland Roots signed a winger who gets fouled a lot and doesn’t finish particularly well, would you be terribly surprised?
For all of the danger Sinisterra brings, his film doesn’t shot a high-level finisher2 in front of goal. I didn’t see video of him ever shooting the ball particularly hard, and, for the space he creates, one would hope he be able to score more often.
The Roots have lacked finishing this season with just one active player with more than two goals on the season (Johnny, with 10), and more firepower is needed to be a team that can really threaten.
That said, where the Roots have struggled most intensely this year in creating chances. Oakland play many matches where they and their opponents both struggle to create quality chances. For the Roots, this is largely an advantage because of Johnny Rodriguez’s scoring prowess and Paul ‘The Wallfather’ Blanchette’s elite shot stopping. But if Sinisterra can unlock defenses without forcing the Roots to lose their rest shape, he could be more of an offensive catalyst than a pure goal poacher.
It’s worth noting that he has 14 goals spread out among his 151 career appearances, so it doesn’t seem Roots are bringing in a prolific goal-scorer. The club has commented on his playmaking ability, so perhaps his service and chance creation is the real factor in his addition.
““He’s good in tight spaces and is really good in combination play. That was one area we felt like we could grow. He’s someone who can make the final pass but also can make the run to receive the final pass,” a club source said. “We feel like with some of the running we have, it was important to find someone who could reward that and make the decisive action. Not just a passer or creative player, but also someone who can finalize things in and around the box. We think his decisiveness is something that can create good positions into good chances.”
The Outlook
When Cedeño left for Detroit City, there was no assurance that a new player would be signed to fill his spot. José Luis Sinisterra coming to the team is a sign that, unlike last season, the Roots are looking to strengthen the roster down the stretch3.
It is a good sign that there are already photos of Sinisterra training with the team4 as Roots could use attacking depth as soon as possible.
The past three games, Gavin Glinton has opted for a 3-4-3 formation that does not emphasize possession, which looks a great fit for the new signing. While Sinisterra is ideally going to slide right into a starting winger role, just another flexible backup for Baboucarr Njie would greatly improve the squad’s flexibility.
Sinisterra could also slide alongside Rodriguez as a striker, as his hold up and creativity could be helpful for the Roots’ top only scorer. If Dom Dwyer is not going to play going forward, Sinisterra could be the creative force the Roots have been looking for to unlock defenses.
Oakland need support centrally and on the wings in their attack, and have signed a player who has played comfortably in those spaces in the past. It is just to be determined if he will be able to adjust to a new team, in a new country, with so little time remaining.
If you made it this far, here’s a video through a chain link fence of him banging a free kick as a teenager to a track by Sean Paul:
- Sinisterra’s Wikipedia hasn’t been updated with new information since early 2022, and there is even less information there. ↩︎
- If he had this skillset and was finishing at a high clip, he would playing somewhere much better than the Oakland Roots, imo. ↩︎
- With the Coliseum announced for next year, it makes sense to me that the Roots would want to finish 2024 as strong as they are able. The energy of a home playoff game, or a deep run, could be momentum before the club’s massive move. ↩︎
- I’m speculating here, of course, but there is nothing to say Sinisterra hasn’t been training with the team for some additional time. It would be far from the first time a USL club incorporated a player into training before publically announcing the signing. ↩︎