RootsBlog

Jordan Ferrell and the Oakland Roots took a calculated risk on Saturday night at home against Los Angeles Galaxy Two, resting both Jose Hernandez and Wal Fall, and starting Matias Fissore on the bench. Following the squad’s covid pause, it had played 14 matches in 52 days, or 1 one match every 3.7 days. During that stretch Fall (who missed the first match of this run) logged almost 900 minutes, including playing the full 90 in 7 of the last 8 matches, and 82 minutes in the match before that. Hernandez had logged 831 over 13 matches. Fissore 849 over 13 matches. This crew, which also demonstrated time and again how valuable it is to this year’s Roots side, was in need of a break. Perhaps thinking that the season’s closing kick will be really vital in terms of making the playoffs, and in view of the fact that the next stretch of games will not allow for much of a break (in order: SD, OCSC, Lights, Sac, Phoenix, OCSC, Tac, SD, and then the closer against Sporting KC II), Ferrell decided t...

The Oakland Roots couldn't take three points in last night's 1-0 loss to Los Angeles Galaxy II after conceding a penalty kick in the 75th minute. As Oakland Roots' interim head coach and technical director Jordan Ferrell puts it: "That was a tough one to swallow."  With the loss, Roots record becomes 7-6-10 and still three points back of Tacoma for fourth place in the Pacific Division, but have now played two more matches than Defiance. Sacramento, meanwhile, has 26 points in sixth and faces Tacoma on Wednesday. As for Galaxy, the club also has 26 points down in seventh. Saturday's match featured Brian Brown and Joseph Nane making their Oakland debuts while Wal Fall and Jose Hernandez were out due to injury and card accumulation respectively.  Roots SC now looks ahead to another critical match on Wednesday against San Diego Loyal at Las Positas.  Here is a full transcript of Jordan Ferrell's post-match press conference.  Tough loss, your initial reaction? ...

The Oakland Roots lost a narrow 1-0 battle to Los Angeles Galaxy II at Laney, watching its record dip to 7-6-10 with nine matches left in the season. It was a critically missed opportunity to pad points ahead of Sacramento Republic in 6th place at 26 points and tie Tacoma Defiance with 30 points.  The Roots went into the night without two critical midfielders; Jose Hernandez was out due to card accumulation while Wal Fall picked up an injury.  "They are the brains of our operation. We saw on Wednesday night what it does for the team when they are really humming. Mati came on and did a really good job in the #8 just finding that rhythm and you saw it right away with a couple of good created. It's challenging whenever you don't have those guys available, the team needs to step up and prove that other people can fill that role. There were moments we did, we just weren't sharp enough," said Ferrell.  As a result, Los Angeles had a dominant day in the midfield.  "...

Oakland Roots host Los Angeles Galaxy II for their first final match-up against a divisional opponent on Saturday, September 18 at 7:00 p.m., broadcast on ESPN+, KOFYTV, and TeleXitos. Saturday will be “Climate Night” with the Roots partnership with East Bay Community Energy. Your guess is as good as mine what that means. Roots are also hosting Kossisko and also hosting the Roots’ community partner Soccer Without Borders and also giving away sunglasses. Roots’ History Against Los Angeles Galaxy II : 2-0-1 Last Match-Up The Roots' first win in the USL was a 3-2 win over Los Dos in Los Angeles on May 23. Akeem O’Connor-Ward started with the captain’s armband for the first time that week, as Wal Fall had come off in the 16th minute of the season opener. The first Roots goal, you may recall, was a tidy one-time finish from Danny Flores at the back post. How’s Danny doing these days?  Here's what I could find.  He has only appeared on the scoresheet for VA Tech with a sin...