At some point, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this isn't working. Watch the highlights below. Put together by the Indy Eleven, not the NASL, the Indy Eleven. They had to go all the way to the 73rd minute before they could find a single offensive highlight worth putting in the video and it was a result of Paulo Junior, Don Smart, and David Goldsmith. The New Guy, Mr. Indy, and The Kid.
Coach Hankinson employed what has become the team's now typical 4-2-3-1 lineup with the regular back four, Ring and Torrado holding the fort just ahead of them, and then Speas, Smart, and Ubiparipovic as the midfielders, with Zayed as the lone forward. Defend first, attack on the counter.
The attacking four had 3 shots, with only 1 of those on frame. All by Smart. Speas, Ubiparipovic, and Zayed all had goose eggs in the attack. Goldsmith had 2 shots on goal in half the time. Yes, it could be argued that the tactics changed when Goldsmith came in and that the game opened up significantly towards the end of the game, but for a team that desperately needs wins to give themselves any kind of chance to be one of the final four playing at the end of the year, they need more tooth to their offense beyond what we're seeing right now.
The Jacksonville commentators were very partisan in their call of the game, but I don't think they were wrong in stating that the Armada should have won the game. The Eleven are fortunate to have come away from the away game with a draw. I think the team has reached the point where the young guys start getting their shot. The playoffs are being further and further from being a possibility and since I think those guys could be around next year, they might as well start seeing some more minutes. Some may argue that there's still too much time left to throw in the towel, but when you get three shots on goal from your four attacking starters, what does it matter. Give Goldsmith, Thompson, and Ables a chance. Might as well throw Cardona and Lomeli into that group too. I love Jon Busch, and this team might not be in the position they're in if not for his superior goalkeeping, but this team isn't clicking right now and I, personally, don't see the difference between a draw on the road with a bunch of young guys or the performance we saw tonight out of veterans.
The Game Beckons Game Ball:
Cory Miller. Miller has come back from his injury with the same hard-nosed defending we all remember from last year. If you're coming into his space, you're going to know it. He's always on the edge of getting a card of one color or the other, but I guarantee that Banks, Taylor, and Gebhard are going to see Cory in their nightmares. How many last ditch efforts did Miller have to time perfectly and he got them all right?
Last week, I talked about expectations. While it's unfair to judge a current team by what it has done in the past, that's the nature of sports. Winning teams are expected to continue winning. Losing teams are expected to periodically find winning results, but are generally expected to lose. You expect Real Madrid and Barcelona to be at the top of La Liga. You expect Manchester United and Chelsea to be at the top of the English Premier League. You expect the L.A. Galaxy to be at the top of MLS. You expect the New York Cosmos to be at the top of NASL. When you have a season like the Indy Eleven had last year, and they return the core players from that team, you expect that they will be in the discussion for this year's playoff and Championship races. When they don't lose a single game at the Mike last year, you expect similar results the next year.
However, it may officially be time for "lowered expectations." In ten home games this year, the Eleven have a 3W - 3D - 4L record and are sliding down the combined table. It may feel like a bit early to table watch, but the loss this week to Jacksonville pushed the Eleven further out of one of the playoff spots. It's starting to look like Miami is going to win the "double," winning both the Spring and Fall Seasons, so that leaves the other three playoff spots based on the Combined table. A playoff spot is looking less and less likely for the Eleven due to the continued injury bug this team has found this year. Can we even call it a "bug" at this point? The latest slew includes an oblique injury to Don Smart, a late scratch of Vukovic, an injury to Zayed that was going to limit his minutes during this game, and a return and subsequent departure of Braun. That's all on top of the ongoing concussion issues with Manning and Henderson's injury.
Braun's injury in the 69th minute, and departure in the 74th minute, left the Eleven to play a man down for the next 20 minutes (including stoppage time). A 20 minutes that saw something from the Eleven that hadn't been evident in the preceding 70 minutes. Urgency.
Jacksonville out-hustled and out-muscled the Eleven for vast stretches of the game and it led to a 3-nil lead before the Eleven found the back of the net in the 66th minute on a perfectly placed ball from Braun that Speas slotted home. A minute later, Adrian Ables got his first minutes for the team as Coach Hankinson decided to give the rookie a chance at being a spark off the bench. Two minutes later, Braun goes down, potentially for the rest of the year. As of this writing, x-rays came back negative on his ankle, and an MRI on Monday will shed more light on the severity of Braun's injury. If serious, and if Zayed's minutes need to be further managed, Eleven fans may find out how the partnership of Goldsmith and Ables works.
Braun has continually been the engine driving the offense of this team and his injury, a 3-1 deficit, and a man deficit seemed to galvanize the offense, even in his absense. Or at a minimum, Braun's substitution for Kwame Watson-Siriboe, indicated that Coach Hankinson was telling his team that they may lose 6-1, but they were going to put their foot on the gas offensively. The team came out of halftime, down by two, and started playing more direct. To the left is the distribution for the Eleven in the first 15 minutes after halftime and what it shows is that the team started trying to bypass the midfield. The data for the next two 15 minute spans intensifies that direct style of play even further. The official stats indicate only 15.5% long passes, but there seemed to be an effort to try and get the ball into scoring positions without having to possess it much. That seemed to be because every time an Eleven player touched the ball, they were immediately pressed by the Jacksonville players. At the end of my write-up for the Cosmos game I stated:
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 answer to that question was that Jacksonville's desperation was stronger than the home field advantage. Jacksonville came out hungrier and the Eleven never seemed to match their intensity until late in the game when they were throwing everything forward. Braun's substitute for KWS pushed the lineup to a three back with Ring providing protection and more offensive power. All it took was a seemingly insurmountable lead and fewer players before a bunch of wily veterans and rookies tried to do the impossible.
Coach has said that there are only about 11 or 12 guys on the team that are true "starters" in this league. They currently have a 21 man roster so let's start from the start.
Smart - Starter (injured)
Ring - Starter
Miller - Recovering from injury
Franco - Starter
Cardona - Backup
Keller - Pressed into starter, but was not slated to be there
Ubiparipovic - Starter
Zayed - Starter (nursing an injury)
Falvey - Starter
Braun - Starter (injured...maybe for season)
Vukovic - Starter (injured)
Busch - Starter
Torrado - Starter
Speas - Starter
KWS - I believe coach feels KWS is starter caliber, but I disagree...
Henderson - Backup (injured)
Manning - Concussion issues, but probably not a starter
Lomeli - Rookie
Thompson - Rookie
Goldsmith - Rookie
Ables - Rookie
So that gets us to a starting lineup that, at least at this point in all of their careers, are not starter level players. There are talented players and we saw some of that with some fancy footwork along the sideline by Thompson to get himself some space for a cross, some early game quick trigger shots on goal by Goldsmith, and Ables' pace that helped stretch the Jacksonville defense late. Yet, we find ourselves watching a team that can't keep a consistent lineup, playing guys that were never intended to be this year's starters, and running out of time to get positive results. Results that were a given at home last year, but have fallen into an unknown this year. While they haven't all be home games, the team has given up 3 goals in each of the last 4 games, for a -5 goal differential. Moving forward, the team potentially has their engine missing in Braun, Zayed nursing an injury, and a bunch of rookies to try and get the team on the board while the defense continues to leak goals.
Consider me concerned.
The Game Beckons Game Ball:
Hard to pick one for this game so I'm going to give it to the new kid, Adrian Ables. As a DePauw alum, I'm glad to see one of my fellow alums find the field as a pro. He found his way onto the roster, much like a walk-on in college. He wanted to practice and be around pros and it eventually worked its way into a contract. His appearance against Jacksonville, and his receiving of the Game Ball is more about me rewarding his persistence and hard work. Congrats Adrian!
After this week's 2-nil win at home against the Armada, the Eleven are an 86th minute Ledesma flop from finishing the Spring Season on a five game win streak, rather than just a five game undefeated streak. An undefeated streak that started in the game that followed a 4-1 loss, at home, to this same Armada team. To say that the team's results have taken a dramatic upswing in the final third of the Spring Season is a bit of an understatement. The team has come together despite the external questions of their performance and are finally getting, and remaining, healthy. Only Plumhoff and Miller were unavailable for selection due to health issues. Ubiparipovic wasn't around due to the fact he was getting married. So for the first time in five games, the Eleven had a new starting lineup that wasn't forced on them because of injury. Torrado was healthy again and Ubi was getting hitched.
NASL/Opta Stats - Indy Average Position
Whether by who's available or by who he trusts, Coach Hankinson has settled into a starting lineup, as well as a substitution pattern. The backline has solidified with Franco, Vukovic, Falvey, and as I've been saying, the second centerback spot next to Falvey is, and should be, Keller's until he proves incapable. Speas and Smart are going to be on the wings. Ring is going to be the defensive mid. Ubi (or Torrado) are going to either play in front of Ring or somewhat beside him. Braun and Zayed up top. Ubi (or Torrado) are going to play around 60 to 65 minutes and be replaced by Henderson. Zayed is going to get 80 minutes and be replaced by Goldsmith. Palmer will come on at some point late in the game for someone depending on how Coach is trying to close out the game and player's energy levels. Much like last year, the team has settled in and it's not a surprise at what they are going to do, but they're getting it done anyway.
After missing the previous six games, it was obvious that Torrado wasn't going to play the entire game, but he also looked rusty and not up to his normal performance. He only won a third of his tackles, a quarter of his duels, conceded 4 fouls and won zero, and only completed about 75% of his passes. Not Torrado standards, but it's good to see him healthy again as it gives the team options for lineups and matchups against other teams.
Zayed needs a goal in the worst way. For a guy who has historically averaged a goal every two games throughout his career, a goal every six games must feel like he can't get the ball in the goal at all. Last season, the only time Zayed went more than three games in a row without scoring was the stretch were Braun was injured. This season, Zayed went seven goalless games before scoring his second and is currently on a five game goalless stretch. He was credited with the assist on Henderson's 68th minute goal, but Zayed seems like he's unsure of himself right now. I can think of at least two times off the top of my head where Zayed of the past would have attempted a one-touch shot on goal, but chose rather to try and settle the ball for a better attempt only to have the defense close on him and prevent that attempt. So instead of getting a half chance on goal, it turned into no chance on goal. I don't know how he's looking in practice, but he just looks like he's indecisive on how to best strike the ball to be able to watch it go in the goal. A goal (or two) could fix that.
The good news for the Eleven is that despite Zayed's struggles right now, other guys are finding their own way to score goals. Vuko's goal in the 48th minute was a thing of beauty. From my seat in the standards, I was perfectly place to watch how much the ball curved from his shooting location into the goal. He resembled so many of his set piece attempts, but it happened in the run of play. A run of play that occurred because of a perfectly weighted, field switching cross from Ring. Surprisingly, that is Ring's first assist as a member of the Eleven. It probably shouldn't come as a surprise that the team's recent string of success comes as Henderson, Vuko, Smart, & Speas have scored goals. Teams had been able to focus on Braun as the team's primary goalscorer. Now that other guys are finding success, this will only help everybody.
Speaking of Braun. There is a Justin Braun that plays in the NHL for the San Jose Sharks. NHL Justin would be proud of the physical stamina of NASL Braun. He is absolutely taking a beating by teams at this point. Every single touch of the ball is met with a physical challenge by opposing defenses. I'm not sure how he maintains his level of effort while taking a beating, particularly given that he has recently been dropping back further into the defense to get the ball.
Statistically, this doesn't look like a win from the Eleven, but they seemed to be the one in control of the game through the majority of the game. Jacksonville had some chances, but the defense or Busch always stepped up and made the play. Vuko hustling back in the 39th minute to thwart what looked like a sure goal when Banks made a well timed run to break the offside trap. Busch's stoppage time save in the 2nd half that kept Jacksonville off the board and maintained the clean sheet, again thwarting Banks' header from just outside the 6-yard box. It's these kinds of plays that have helped propel the Eleven to their current undefeated streak and what has pushed them into the 2nd tier of the league. As I've mentioned last year and this year, the league seems to separate into three distinct tiers of teams. The favorites, the underdogs, and a cluttered middle. Miami have started to create a top tier of 1 and the Eleven looked like they were going to reside in that bottom tier of teams waiting until next year, but their recent run of form have made them the only team to move between tiers. Only time, and a Fall Season, will show whether they can maintain their momentum and turn it into an appearance into the Championship.
The Game Beckons Game Ball:
I think a few guys could get the Game Beckons Game Ball, but I think Henderson deserves it for coming in an making an immediate impact.
