Key Debuts Highlight Rowdies’ Preseason Return to Al Lang

The Tampa Bay Rowdies kicked off their series of open-to-the-fans pre-season games with a 2-0 loss to the Philadelphia Union at Al Lang Stadium on February 7th. It was a great opportunity to get the fans back out to Al Lang and catch an early glimpse of the revamped Rowdies roster for 2026.

While the result was not the desired outcome, there are many takeaways from the game. So, let’s get into the good, the not so good, and the surprising.

The Surprising

• The most surprising aspect of the game was the Rowdies transition away from the back three we have seen them roll out in recent seasons. The variants of the 3-5-2 were traded in for a 4-2-3-1 in this first pre-season match. The back four (from left to right) of Rodriguez-Archer-Schaefer-Acoff and holding midfield two of Hilton and Schneider seemed to have some good chemistry and built out from the back in an interesting way. Both from goal kicks and after turnovers, Rodriguez and Acoff would get really high, very quickly with the center backs splitting a bit wider (around the width of the 18-yard box) and either Hilton or Schneider would drop in centrally to help fill the space and help distribute the ball and move the Rowdies up the pitch.

• The Rowdies have a new captain… Following the departure of long-time Rowdie and club captain Aaron Guillen, the Rowdies will be forced to name a new team captain for the 2026 season. Many fans may have assumed that fellow long-time Rowdie Lewis Hilton may step into the role as captain having sported the armband on a number of occasions in his time with the Rowdies. But, it was newcomer Russell Cicerone who started with the captain’s armband in the matchup again against the Union. Cicerone did look strong on the night and it will be something to keep an eye on if he will be officially named the club captain for the 2026 campaign.

• This is a quick one, but the size of Max Schnider was also a surprise to me. Having not watched him play at Union Omaha in League One I was not expecting him to be such a physical presence in the midfield. The Rowdies actually seemed to have acquired a large number of height advantaged or physical players in the off-season: Schneider (6’3”), Dolabella (6’4”), Henderlong (6’3”), Myers (6’0”), Archer (6’4”), Leerman (6’2”), and Schaefer (6’3”) all fall into that category and may make the Rowdies dangerous from set pieces this season.

The Good

• New keeper Jahmali Waite looked pretty comfortable on the ball when building out from the back. The Rowdies often tempted the Union into pressing high in the first half and Waite had a few moments of strong composure and distribution to help break that press and progress the ball into the midfield. There were a couple of instances of loose passes but if the first half showing in this match is anything to go by, Waite will be much more akin to Jordan Farr in 2024 in his distribution than what we saw with Campisi, Bandre, or Hamid in 2025.

• Width. In the early stages of the first half, when the Rowdies were looking the stronger of the two teams, the formation allowing for both wide fullbacks and wide midfielders really helped the Rowdies take advantage on the wings. The fullbacks and midfielders were able to link up and create space for each other in a way that is really difficult when only playing with wingbacks. It will be very exciting to see this continue to play out as the pre-season and season progress, especially with a more naturally leftfooted player – like Charlie Ostrem or Gennaro Nigro – on the left side of the back four.

• Archer and Schaefer looked really comfortable playing together in the first half and this could – or more likely should – be the starting center back pairing for the season so it is great to see them working well together early on.

The Not So Good

• If the Rowdies are to continue playing a 4-2-3-1 style formation in the season they may be lacking some depth in the holding midfield spots. Hilton and Schneider both look very comfortable there but after that the remaining Rowdies midfielders all tend to lean more attacking. Players like Alex Mendez can drop into a more defensive position but you sacrifice some of his creativity and Lawrence Wyke could step forward into midfield to help offer that defensive solidity but he can be a bit too aggressive at times which can create problems in that spot. Dolabella featured alongside Schneider in the second half but didn’t quite look comfortable in the role. So, will the Rowdies look to add another player to help cover those positions or will the show some flexibility in shape should they need to deal with injuries or suspensions to either of those holding midfield slots?
  
• Lawrence Wyke still seemed to be a bit of a defensive liability. He was caught ball watching on the Union’s second goal of the match which gave the attacker far too much room to take their finish unchallenged and put the game beyond reach for the Rowdies. There were some off-season rumors about Wyke departing Tampa Bay and with four other center backs on the roster it may not make sense to keep a fifth should the Rowdies stick with a back four.

The Rowdies continue their pre-season program with another open-to-the-fans match against CF Montreal on Saturday, February 14th and it will be exciting to see what we learn from another matchup against an MLS opponent.