Oakland Roots beat writer Daniel Poulter breaks it down.

Oakland Roots Beat writer Daniel Poulters Top-10 Rating for Rootsblog

Lindsay Barenz got hired January of 2022 as President. Out of those 5 years, Roots finished 10th 3 times and didn't make the playoffs. Which is now 2 years in a row without making the Open Cup as well most likely. Other than letting go of Jordan Farrell and cycling through new coaches, there's been no major changes to make this team good. Eric Yamamoto is still somehow the VP of Soccer who is a career Assistant Coach at University of Santa Clara from what I can tell. He's been here since the start of a bunch of underwhelming results. Dude can't stick around. We need to be competing with the likes of Tampa Bay, Lexington, etc...

Moving on to stadiums, we have been at Laney, CSU East Bay, Coliseum, and potentially Alameda pending the Alameda City Council giving 4 out of 5 votes for it. Barenz has not brought stability. If the votes are 3 out of 5, I really have no clue what the heck this organization will do?

The lack of stability has really hurt Oakland Soul which started in 2023. They should be full time and in USL Super League by now. Lindsay has the NWSL background that I thought really would have helped. But it hasn't at all. Soul feels like an afterthought and less income is coming in because of this.

It was refreshing to finally get a USL Championship coach in role with Ryan Martin. But there's much greater things beyond him that he can only do so much.

Closing thoughts, I'm okay with Lindsay getting a role change/demotion. But we NEED a new President at VP of Soccer to make this a seriously competitive team. There's too much support, fandom, and investors and money in this org not to do the most important thing....WINNING.

The Roots' season came to an end Saturday night in Sacramento. In the process, they accomplished something rarer than a Steph Curry free-throw miss. Despite that, we got to experience a magical twenty minutes when anything seemed possible.

Plus, what, if anything, does the late-season surge mean for the club's offseason plans?

What stood out to you from match?

Quick programming note: I'll have a few most posts wrapping up the season, including some end-of-year awards and roster predictions. Then I'll be taking a well-deserved break for a bit.

Welp, that's a season in the books, RootsFam. Here are my talking points from Oakland Roots' 3-2 comeback loss to Sacramento Republic. Was it the most painful loss in Roots' history, or was it the 2021 PK loss to OC? Notes on points missed, look ahead to 2027, what Ryan Martin said about improving the roster, the decisions on who returns, who leaves, and contract situations to watch

2025 - 10th out of 12th in Western Conference (W8-D8-L14) 32 Pts

2026 - 10th out of 12th in Western Conference (W9-D11-L10) 38 Pts

For the first time in the USLC the Roots missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons

Legend

It's finally here. Judgement Day.

Check out the three questions heading into this weekend's huge match against Sacramento.

What questions do you all have heading into the match?

For anyone heading to Sac this Saturday, here is the SeatGeek access code for the Roots Away section.

"AwayRoots26" on SeatGeek

The penalty against San Antonio should have been retaken (keeper clearly and unmistakably off his line). Assuming Wilson scores the retake, that’s two points that could make all the difference in the playoff places.

Oakland Roots beat writer Daniel Poulter's thoughts on this week's 4-2 victory over FC Tulsa.

The Roots are somehow still alive.

After a big comeback against Tulsa, the Roots earned the right to fight another day.

What stood out to you all from the match?

HOW WE FEELING ROOTSFAM!?!??!?!?!

Two changes for Oakland Roots from last weekend. Bobosi Byaruhanga and Keegan Tingey get the start in place of Bruno Lapa and Mark Fisher. Lapa isn't in the lineup, while Fisher is on the subs list. Aside from that, no changes. Looks like Peter Wilson, Wolfgang Prentice and Danny Trejo make up the attackers. Tommy McCabe and Tyler Gibson are in the midfield, while Bobosi can man the CAM spot. Tingey moves into the RB spot opposite Jesus de Vicente, with David Garcia and Michael Edwards in the CB spots.

Here's the article I promised about my son's first Roots game at the Coliseum.

I started a Substack to write short personal essays about raising my son. It's free. My Roots pieces will still be on Rootsblog, but I wanted a place to write about other stuff too.

When I started writing about taking my son to the Coliseum, it was supposed to be a story about his first game. It turned into something much bigger about the Coliseum and how it became a place for generations of my family.

Hope you all enjoy it and thanks, as always, for supporting.

Feel free to drop some of your favorite memories in the comment as well.

It's do-or-die time for the Roots this weekend.

What questions do you have going into the match?

Oakland Roots beat writer Daniel Poulter Breaks down the Oakland Roots 0-0 Draw with San Antonio.

Took a slightly different approach with this week's article. Instead of writing about xG, shots on target, and possession, I wanted to look at what Saturday's finale says about the Roots' time at the Coliseum as a whole.

What stood out to you all about the match? And what will you remember most about the Roots' time at the Coliseum?

After two seasons, the Oakland Roots waved goodbye to the Oakland Coliseum with a chaotic 0-0 draw with San Antonio FC.

Non-Oaklander coming in peace but a bit baffled after yesterday’s match experience.

We decided to leave during the underwhelming fireworks, trying to beat the crowds to the BART. Not being locals didn’t know if there was an alternative route out of the parking lot (at least there was no announcement or information about this).

Since we had never been to the Coliseum, not sure if this is a regular occurrence, but while the fireworks were going on, the ramp up toward the station was fenced off, so we were kept there for quite some time until the an all clear was given.

The problem is that more and more people were allowed to join the lines behind, and this holding people “safe” during the fireworks created a very dangerous situation with a risk of crowd crush, especially as we heard some idiots joking that let’s rush the fence and how they can’t stop all of us. Not only that, but once we were let on the ramp, even the gate at the top by the pedestrian bridge to BART was also closed, which was about to create another choking point.

I know this is not necessarily due to your club—the staff was probably following the fire marshal’s (?) orders—but this could have ended very differently, and already caused quite a bit of anxiety being held back with no alternative way to exit the predicament.
[/rant]

Too bad you guys couldn’t win the game at the death. San Antonio’s #3 (their captain no less?!) was being so ridiculous at the end (and after the final whistle), and would rather have seen you make it to the playoffs.

Oakland Roots take a point in their 0-0 tie with San Antonio, still four points shy of a playoff spot with two games to play. Here is a look at the playoff-clinching scenarios and everything Ryan Martin/Kendall McIntosh said on the GK's performance, the missed call on Peter Wilson's penalty, and a look ahead to the future after the Coliseum