Indy Eleven vs Cosmos - 04.28

- Opponent: New York Cosmos
- Location: Indianapolis
- Attendance: 8,998
- Final Score: 2-2 D
- Starting XI: Busch, Franco, Falvey, Miller, Keller, Ring, Torrado, Smart, Speas, Vukovic, Zayed
- Substitutions: Junior 82' (Smart)
- Unused: Cardona, Watson-Siriboe, Henderson, Ubiparipovic, Thompson, Goldsmith
- Goals: Smart 27' (assist Franco), Zayed 64' (assist Smart)
- Bookings: Falvey 32' (Yellow), Ring 53' (Yellow), Torrado 53' (Yellow), Zayed 90'+3' (Yellow)
- Adage goals: One

A game against the Cosmos ends in a draw more than 70% of the time, so we should just expect that as the baseline going into the game. No lead is safe. No deficit is impossible to overcome. The Eleven scored first with a blast from Smart just inside the corner of the 18-yard box. The Cosmos countered with a goal of their own first half goal nine minutes later, when Ledesma out-worked Falvey and Miller and followed-up a rocket from Marquez that Busch could do nothing with but parry away. Falvey and Miller stood flat-footed as Ledesma ran right past them to get to the rebound.

Seconds after the halftime whistle blew, the sky's opened and a heavy rain forced fans to find shelter where possible. Many people decided that their shelter would be their car and never returned. For those that stayed, the second half provided them much of the same as the first half. The Cosmos held more possession and more than doubled the number of shots, but the Eleven put the ball in the back of the net first in the 64th minute when first half goalscorer Smart turned provider and put a ball across the goal face that Zayed, prone to be in an offside position during this game, timed perfectly and calmly put past Maurer. Yet just like the first half, the Eleven couldn't hold onto the lead, and Marquez scored on a shot inside the box after the defense was slow to react.

Coach Hankinson once again employed Vukovic in the midfield. Based on goals scored, you would have to question its success, but I personally feel much more comfortable with Keller in the backline. Much like Palmer wasn't going to get as involved in the offense as Franco, Keller isn't going to go forward and forego his defensive responsibilities. What I don't understand with the change, is why he keeps lining up on the right side of the field with Smart on the left side of the field. Neither player wants to send in a cross from that side with their less-favored leg, so each player turns and brings the ball into the middle so that they can serve a ball with their preferred leg. Both players, and by extension the team, were much more successful on their desired side of the field.

Mathematically, the team is still alive. Realistically, the Eleven needed to come away with a win at home against one of the teams ahead of them in the Combined Table. Particularly with games against the two league-leading teams this week in San Francisco and home versus Miami. Unfortunately, the team squandered two separate leads and racked up a few more yellows. Which, if you're keeping track, both Ring and Smart are a yellow away from getting their 5th yellow in the Fall Season and will have to sit for yellow card accumulation and Torrado, having already served a one-game suspension for his yellow cards, is now just one more yellow card away from serving his second one-game suspension. I doubt he makes it through the next three games without getting a card, it will just depend on when it happens. 

The Game Beckons Game Ball:

I've been stingy with the GBGB in the Fall Season, but Smart deserves it for this game for putting the team on his back and getting it done on the offensive end of the field. The defense didn't help him out, but put in a solid shift to try and get the team a win. "Mr. Indy" also reached 100 appearances (across all competitions) for the Indy Eleven in this game. Whether he's back next year or not, Smart's been fighting for this team for a long time and continued that effort on Saturday night.

Photos (courtesy of Don Thompson Photography):

Highlights:

Indy Eleven vs New York Cosmos - 04.20

- Opponent: New York Cosmos
- Location: Brooklyn
- Attendance: 6,110
- Final Score: 3-3 D
- Starting XI: Busch, Franco, Falvey, Keller, Vukovic, Ring, Torrado, Smart, Speas, Goldsmith, Zayed
- Substitutions: Braun 72' (Goldsmith), Watson-Siriboe 81' (Torrado), Thompson 89' (Zayed)
- Unused: Cardona, Miller, Ables
- Goals: Torrado 10' (assist Smart), Torrado 14' (assist Zayed), Zayed 53' (assist Goldsmith)
- Bookings: Torrado 35' (Yellow), Smart 90+' (Yellow)
- Adage goals: One

Expectations are an interesting beast. Two years ago, the expectation was that the Indy Eleven would play above themselves and get a draw against the New York Cosmos because that's what history had indicated. The first six matches between these two teams finished in draws; 3 each in the 2014 and 2015 seasons. Then the magical 2016 Spring Season happened for the Indy Eleven and the seal was broken with a 2 - 1 come-from-behind, last minute home win for the Eleven. The Cosmos exacted revenge a few months later with a 3 - nil victory on their home soil, before the script was flipped in Indy for another 3 - nil victory, that time for the Eleven. The teams met a fourth time last year, playing in the Championship Final, which, not surprisingly, officially ended in a draw and the Cosmos getting the edge in penalty kicks.

So expectations from fans of the Eleven are that Indy will be able to get a positive result against the Cosmos.Which is exactly what the Eleven accomplished this weekend in their trip to Brooklyn. A 3 - 3 goal-fest with Zayed getting his fifth goal of the year off a beautiful ball from David Goldsmith. Yet that was the Eleven's third goal. The first two came from an unlikely offensive source. For all of his ability and talent, scoring has not been a part of Gerado Torrado, who had managed a single assist and no goals in his time here in Indy. Yet, he found himself in a shooting position just inside the 18-yard box on a short corner from Smart, and Torrado put it in the back of the net over an outstretched Maurer in just the 10th minute. Four minutes later, this time at the top of the box, Torrado blasted one past Maurer for a 2 - nil lead. A shot that was so hard that it's amazing how fast it got past Maurer. Check it out from the camera behind the goal:

NASL/Opta Attack Stats

With a two goal lead and with so little of the game in the books, the expectation in this series is that the game was far from over, but you would expect that the Eleven would hold on for a win. The Cosmos had other plans. 36 Total Shots other plans. 28 Shots from INSIDE the box other plans. Torrado may have gotten the scoring started, but the Cosmos planned to finish it and found the net in the 29th minute to get them on the board after putting one off of the post in the 19th minute. The posts and crossbar behind Busch saw a lot of action in this game and may be the reason the Eleven took home a draw instead of a loss.

The team withstood a barrage of shots and attempts and if we're honest, survived with last ditch defending for significant stretches. After finding their first goal to give themselves momentum going into halftime, the Cosmos found another one shortly after the break to pull things even. Yet, the fight we saw last year in the Eleven manifested itself again as Zayed's goal in the 53rd minute put the Eleven back on top mere minutes after the Cosmos drew even. The Cosmos' 2nd goal resulted from a long range blast that found the crossbar and a put back off the rebound as Vranjican rushed forward and Vuko and Keller ball-watched. Hustle won out. Zayed's goal resulted from a perfectly placed long ball from Goldsmith and individual effort by Zayed. The final goal of the night came in the 84th minute by Guerra from a corner kick. Guerra was completely unmarked and put the ball in a spot between Busch and Smart guarding the post.

And the second comeback of the night was complete.

In other news... Actually, I don't know if we can call this news anymore. Torrado picked up his fourth yellow card in four Fall Season matches. If the team's leader in yellow cards (his defensive midfield running mate Ring being a close second) gets another yellow card anytime in the team's next 12 matches, Torrado will watch from the sideline due to yellow card accumulation. A card he received that was suspect at best and horrendous at worst.

"I think we have to be honest, right, and Javi Marquez made a meal out of that in the end. Right, I mean, we gotta be honest. He was fouled to begin with and that was a foul, but after that, I'm not sure why he's doing that."

Because teams, seemingly with the exception of the Eleven, have learned that the NASL refs are going call every flop against the Eleven with either a penalty kick or a yellow card. In this case, I think Torrado was going to receive the yellow card for the initial foul and not from Marquez's disgusting embellishment antics, but it's the ref's or the assistant ref's responsibility to realize that there was a flop and issue a yellow card to Marquez as well. These are the things that turn off the casual fan and absolutely pisses off the die-hard fans, while taking away from the game. Personally, I'm tired of seeing this shit.

Exit soap box.

An injury to Vuko in stoppage team was felt to be a penalty kick by the Cosmos players and the Cosmos announcers, but the ref disagreed. However, what it did was remove Vuko from the game in what looked to be concussion protocol by the Cosmos medical staff so that the Eleven were forced to play with 10 for the 10 minutes of stoppage time (albeit some of that time was used by the attending to Vuko).

The Eleven vs Cosmos has turned into quite the rivalry and this game is another in line for most exciting game in the series. Even if you expected an exciting game, this game exceeded all expectations. Don't believe me? What about Eric Wynalda?

Watched a ton of games today -best domestic game was without a doubt @NYCosmos and @IndyEleven well done @naslofficial 3-3 / @TheCalcioGuy

— Eric Wynalda (@EricWynalda) August 20, 2017

The Eleven head home on Saturday to play Jacksonville, who, at the moment, are desperate for a win in the Fall Season as they are the only team behind the Eleven. Sitting in last place. Will that desperation be stronger than the Eleven's home field advantage. At this point, who knows what to expect?

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Photo: NASL/NY Cosmos

Torrado. The fourth yellow card in four games worries me and Busch could have easily received the Game Ball, but unexpected offense in the form of a brace needs to be rewarded so that's what I'm going to do. Torrado, at 38 years old, uncorked a shot so hard from 20 yards out that Maurer barely had time to react before it was in the net behind him. Those are the flashes of brilliance that Indy Eleven fans wish they could see more often. The pinpoint passing and spot-on decision making are one thing, but it's always nice to be reminded that there's a reason he's the second highest capped Mexican international player.

Highlights:

Indy Eleven vs Cosmos - 04.15

- Opponent: New York Cosmos
- Location: Indianapolis
- Attendance: 8,748
- Final Score: 2-1 W
- Starting XI: Busch, Franco, Falvey, Keller, Vukovic, Ring, Smart, Speas, Ubiparipovic, Braun, Zayed
- Substitutions: Goldsmith 78' (Smart), Palmer 85' (Speas), Henderson 90' (Ubiparipovic)
- Unused: Cardona, Lomeli, Thompson, Ables
- Goals: Smart 17' (PK), Braun 75' (assist Vukovic)
- Bookings: None
- Adage goals: None

For only the 2nd time in the history of the Eleven, I was not in attendance for a home game. I will also likely not be able to watch the game before next week's Spring Season finale against Jacksonville. So instead of trying to write something that pretends like I know how the game truly went, I'm going to point out a couple things that surprised me while looking at the statistics without having any preconceived notion of what the statistics would/could tell me.

The Eleven reduced their number of offside calls, which is something I've been critical about lately. Fewer offside calls means more opportunities.

The Eleven are being credited with 117 passes, which jumped off the screen at me. That is way beyond their normal average of just over 300 passes per game. Having not seen the game, I had to wonder about the accuracy of the stat or if they really did have that few passes.

Similarly, for a guy that has made 20 saves over the preceding three games, Busch wasn't credited with a single save. Given that I can see in the game highlights that he parried away a free kick, it further makes me question the NASL/Opta Stats.

Lastly, the stats show the Eleven had 3 tackles and the Cosmos had 1 tackle. Not buying it... not in this series.

So I'm not sure that I can trust any stats from this game except for the score. Given that the Eleven need wins to get some momentum going into the Fall Season, that's really the only one that matters right now.

Highlights:

Indy Eleven vs Cosmos - 04.14

- Opponent: New York Cosmos
- Location: Brooklyn, New York
- Attendance: 6,734
- Final Score: 1-1 D
- Starting XI: Busch, Franco, Falvey, Keller, Vukovic, Ring, Smart, Speas, Ubiparipovic, Braun, Zayed
- Substitutions: Henderson 67' (Ubiparipovic), Goldsmith 73' (Zayed), Palmer 84' (Franco)
- Unused: Cardona, Thompson, Ables
- Goals: Speas 33' (assist Franco)
- Bookings: Goldsmith 72' (Yellow), Palmer 83' (Yellow), Falvey 90' (Yellow)
- Adage goals: One

A draw ripped from the jaws of victory, the Eleven went into MCU Park, a stone's throw away from Coney Island where Joey Chestnut once again won the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest earlier in the day, and led for 53 minutes before giving up a penalty kick in the dying minutes of the game. The good news is that the team went on the road, on a holiday, with a crowd 2,000 people larger than normal for NYC, and came away with a point thanks to a world-class cross from Franco that Speas pushed around Ochieng, forcing him to slip, and then 5-holed Maurer.

The bad news... Well, let's get into that a little. Speas' goal was a bit fortunate in that he was even in position to take the shot on goal because he had a poor first touch that Ochieng should have been able to clear if he hadn't slipped. The Eleven were out-shot 3 to 1, with the Cosmos having more shots on goal than the Eleven had in total. Busch had 9 saves. NINE. That gives him 22 saves in the past three games. There seems to be a definite bend but don't break mentality to the team at the moment, which is odd given that they finally have their offensive weapons back again and were able to field the same starting lineup for the third week in a row.

The Cosmos were short-handed. They have four players away, participating in the Gold Cup with their respective national teams. Andres Flores, Richard Menjivar, and Irvin Herrera are with El Salvador and Dejan Jakovic is with Canada. The Cosmos bench included seven players. One player, Danilo Radjen, doesn't even show up in the team's statistics, three of them still haven't played a single minute this season, one NOW has 10 minutes, another had 20 minutes coming into the game, and Starikov was averaging less than 45-minutes per game. Safe to say, the bench didn't include a lot of depth. It would be easy to say that the Eleven were playing the Cosmos' B squad, but that's overly simplistic. A more accurate assessment was that the Eleven were playing the Cosmos' A- squad.

NASL/New York Cosmos Individual Stats (Through 07/05/2017)

NASL/Opta Stats - Ring 2nd Half Heat Map

There were good moments from the Eleven. Speas' goal. Zayed's near-goal right before the end of the first half. Busch.

Yet, at some point early on, I realized that I couldn't remember the last time the ball went to Ubiparipovic or Ring. Ring finished the game with 24 touches; Ubi finished with 32 touches. For a couple guys who should be moving the offense forward, it seemed like they were non-existent for stretches of the game. Ring, as seen in his 2nd half heat map, touched the ball once outside of the defensive third. Ubi touched the ball 5 times in the second half. Yes, you read that correctly. Ubi, who has been dropping deeper into the defensive half of the field to get the ball in better positions to move the offense, touched the ball 5 times in the 22 minutes he was on the field in the 2nd half.

And now for the PK that shouldn't have been...

"It looks like Ledesma definitely exaggerates the contact there. Knows exactly what he's doing. Draws the ref in on this one..."

The penalty kick call was a bad one, but I think most of us can chalk that up to typical NASL refs and a flop that happens more often in soccer than we care to admit, particularly to our non-soccer sports fans who look at these kinds of things as their sole reason to not watch soccer. If you're reading this blog (hi Jeff and Aaron), you've chosen to look past the flopping and are interested in the finer aspects of the beautiful game.

Choosing to look past the ridiculous penalty call, a concerning thing happened during the penalty kick. This is the 5th penalty kick that opposing teams have taken against the Eleven in just 14 games. Three of those kicks have been scored directly off the kick. The other two were scored off the rebound because the ball fortuitously bounced back to the opposing team's player who was able to score over a sprawled Busch. It did not go unnoticed to the Cosmos that the Eleven have not been the quickest players to the rebound and they played the penalty kick accordingly. While Falvey didn't move at all, Smart and Keller ran towards goal to parry the ball away if Busch once again made the initial save. However, none of them would have reached the ball first because Richter and Calvillo took a running start to the kick and would have, once again, been in a position to score off the rebound in front of the Eleven. See the below video. If the Eleven are going to continue to give up penalty kick attempts, this is something that needs to be addressed.

So the Eleven had a positive result against a team not named NCFC, but they're still looking at a dramatic uphill battle to get themselves into a playoff position. A win at home against the very same Cosmos team on Saturday would go a long way toward shifting the team's momentum heading into the Fall Season.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Busch. 9 saves. Not all of them as spectacular as he's been called to do recently, but he consistently put himself in the right position for saves. Nine of them.

Highlights:

Indy Eleven vs Cosmos - 03.34 - Championship Final

- Opponent: New York Cosmos
- Location: New York
- Attendance: 2,150
- Final Score: 0-0 D (Lost 4-2 in PKs)
- Starting XI: Busch, Franco, Falvey, Janicki, Vukovic, Ring, Smart, Mares, Ubiparipovic, Braun, Zayed
- Substitutions: Torrado 45' (Mares), Lacroix 90' (Smart), Paterson 101' (Ubiparipovic)
- Unused: Cardona, Palmer, Keller, Youla
- Goals: None in regulation. Paterson and Vukovic scored in PKs. Zayed and Busch missed.
- Bookings: Ring 72' (Yellow), Falvey 83' (Yellow)
- Adage goals: None

So that emotion doesn't get in the way of the start of this review, let's start with some season stats from the Opta Stats.
Goals
#1 New York - 59
#2 Indy - 51

Average Goals per Game
#1 New York - 1.84
#2 Indy - 1.59

Shots (excluding blocked shots)
#1 New York - 354
#3 Indy - 331

% Shots on Target
#1 New York - 48.0%
#5 Indy - 44.4%

% Goals to Shots
#1 New York - 16.70%
#2 Indy - 15.40%

Total Crosses
#9 New York - 524
#2 Indy - 643

Cross Completion %
#7 New York - 23.90%
#2 Indy - 25.70%

I could cherry pick a few more, but the bottom line is that Sunday's game between the Indy Eleven and the New York Cosmos took place between the #1 and #2 teams in the league and a large portion of the statistics are consistent with their final standing ranks. Despite a couple of lopsided scores between these two teams in the Fall Season, this game had all the indications of being exactly what it turned out to be; a back and forth game that needed 120 minutes and penalty kicks to determine a winner. Both team had chances throughout the game, but neither team could break the seal that might have opened it up and turned it into a high scoring game. Officially, the two goalkeepers only had 5 saves between them (1 for Maurer, 4 for Busch), but there were plenty of nervy moments for both team's fans, most notably, a blast from Don Smart that took the crossbar challenge to a new level in the 70th minute.

On the season, the Cosmos were able to get winning results 84% of the time when scoring first and the Eleven were able to get winning results 76% of the time, both behind only Edmonton's 93%. Which is why the Eleven looked to come out on the gas pedal in the first 20 minutes to try and get ahead early. The Cosmos settled into the game after that and the game grind was underway.

I have questions about how the game progressed, (why was Mares pulled at half, why did Busch take the third penalty kick, who was scheduled to take the fifth), but The Eleven have shown that they can, and did, compete with the best teams in the league for the duration of the year and it took the Cosmos, at their pseudo home field, penalty kicks to beat them in the Championship. Given the flux of the NASL next year, a Cosmos-Eleven rematch may not be out of the question.

It would be nice to look at this game as a bonus from what the fans expected coming into the season, but right now, it feels like April can't come soon enough. I plan to do a season review in the near future, but Coach Hankinson has indicated that the goal for next season is to add key pieces and not another complete overhaul of the roster.

Winning breeds winning and a loss in the Final makes you want to get back to remedy that losing feeling. Ask Falvey, Paterson, and Ubiparipovic if they're ready to get to the Final again.

Now ask them if they wish they could get started tomorrow.

Final over and lost.

Expectations risen from the ashes.

Highlights:

Indy Eleven vs Cosmos - 03.26

- Opponent: New York Cosmos
- Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
- Attendance: 9,157
- Final Score: 3-0 W
- Starting XI: Busch, Franco, Falvey, Miller, Vukovic, Torrado, Smart, Mares, Ubiparipovic, Braun, Zayed
- Substitutions: Ring 61' (Ubiparipovic), Paterson 81' (Smart), Lacroix 85' (Zayed)
- Unused: Cardona, Palmer, Keller, Gordon
- Goals: Braun 32' (assist Zayed), Zayed 48' (assist Mares), Mares 51' (assist Braun)
- Bookings: None
- Adage goals: None

Zayed to Braun - Goal.

Mares to Zayed - Goal.

Braun to Mares - Goal.

A clean sheet for Busch.

That's the kind of script fans like to see when the Eleven play the league's elite. They didn't have to play from behind. They weren't chasing a goal to try and salvage a draw. They played good team soccer and looked dominant while doing it. They gave themselves a chance to get 9 points against the three teams at the top of the table in successive weekends. They put themselves in a good position coming down the stretch of the Fall Season.

When Braun put the game winner into the back of the net in the 32nd minute, Miller was "the guy behind the guy behind the guy"...behind the guy. Braun's header was fantastic. Zayed's header back across the goal was pinpoint, Smart's cross was gorgeous, but some credit needs to be given to Miller who picked out Smart with a 50-yard pass up the field that set the entire thing in motion. Beautiful one-touch soccer that was rewarded with a goal.

Coming into the game, I thought Zayed might get back on the board in a losing effort. I was correct on the first account, but the effort was definitely a winning one. After the game, I mentioned that I would love to know the mileage run by Mares and Smart and the effort they gave. Smart looked exhausted when he departed in the 81st minute and Mares sat down on the pitch after the final whistle (though that may have had more to do with an injury towards the end of the game). Interestingly about the effort by all of the team was the Average position. While Mares and Smart routinely flip-flopped sides of the field, every single player's average position on the field matched their tactical formation position in the 4-4-2 (diamond), including the subs and where they came onto the field. Mares' position pushes more towards the middle than Smart's, but I attribute that to Mares' tendency to do that normally, plus him shifting to the forward role when Lacroix came on for Zayed.

The reason I felt that Zayed would get on the board, though, is because Braun is back in form and their partnership has provided great results for the team, but also for Zayed specifically. Braun's workrate and hold up play force teams to not be able to focus entirely on Zayed in a way that the other forwards on the team can't provide for him. In the five games that Braun wasn't playing, Zayed didn't score. But in games at home and with Braun playing alongside him, Zayed hasn't gone more than two games in a row without scoring. Since Braun's return, Zayed has two assists so he was due to score based on the season's run-of-form. Braun may not be getting on the board as much as he might like, but he clearly makes the offense better when he's on the field than when he's off of it. I'm glad he's back for the end-of-the-year push into the playoffs.

The team could have used some additional possession during the final 30 minutes to give the defense some spells of rest once they went up by three as the Cosmos pushed to get on the scoreboard, but the guys seemed to want to attack the goal until the final whistle and couldn't resist the urge to go forward, even without having the numbers to do so well. This was reflected in the possession, which was basically 50/50 at halftime, but finished 43/57 against the Eleven. Fortunately, while the team was doing a lot of defending during this timeframe, they were doing so with a significant amount of team defending, with guys shifting in all positions to put themselves into the proper locations. If you're going to do a lot of defending, it's good to see them doing it well.

This was a good result against, what can be argued, is the best team in the league a week after beating, what can be argued, was one of the hottest teams in the league in Miami. A road game against Edmonton next week could solidify the Eleven in the discussion again for the Fall Championship since the Cosmos are also on the road and have had similar road woes as the Eleven.

Updates:
Congratulations Braun, Franco, and Mares for their Team of the Week selections:

Highlights: