Indy Eleven 2023 Recap & 2024 Off-Season Outlook

Is simply making the playoffs considered a successful season? That depends significantly on who you ask and your perspective. If you've haven't made the playoffs since the 2019 season, it's at least a successful step in the right direction. When that playoff appearance ends in a 5-nil drubbing on the road, some of the shine is taken off the achievement.

So I clearly have mixed feelings about the 2023 Indy Eleven season, but maybe that's because a team like Louisville, who had a drastically down year for them, still finished ahead of Indy and still played in the Eastern Conference finals for like the hundredth season in a row. So the "why can't it ever be us?" and "will it ever be us?" thoughts are rampant in my brain and I don't think I'm the only Indy Eleven fan who is thinking this way. Indy was playing some really good football down the stretch as injuries and suspensions slowed down. Then they seemed to lose their way for a couple games when Quinn became unavailable due to his season ending injury before the New Mexico game. Wins against Detroit and Tulsa, and one of the best halves of soccer they played all season in San Antonio before finishing with a draw after an Asante red card, and Indy looked like they had the chance to do something special in the playoffs. Missing Asante, and then Blake, for the playoff game meant Indy's season-long trend of trying to field their best team but being undone by injuries and suspensions once again reared its head to similar results as the early part of the season. Indy had, on paper, one of the most talented rosters in the entire league, but a 5-nil loss to end the season feels like the team underachieved. When the roster began taking shape during this past preseason, Indy looked like they had a very solid core, but might struggle with young and inexperienced depth. Lowry and the club struggled all season to find the players and the on-field group to provide consistent results. With the exception of the 6-game undefeated streak in August/September, when most of the guys were healthy and not suspended, Indy looked like a team that could win the league one game and looked like a team that might not make the playoffs the next game.  

Last season, Coach Lowry guaranteed that Indy would be a playoff team in 2023. The team made good on that guarantee, but it still feels like the team underachieved. 

Looking to 2024

Stadium

Let's start with "American Soccer's Greatest Dive Bar." Indy continued to play at Carroll Stadium this season, which has the same issues it has always had. It's starting to show its age, it's not ideally suited for professional soccer, it's branded with another team's logo, and it has a significant lack of amenities that most fans have come to expect from other sporting venues in this city and around the country. Concessions continue to be run out of cargo containers, and from my experience seem to have a very minimal amount of items sold from them. Most of the concession effort is accomplished through a rotating string of food trucks from the area. That isn't necessarily a bad way to accomplish concession, but I don't think I've ever seen the club provide a list of what trucks will be at each game. That's something that I would recommend the club provide, even if it is just a social media post a couple days before the game, so that fans/families know what to expect and/or be excited about seeing (for me, it's the Ben's Pretzel truck). 

The stadium does have a relatively new turf, which was replaced during June of 2022, but the team doesn't always have the best opinion of it. After the Detroit victory at the end of the season, Lowry was happy about the turf for that game, but had a poor opinion of it from the previous game, stating "the turf was so bad last week. I don't know what happened. It was so bad. Today though. It got brushed. Me and Gabe got here early and did some work on it. It made the difference." He expanded, wanting this next part to be "on record":

"The field conditions are not the same for both teams. It's not. Conditions are different for each team based on each team's style of play. So it's not the same for both teams. For example, we went to Detroit to start the season, the third game, I think it was super windy. It suited us better, because we keep on the floor, they like to go long and their balls get caught [in the wind], so we beat them. We like to play on the floor. If the field surface isn't great, then it affects us more than the other team. It's not the same for both teams. It's based on style. The turf played great tonight. We saw some goals and great action. That's the reality."

 

Indy had a better record on the road than they did at home, despite everybody's desire to make The Mike a fortress. Indy had an 8W-4D-5L record on the road and a 5W-6D-6L record at home. With all of that in mind, I fully expect that the team will be brushing the turf a lot more next season because "keeping the ball on the floor" isn't going to change next season (more on that in a minute). Indy, if the schedule goes as planned, will have another season and a half on the Carroll Stadium turf because Eleven Park has started moving forward. 

Indy announced in June of 2022 that the location for Eleven Park would be at the old Diamond Chain site near the convergence of South Street, West Street, and Kentucky Avenue next to the White River. In February 2023, new renderings were released showing the updated vision for the Eleven Park development including the stadium, residences, offices, hotel, parking, and even a 4,000 seat music venue. 

On the last day of May 2023, the club held a ceremonial groundbreaking on the site to publicly kick-off the process of converting the historical site into the Eleven Park development. As has been the trend of the club when it comes to the stadium, there had been nothing conveyed to the public about the stadium until this past week when it was announced that the "The Metropolitan Development Commission on Wednesday gave preliminary approval for the creation of a new downtown taxing district to support the Indy Eleven’s proposed soccer stadium." 

That doesn't mean that the site has been without activity since the groundbreaking ceremony. If you recall, here is generally what the site looked like in November of 2022.   

Diamond Chain Site (Google Maps - 2022)

Below are some photos of what the site looks like as of this past Friday... The building that was all the way to the left in the Street View has been demolished for a few months. The southern and western portions of the main building have been reduced to just a small sliver, leaving just the easternmost section by West Street and several large piles of debris waiting to be salvaged or sent to the landfill.

Unfortunately, I don't know much about the status of the design of the stadium or the initial components of Phase 1 (stadium, parking, and Tower 1). I've heard rumors, but nothing that I can or should convey at this point.  

Photo: Patrick Cummings

Photo: Patrick Cummings

Photo: Patrick Cummings

Photo: Patrick Cummings

Coach

Photo: Don Thompson Photography

I'm not sure there's much to say here. Unless Coach Lowry goes to a different team, making the playoffs this year likely saves Indy fans from going through another team rebuild with a new coach and new players. For good or bad, his results here in Indy don't exactly lead to a ton of teams trying to steal him from Indy, regardless of his successes in the past. I also have the feeling that Lowry now sees Indy as the challenge that is going to show his coaching chops. With the injuries, suspensions, and general depth or field concerns, Lowry was forced to dig deep into his bag of tricks that weren't his normal tactics to try and find ways to get results. It also doesn't hurt that there is a stadium coming that will likely be the best stadium in the USL when it is finished in 2025. There's a feeling that players and Coach want to be around when the stadium opens. Much like coaches at universities use their facilities to entice teenagers to come play football/basketball in Division 1 sports, the Eleven Park development is a facility that will draw top players to the team.

When Lowry left El Paso, it was a surprise to their fans, but they had been going through a run of successes without the final payoff. Without the same level of success here, I think Lowry intends to be here for at least the next couple of seasons.

Players

The 2022 season was the first season under Coach Lowry. As I've discussed over the years in these season end reviews, it seems like the majority of the player contracts for Indy Eleven have the appearance of 2 year contracts or 1 year contracts with a 2nd year option. The existing contracts, loans, and trades that happened this year make it another year where it could be difficult to accurately determine who will be returning next year. However, all the roster movement also meant that Lowry brought in or released the players that he thought would make the team better. Moving forward will likely be this core, while also bringing in depth at all positions.

Based on my own opinions, here are what players from this year's roster that I can envision being somewhere else and who might be returning (not including the Academy players as they seem to fall under an even larger variable than the 1st team players):

Gone:

1. Fjeldberg - Transferred to Colorado Springs. for King. No matter how positive an opinion Lowry has/had of Fjeldberg, there's almost no way that I can envision Jonas being loaned to RGV one season and then transferred in a second season and then find his way back to Indy. 
2. Taghvai-Najib - loaned at the end of the season and I don't recall him even making an appearance on any gameday roster. Signed for depth at the end of the season and still didn't see the bench. Historically, that never bodes well for a player returning the next season.
3. Tejada - Transferred to Colorado Springs. 
4. Torres - Alann was released from the team early in the season and I hesitated even including him in this list, but have done so for completeness. Also, something mysterious happened around his departure because I can't find him on any team this year after he was released and club staff refused to provide me with any information on what happened, neither on or off record.
5. Walker - Already released in September.

Possibly Gone:

1. Chapman-Page - loan expired, but he could be resigned. Hard to say. He was very effective in his time here, but you just never know with loans. 
2. Molina - this is one of those times when I really don't know what might happen. He could just as easily be in the returning list.
3. Reveno - loaned from NE Revolution in August. Historically, not many of those kinds of transactions have persisted into the next season.
4. Rissi - loaned to Miami for Chapman-Page, so in theory he could have been coming back to Indy, but I think Rissi's play that prompted the loan was because Lowry and the players had started to lose confidence in Rissi. I would be surprised if he returns.
5. Robledo - loaned from FC Cincinnati. This could depend on whether FCC think the loan was effective enough to bring him back into their fold full-time or try a loan with a different team.
6. Trilk - After Oettl went out injured, Trilk proved in the second half of the season that he is a #1 capable goalkeeper in this league. Goalkeepers are a different breed so I could be surprised, but a third season in Indy as the #2 wouldn't be good for his further development or his personal goals and he might be seeking a place where he can be the #1 from the start. He wouldn't be the first keeper to return to the team knowing they weren't going to be the #1 so I could be wrong on this one.

Probably Returning:

1. Asante - Solo has reached that age and stage in his career where he will likely never reach the same level of goal scoring and assist proficiency that he had during his time in Phoenix, but his vision, first touch, and set piece ability is enough to keep him around. 
2. Blake - His presence in the midfield for the playoff game would have helped just like it did the rest of the year. I think he'll be back.
3. Boudadi - Younes is dynamic up the wing forcing teams to deal with his pace and effort. If history is any indication, a player that accounted for as many minutes as Boudadi usually returns the next season.
4. Dambrot - When healthy, Robby provided the same as Boudadi but on the opposite side. Lowry likes his wingers to get involved in the offense and Dambrot is an eager participant in that part of the field. 
5. Diz Pe - Diz learned to control his emotions as the season progressed keeping teams from provoking him into bad decisions and he became the rock in the defense. At 6'-3", he's a great presence in the air on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. 
6. Guenzatti - Sebastian played in every single game for the Eleven this year; all 34 regular season games, the 2 U.S. Open Cup games, and the playoff game. Guenzatti was the team's leading scorer and Lowry brought Guenzatti to Indy because he thought Seb could be a double digit scorer again despite some down seasons in Tampa.  
7. Jerome - Mechack is a "Lowry guy". As I indicated in last year's recap, Jerome had a few more uncharacteristic errors than I saw from him when I watched him in ELP, but he played really well down the stretch of the season. Unless something drastic happens, he'll be back.
8. King - Played for Lowry in ELP. Traded Fjeldberg to get King to Indy. Lowry will want to keep him around in 2024.
9. Lindley - A local guy who was a cornerstone of the roster this year. Cam wants to be in Indy closer to family and Lowry wants him in the Indy midfield. There aren't guarantees in the business of soccer, but Lindley returning next season might be close.
10. Martinez - Provided pace up top and showed a flexibility in where he could play. He could slide into the "Possibly Gone" category, but I think he returns for next season.
11. Oettl - Until his injury, Yannik was the clear #1 for Lowry. I don't see that changing next year.
12. Pinho - He left Indy to be closer to family in Brazil. However those issues were resolved, Pinho seemed to be glad to be back in Indy. I'm surprised he didn't get more minutes, but I still think he returns next season.
13. Quinn - The other player in USL Championship history to have at least 50 goals and 50 assists besides Asante, and Indy's second leading scorer this year behind Guenzatti, Aodhan was a key component of the Indy midfield. He has also started setting roots here with a young family and that will make him want to stick around. Lowry would be crazy to not keep him.
14. Rebellon - I continue to have concerns about his ability to stay healthy, but he's another "Lowry guy." 
15. Vazquez - Until his injury, he was nearly a guaranteed starter. Whether his returning next year will be as a starter, or much needed depth may depend on the rest of the roster, but I think he also returns. 
16. Velasquez - A midseason addition to the roster can often be a hit-or-miss on whether they return the next season. Velasquez played for Lowry in ELP. As such, he might not yet be a "Lowry guy," but getting him here this year could be the start of that designation.

Final Thoughts

As I said in the beginning, making the playoffs makes the year feel like a better campaign than last year's season. Losing as badly as they did in that playoff game makes it feel like 2 steps forward, but 1 step back. For now, I'm clinging to the fact that I believe Lowry is a really good coach with really good players at his disposal. The returning players and whatever gets added during the offseason need to stay healthy (which is difficult to project) and available for selection (which is easier if you don't make bad decisions on the field that get you multiple yellow cards or red cards). If that happens, and the team isn't constantly being forced to find a new combination of players, I think there were several games that get better results to match their good performances. Indy was just 4 points behind playoff-hosting Memphis in the table. It's not difficult to fathom just a few games going differently to place Indy in the playoff-hosting line and things being different.

I'm not a huge fan of using the turf at Carroll Stadium as an excuse, particularly given the new age of that turf, but now that Lowry knows with some regular housekeeping of the field throughout the season the field will play better, that should be one more excuse to remove from the list.

Announced attendance remains high, and despite some changes in the renewal benefits for season ticket members, I think attendance is going to continue to remain high. That continues to be something that Indy can't claim as being a concern. 

Indy's season hashtag was #It'sTime. It turned out not to be (at least for the men's 1st team), but the club has found success in other areas (women's and Academy) this year. Expectations were high this year, and I don't see any reason why they shouldn't be just as high next year with another year under everyone's belt with Lowry's system and more players who he think fit that system. Can success breed more success? Guess we'll see.

Indy Eleven 2022 Recap & 2023 Off-Season Outlook

In 2019, Indy Eleven made it to the Eastern Conference Finals before falling to Louisville City in extra time. Indy hasn't made the playoffs since that game. The 2019 El Paso team rode a 6th place finish in the table to a Conference Final. The 2020 El Paso team rode a 4th place finish in the table to a Conference Final. The 2021 El Paso team rode a 2nd place finish in the table to a Conference Quarterfinal. In November of 2021, Indy Eleven announced El Paso's only coach to date was to be the new coach of Indy Eleven. In Coach Lowry's first season in Indianapolis, neither Indy Eleven nor El Paso Locomotive advanced to the USL Championship playoffs. Both teams had long-term players announce they wouldn't be returning for another year. To say that 2022 didn't meet either team's expectations and goals for the year is an understatement. 

So as the playoffs get underway and Indy sits at home as spectators, my yearly recap and off-season outlook for Indy Eleven can get started.

When your season timeline looks like Indy's, the fact that Indy is sitting at home for the playoffs isn't too difficult to comprehend. A Mariana Trench of defeats and draws in the middle of the season doomed Indy's early and late successes. Back-to-back wins against the top two teams in the league proved that the latter half of the season roster could compete with nearly anybody. A 5-0 thrashing to Monterey Bay just two games later proved that they could still lose to anybody as well. A work in progress is just that; in progress. Make no mistake, Indy Eleven expected that the introduction of a coach of Mark Lowry's caliber would provide more immediate positive results, but a number of factors went against them this year. 

I have long been a fan of teams where the refrain, "there's always next year" is a common refrain, so this year is no different for Indy Eleven. I renew my season tickets every year thinking that I'm going to see more success from Indy Eleven next year. This mindset hasn't changed and I might, maybe, have even more optimism than in the past. Coach Lowry said multiple times in end-of-season interviews that he "guarantees" Indy will be a playoff team, and hopefully a top playoff team next year. Obviously, that's coach-speak, but I've watched too many El Paso games over the past few years to know that he is capable of changing this team to be at that level. Keeping guys healthy is another issue that he won't be able to control, and that was a factor this year, but I just can't foresee a 12-game winless streak happening next year.  

Regardless of who is on the squad next year (more on that later), having guys healthy and available will be key. What would this season have looked like if Ayoze was healthy at the beginning of the year and in the form he was in at the end of the season? What if Arteaga had played more than 21 games, and he and Pinho could have played off of each other more? What if the goalkeeper position hadn't been a revolving door, with the longest consecutive run of games being 10 by Panicco to start the season? After his departure, Trilk, Meredith, and Lewis (who Indy traded from Tulsa for Noah Powder) traded time, with Academy players making the bench at times due to the senior guys' injuries. The success of a team is highly contingent upon having guys healthy, knowing who they will predominantly be playing with, and getting consistent minutes next to each other. Among other issues, that didn't happen this year. With the midseason roster adjustments (Powder/Lewis described above, Law to Tampa Bay for Tejada, Fjeldberg to RGV for Vazquez, etc.), there were still moments at the end of the season where guys didn't seem to be on the same page. I lost count of how many times I observed Dambrot shake his head in frustration as teammates didn't make the run that he wanted or thought they should make. 

A lot of how Indy does next season will depend on the relationships that were started this season and the players that get added to fill in the areas where they struggled this year. Coach Lowry has indicated that he has already had players training with the team in preparation for next year, and that he has already started evaluating players to be added for next season (again, more on that later). Another thing that will help Indy next year is that the horrible turf at Carroll Stadium was replaced in June. Unfortunately, the month of away games in June also coincided with the start of the wheels falling off for Indy, but the new turf is, without a doubt, much better than the old turf that was replaced; even I could tell the difference. Coach Lowry repeatedly said that the team couldn't play their preferred style on Carroll Stadium at the beginning of the season, and so "they didn't try." After the turf change, he felt much better about the turf and the team's ability to play the way they want to play on it. It's such an obvious question that I'm not sure why I never asked it at any point during this season, but Coach Lowry had 3 successful seasons at El Paso playing on a BASEBALL FIELD. How was Carroll so much worse than that? It's an answer to a question that no longer applies as Carroll Stadium's new turf will work fine until Indy move into the new stadium, scheduled for 2025. With that...

Looking to 2023

Stadium

An ongoing theme in this stadium discussion is that there are large gaps in when information is released from the team to the public. Indy finally announced a location for Eleven Park, and some of the expanded details of how that development will look. That was in June. It's been nearly 4 months and there hasn't been a single word mentioned about the stadium and the development since they "put a pin in the map." That pin resides at the site formally known as the Diamond Chain Company site, located just west of Lucas Oil Stadium. From the club's official press release:

As per the conceptualization of the development project outlined in 2019, today’s news confirmed the Eleven Park development will include hotel, office, apartments, retail and public spaces – all anchored by a 20,000-seat multipurpose stadium built with soccer at its core. Eleven Park will be constructed on the plot of land previously owned by The Diamond Chain Company, bordered by West Street, Kentucky Avenue, and the White River – an area that was recently acquired and is now 100% owned by Keystone Group.

...

Keystone and Indy Eleven are continuing their ongoing discussions with the City of Indianapolis and the State of Indiana to finalize project terms this year, which would allow for tear down of existing buildings and additional site work to begin in Spring 2023. After approximately two years of construction, Indy Eleven expects to begin play at its new Eleven Park stadium home in Spring 2025.

Due to a myriad of factors, including the rise in construction costs, inflation, and an increase in the scale and scope of the project, Eleven Park is expected to exceed a $1 billion investment in the largest piece of property in an under-developed area of downtown Indianapolis. All facets outside the stadium project – retail, restaurants, hotel, apartments, and office space – will be developed by Keystone Group. As per the State legislation that was passed and signed into law in 2019 , the City of Indianapolis Capital Improvement Board (CIB) would own the Eleven Park stadium, while Indy Eleven would lease and operate the venue.

...

Indy Eleven and Keystone also announced three key additional partners for the Eleven Park project as part of today’s announcement. Populous, the global industry leader in soccer/multipurpose stadium design, will serve as the stadium project’s lead architecture and design firm, partnering with Indianapolis-based Browning Day Architects. In addition, D3i, a Baltimore-based international design firm with award-winning mixed-use projects that span five continents, has been hired as the master planner for the project.

My rough sketch of a Scottish style stadium for Indy Eleven

To date, no new renderings have been released, though based on my previous evaluation/discussions (1, 2, 3) of the site, I don't expect it to look like the last renderings that fans were shown. I just don't think it will fit on the site any longer. If I'm being honest, the graphic that the team released that is shown above makes me think of something else I wrote about the stadiums in the Scottish Professional Football League, which I'll reiterate here: 

I have to say that having watched this YouTube video highlighting Tynecastle, and doing my research on so many of the other stadiums around the SPFL, I really wish that Indy would consider going with this style stadium design. For me, it's just a classic look that the new American stadiums don't do. The supporters are on top of the action, nearly all of the seats have some level of protection directly above them, and the sound from them should just bounce directly out onto the field, giving you the environment that Nick and Nicky appreciated.

I like the Scottish stadiums that I've looked at so far. There's a similar look to many of them, but they just have a look that appeals to me. In comparison to the sports cathedrals that we build in America, they have a very utilitarian feel to them, particularly knowing that they are stadiums associated with the top tier of Scottish football. This is not intended to denigrate the Scottish stadiums, they're just a different style than we build here. Some Indy supporters have dubbed Carroll Stadium, "American Soccer's Greatest Dive Bar," and I think a Scottish style stadium would be a way to lean into that part of Indy's history. As I said, there's a utilitarian appearance to the stadiums that fits nicely into the idea that I mentioned in my "Indy Eleven and its place in the American Lower Division Soccer Landscape" article about Indy "punching their weight." I like the idea of building a stadium that reflects Indy. Maybe many in Indy strive to consider Indy a "high class" city, but are we, really? Don't get me wrong, we have some really nice things, but deep down we're a tenderloin, root beer (or beer), and a day at the track kind of people. Let's be honest, a utilitarian stadium fits us well. Field, seats, a little protection from the Indiana weather, a place to be safe from the more extreme Indiana weather, and corn dogs and nachos in the concession stand. All that fits nicely into a Scottish style stadium. Yet I know architects and I know the architects that typically get hired to design American stadiums (e.g. Populous [Editor's note: I got that one correct]) and they would look at one of the Scottish stadiums and cringe. Either way, I suspect an architect is either already under contract to design the next iteration of Eleven Park and it won't be anywhere close to this style. 

As has been the trend of the Indy Eleven stadium discussions, Indy jumps to the next lily pad and then pauses. Maybe we'll see some renderings this off-season before the demolition crews start their work on the Diamond Chain site that is listed in the project schedule of happening in the spring of 2023. 

Coach

Coach Lowry was announced in November 2021. Despite some midseason questions from fans about whether he should be let go or was the right guy for the job, I believe that he was always going to be around for the 2023 season unless he catastrophically lost the locker room this season. 

I'll reiterate what I stated in my above linked article, "For now, I still have faith in Mark Lowry. From my discussions with him, he is fully aware that the entire squad, from coach to assistant to starters to bench players, are at risk and are responsible when things are going poorly. That includes him and he has said as much to me. He has said exactly what Sommer told that team after the Tampa Bay Rowdies game in 2014. Everybody's job is on the line, including his. I don't see him "pulling a Rennie," and exiting the club during a post-game interview with Rakestraw and Hauter, but I have waited on the field for him to come back from the locker room after enough games recently to know that he is not enjoying this stretch of games any more than we're enjoying watching them."

This team had a historically bad stretch of games under his watch. However, as players became healthy, other players were added that better fit his system, better turf was installed at Carroll, and guys had more time together in Lowry's preferred style of play, the team began to find success at the end of the year. I don't think Indy sees a repeat of this season next season.

Players

The 2022 season was the first season under Coach Lowry. As I've discussed over the years in these season end reviews, it seems like the majority of the player contracts for Indy Eleven have the appearance of 2 year contracts or 1 year contracts with a 2nd year option. The existing contracts, loans, trades, and retirements that happened this year make it another year where it could be difficult to accurately determine who will be returning next year. However, before I give my thoughts on which players from this year's roster might be returning, there are a couple other things I want to note. After the last home game, I asked Coach Lowry about when he started thinking about the roster for 2023:

"It started a few weeks ago. Soon as we weren't making the playoffs, my head turned to next year, I'm not going to lie. ... But I don't want to miss out on prime targets for next year. I know who we got to get, I know who we want here. I want to go make it happen, because that's the only way we're successful. The players play the game. ... Ultimately, it's the players that got to connect passes, the players win 1 v 1, the players got to hit the target, and the players have to provide that final ball quality. That's just how it is. It's a player's game. We know who we need here next year from around the league that will be successful in this system. Players that are proven in this league. It's our job to try and make that happen because I think we put a decent platform out there. We understand things a little bit more now in terms of the club, the conference, playing at home, playing away, all those things. If we get the right players, which I believe we will, we'll be very successful. ... We want to try and keep it as local as possible in terms of Eastern Conference, very much in the mold of Bayern Munich taking Borussia Dortmund's best players. You get better, but they get worse. Who from your competitors got game? Who from them would do well here, and we'll try to get them. You're getting better, and they're getting worse. ... We definitely want to keep it as much Eastern Conference as possible. Guys that are familiar with the league, the temperatures, the weather, the climates, all those things, the travel. We get better, other teams get worse. That's the goal."

As I write this, El Paso has announced a few different players as not returning next year. If he hadn't announced "retirement," I would have almost banked on Richie Ryan being Indy's #6 next year. Could he still find his way here? Maybe. ELP also announced Andrew Fox as not returning. He's another player that I could see find his way here. Similarly for long-time Indy fan favorite Dylan Mares. Mares is exactly the kind of #10 that works well in Lowry's system. Earlier this year, I asked John Morrissey for help with Dylan's stats compared to last year (see on the right). Dylan has improved from last year in a very similar role this year as he played last year under Coach Lowry. I wouldn't hate it if Dylan came home next year. [Editor's note: While I was doing my final proofread of this article, El Paso officially announced that Dylan will not be returning to ELP next year... Do I dare dream?]. From the Eastern Conference, "we get better, they get worse" scenario, what players from Louisville, Tampa Bay, Pittsburg, Detroit, and Memphis fit in here? For me, the focuses are #10s to feed the ball to Arteaga and Pinho (spoiler...) and a defensive midfielder. Could Tyler Gibson find his way back to Indy from Louisville? 

I honestly don't know who Lowry might add, but as I stated above, I do know that there were some players training with the team before the season even finished. So Lowry was good to his word about getting started on next season's roster as soon as the club didn't make this year's playoffs.

Based on my own opinions, here are what players from this year's roster that I can envision being somewhere else and who might be returning (not including the Academy players as they seem to fall under an even larger variable than the 1st team players):

Gone or Probably Gone:

1. 
   Ayoze - Already announced he would not be returning to Indy. That doesn't mean that he will be "retiring." Don't be surprised if you see him announce that he will be joining another team as a player/assistant coach, someone who isn't expected to play a ton of minutes but could still affect a game.
2.  Ouimette - Loaned to Detroit in May having played in just 2 games for a total of 91 minutes. I don't think Lowry recalls the loan and brings Karl back to Indy for next season. "Beans" is near the top of the club's minutes (2nd), games started (2nd), and games played (3rd), but I don't think he will be back to add to those totals. 
3. Law - Traded to Tampa Bay for Tejada. A player that I'm disappointed that he didn't seem to fit into Lowry's plan, but I wish him nothing but the best. His new team has a chance to win the playoffs, so the trade seems to be working okay for him.
4. Powder - Traded to Tulsa midseason. Another player that I don't think works his way into Lowry's future plans.
5. McQueen - Played sparingly over the last part of the season. History indicates those players rarely return for another year.
6. Michael - Totaled just over 100 minutes of action across the entire season. Same as with McQueen, history indicates those players rarely return for another year.

Possibly Gone:

1. Briggs - I think Briggs could go either way. He was good, and effective, depth, but his injury just limited his time on the field. Unless Lowry saw something from him in training to keep him around, I think Tejada's introduction to the squad likely bumps Briggs off the roster.
2. Brown - I could go either way with Brown, but I think Lowry wants a more solid #6. Depending on salary, Brown might be around for depth. 
3. 
   Hackshaw - I know. I just feel like Lowry could never quite figure out where Hackshaw works best in his system with the other players. Hackshaw worked well in Rennie's 3-back system because his focus was defense. In Lowry's 4-back system, pushing Hackshaw forward in attack often meant that he wasn't able to get back in time for his defensive responsibilities. Hackshaw did reasonably well at times as the holding midfielder, but I don't think Lowry was convinced of having Hackshaw in that role. I could be wrong, but I think Hackshaw will be elsewhere next year.
4. Timmer - Feels weird to say that the team's leader in minutes and games played for the season doesn't return, but I don't think he does. I just don't think Lowry sees Timmer on the roster if he can find other players who don't have the issues that Lowry feels Timmer has. He is likely in the 2nd year of a two-year deal, but I don't think he gets an extension.
5. Torres - Loaned to Forward Madison FC early in the season. This will depend on whether the club saw enough growth from Alann's time in Madison to bring him back.

Possibly Returning:

1. Aguilera - For the right amount, Aguilera remains in Indy as good depth, energy, and effort.
2. Asante - Lowry brought him in midseason to fit a need. Successful in doing what Lowry wanted and so he will return.
3. Arteaga - An injury free Arteaga makes for a dynamic pairing up top in Lowry's 4-4-2 diamond system. He is likely in the 2nd year of a two-year deal, but I think he gets an extension.
4. Cochran - Strong defender and good in the air. Given the height of the other defenders that I think will be returning, Cochran's physical nature helps keep him in Indy. He is also likely in the 2nd year of a two-year deal, but I think he gets an extension.
5. Dambrot - Lowry brought him in midseason to fit a need. Successful in doing what Lowry wanted and so I think he will return.
6. Fjeldberg - Loaned to RGV to be able to get Vazquez to Indy. Had to give up something to get Vazquez, but Lowry knew that he wanted Fjeldberg as part of next year's plan. 
7. Ingram - Ingram was a bright spot for me this season. For the right amount, Ingram remains in Indy as good depth, energy, and effort, but other teams had to notice him too. He might find another team willing to offer more money. Staying close to home, the Pike graduate might sway him enough to stay in Indy and play in front of family and friends.
8. Jerome - A "Lowry guy". Despite a few more uncharacteristic errors than I'm used to seeing from Jerome in my time watching ELP, I suspect he will be a cornerstone of any Lowry team until he just can't play any longer.
9. 
   Pinho - Lowry took a chance on Pinho, hoping he would be the goal scorer that Pinho had been in the past. With 13 goals on the season, Pinho did exactly what Lowry had hoped he would do, and so he'll be back. With more regular crosses, and just a bit more clinical finishing, Pinho could be a 20-goal scorer.
10. Rebellon - Another "Lowry guy." At one point in the season, Coach Lowry, in essence, said to me that a guy like Rebellon will always be a part of his team because of his effort and the way he plays. Lowry knows Rebellon will make some mistakes, and is willing to accept those mistakes, because of Rebellon's mentality to try and make something happen. His injuries this year are concerning, but at a minimum, he will be back for depth.
11. Revolorio & Rivera - young guys with a ton of promise. Revolorio will likely be back. Much like with Torres, but in the other direction, Rivera will depend on whether Inter Miami saw enough to recall his loan. If not, it wouldn't surprise me if Indy attempts to extend the loan. 
12. Tejada - Lowry brought him in midseason to fit a need. Successful in doing what Lowry wanted and so I think he will return.
13. Vazquez - Lowry brought him in midseason to fit a need. Successful in doing what Lowry wanted and so I think he will return. 

Goalkeeper Discussion:

1. I think the club goes out and finds a seasoned #1 goalkeeper that can't be pulled back on a loan deal like they had happen this year with Panicco. The team needs more stability at the goalkeeper position and the loan deal backfired, causing more goalkeepers to be used this year than in any previous year. 
2. Trilk & Lewis - both showed they can be a #1 goalkeeper, but who returns will likely hinge on who Lowry finds for the #1 position, their salaries, and who Lowry trusts more as the #2.
3. Meredith - Was on a loan deal with Nashville and I don't think he comes back.

Final Thoughts

Indy have now gone three seasons without making the playoffs. A fourth missed playoff will likely mean that Lowry will be released since the 2023 squad could be composed of players he has brought to the team. Arteaga being the notable exception if my above expectations are close to being correct. With an improved Carroll Stadium turf and a few months to start to learn how to play on it, the excuse that Rennie and Lowry have been using about not being able to play their preferred style has to no longer be something that can be used. Whether it stays that way or not, Indy's announced attendance has again grown to be close to 9k to 10k per game, meaning that The Mike is once again reaching max capacity. Therefore, success or failure in 2023 will be because of tactics, players, and staying healthy.

Indy fans should expect some kind of renderings related to Eleven Park in the off-season. When that might happen is beyond anybody's guess. When I know something that I can share, I'll pass it along

As of right now, this should be a much different off-season than last. The team has a coach, a solid core of players that should be returning, and a settled stadium location (now and in the future). Given that the playoffs are just starting, and that Lowry wants to plunder from the top teams, I wouldn't expect any player announcements soon, but I wouldn't expect it to take long as teams start their own off-seasons. Whether Lowry can convince the players to leave current playoff teams to come to one that hasn't made the playoffs in three seasons will be seen. 

Indy Eleven 2021 Recap & 2022 Off-Season Outlook

All it takes is a look at Indy's timeline to the right to see why the Eleven are spending the post-season watching the playoffs, rather than participating in them. They had one three-game undefeated streak, and a couple of two-game undefeated streaks, but could never win more than two games in a row, and they did that just once. The team had a -15 goal differential, scoring just 32 goals in 32 games. 

Indy signed 26 new players for the season, including four last-ditch effort signings in mid- to late-September. Overall, the team had 40 players that were signed for the 2021 season. Admittedly, five of those were players that were signed and then shipped somewhere else before the season ever started (Newton to Vancouver Whitecaps, Pasher to Houston Dynamo, Penn drafted by Inter Miami, Guitar drafted by Chicago Fire and then subsequently loaned to Memphis, and Cal Jennings acquired by LAFC and then subsequently loaned to Las Vegas). However, Indy had 28 players see playing time this year, including the first time the team has ever played 3 goalkeepers in a season after the team acquired Eric Dick on loan after Jordan Farr was injured. There were also another 9 players that saw time during the friendly against the Chicago Fire (mostly Academy players). That's a lot of inconsistency in the lineups from game-to-game.

The most common refrain about this team is that on-paper they should be performing better than they did. There is a ton of talent on the Indy roster, but for some reason it just never consistently clicked. Some of it can be attributed to injuries in key locations; Farr, Hackshaw, Cochran, Haworth, etc. all seeing extended injury spells. Some of it can likely be attributed to tactics. Some of it can be attributed to bad luck and bad bounces (see Memphis game in June).

A lot of how Indy moves on from this season will be dependent on the next coach and the next group of players. There are going to be some guys who are returning due to contractual obligations, but Indy is primed for yet another scorched earth rebuild. Let's get into all of that now and forget about this year's 9W-8D-15L season.

Looking to 2023

Stadium

This isn't a complete regurgitation of what I wrote last year, but it's close since almost nothing has changed from a fan's perspective. The team announced that they were going to announce a location by the end of March. The end of March came and went and many suspected the announcement was being delayed due to Indy taking on the task of hosting the entire men's NCAA Division 1 basketball tourney, from start to finish. As the year progressed, and the season finished, no announcement has been made. The current statement from the team is that "land acquisition" is underway. Where and why it is taking so long are complete unknowns. Other than those details, here is a regurgitated run-down of a few of the key points from the law that provides some of the funding for the stadium:

• Indy still have approval from the state legislature to build a development thanks to Senate Enrolled Act 7. 
• The stadium and development still need to be within Marion County. 
• The stadium and development can be "discontigous," but within 1 mile of each other. 
• Indy Eleven's ownership group has to provide 20% of the cost of the stadium, whether up-front or throughout the life of the loan. 
• Final approval needs to go through the State, City of Indianapolis, and the Capital Improvement Board.

In last year's review of the season, I indicated that it was my understanding that that the team intended to use Lucas Oil Stadium "for the foreseeable future," which I thought would include this year. That was obviously not the case as Indy played at Carroll Stadium in 2021 and will be playing there in 2022. Now Carroll Stadium is being discussed as the location "for the foreseeable future." In an interview that Nicky Law did with the Soccer Snobs Podcast, Nicky described the field at Carroll, saying, "it's bad. It's probably as bad as I've played anyways...Struggle to walk for next few days after." Obviously, that's disappointing. Was it a factor in why Nicky couldn't play in the final two games of the season? I don't know, but I'm sure it didn't help.

We do know that the Lafayette Square Mall site looks to be completely off the table as the IBJ recently had an article about how the current owner of that property is going to develop the land. While it includes soccer fields, it doesn't include a stadium. I had a series of tweets in early October where I discussed the use of the old GM Stamping plant site, which is now owned by Elanco, due to an interview that Ersal did with Seth Morales of the Morales Group. There were some intriguing statements from Ersal, but it's all just guesswork at this point. Some folks raised the idea of the property on 16th Street across from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and I evaluated that in mid-September. 

Before all of that:

Received confirmation today from a member of IUPUI's Capital Planning & Facilities group that "Indiana University is not currently in any discussions with Indy Eleven and/or the Keystone Group regarding a stadium development at IUPUI."

Answers that Eleven Park rumor for me.

— Game BELLkons (@GenWRX6) July 13, 2021

I do not have any other updates on a location nor do I feel like speculating about any other locations, having covered the stadium multiple times over the years. If I get any hints of a direction, I'll post another stadium specific article.

Coach

I was correct in last year's off-season outlook that Rennie would return for the 2021 season. I didn't expect, though, that he would have a controlled meltdown on camera with Rakestraw and Hauter after the Pittsburgh game in June and that the next day he and the team would "mutually part ways." As I indicated in that article, "Officially, Rennie led the team in 99 games, with a 45W-35L-19D record, or a 45.5% win percentage (or getting at least a point from a game 64.6% of the time). Counting a win in a friendly against Detroit City FC in August 2019, Rennie officially reached the #CenturyClub for Indy."

Thrown in as interim coach was Max Rogers, a recent addition to the assistant group. He, Phil Presser, and Andy Swift coached by committee, but Rogers was the face. Rogers finished this season with a 6W-7D-11L record. A record that is doubtful to keep him around as the permanent coach moving forward.

To date, there are only rumors about the new coach, most of which are probably (or are completely) incorrect. Everybody I have asked that I trust to give me an honest answer have said that very few people in the Indy Eleven organization know the status of the coach hiring search. Though I was told that of the 100+ candidates that expressed interest after Rennie's departure, the search has been whittled down to a single person. An announcement could be forthcoming, depending on when pen meets paper. Honestly, with the way the coach carousel has gone this year, I can't even begin to guess who it might be. Some very high profile names have been mentioned to me as having interest and some very high profile names have been mentioned as having no interest (a certain coach from a team down I-65 falls into this latter category).

Players

The 2021 season was the fourth season under Coach Rennie (and then Rogers). As I've discussed over the years in these, it seems like the majority of the player contracts for Indy Eleven have the appearance of 2 year contracts or 1 year contracts with a 2nd year option. With this year's rebuild, it's difficult to say how many of the guys are on the former and how many are on the latter. However, without a permanent coach announced yet, I don't expect to see any player announcements until the coach is announced. Between the contracts and what style of play the new coach wants to impart, player announcements might be awhile. The ability to guess which players might be returning is a crap shoot in the best of years. This year with the introduction of a new coach after the last coach did a rebuild the year before, it might be an impossible task, particularly if some of the players are contractually obligated to return. Based entirely off of nothing, here are what players I expect might be somewhere else and who might be returning.:

Probably gone:

1. Liu - Aidan was on loan and managed just 44 minutes this season, all of them late in the season as injuries forced Rogers to dig deep into the bench. History has indicated that guys with that amount of minutes don't stick around for a second season.
2.  Haworth - Guessing this year was the second year of a two year contract, and Carl managed just 50 minutes this season due to injury. While only 32 years old and still talented, this one will come down to what the new coach is looking for in players and if Haworth fits into that system.
3. Seagrist - Another player loaned from a larger club, Inter Miami, Patrick's minutes were likely exactly what Inter Miami wanted to see in his development. Whether he returns to Miami and stays is not part of my evaluation, but I bet he doesn't return to Indy next season.
4. Moon - Every year, there seems to be at least one player that we all want back that finds more money somewhere else. Like Haworth above, Moon has been here two years and is likely out of contract. Other teams have noticed Moon and I fear he's gone.

Possibly gone:

1. Ayoze - at Ayoze's age, he might have difficulty finding another team, though not because his talent has waned. Ayoze is still quite often the most talented player on the field and whose first touch, intellect, and vision of the field will keep him on the field another year if he desires continuing. His age, though, may be to a point where he's ready to retire. However, it's anybody's guess on whether he drinks some more from the fountain of youth he's found and returns for another year to take a beating on the turf at Carroll.
2. Ouimette -  Karl was a Rennie man and his minutes waned at the end of the season for Rogers with the introduction of the late season signings. This will be another where it will depend on the coach that is brought in on whether "Beans" is with us for another season. 
3. Vassell - Talent showed up in moments, but his ability to maintain the ball concerns me a bit. Whether the new coach shares that concern could determine whether Peter is back next year.
4. Farr - He's beloved here. He's now also beloved in San Antonio. You don't become an emergency signing one day and then start for the team the next day without having ability. The fact that all of that happened for Jordan, and is getting to continue playing in the post-season, means that at least one team took notice of his ability and they are in the Western Conference. Farr needed regular minutes and he got them this year. I think he's gone.

Possibly returning:

1. Hackshaw - May be the best left back in the league. Unless Hackshaw wants to be somewhere else, and he just finished year 3, the next coach would be hard pressed to find another player with his ability and talent, and he already has a connection here.
2. Adewole, Ledesma, Partida, Doyle - I'll lump all four of these guys in here together for the same reasons. Maybe they were willing to sign a short-term month-long contract, but I would be surprised if they weren't signed with the intent that they would be returning next year. So unless something drastic happens with their contract with the next coach, I expect all four of these guys back.
3. Gutjahr, Buckmaster - Young guys with a local connection. Likely enough for them to stick around. Again, subject to the next coach.
4. Edwards - I have concerns about Edwards ability to consistently play out of the back, but he showed his ability to stop shots on numerous occasions this year. Not sure if he is at full-time #1 level yet, but proved to be effective when forced into action. Second year of a 2 year contract or option on the second? 
5. Timmer - Timmer proved his versatility this season, playing in a number of positions. I can see him as a dedicated holding midfielder in the next coach's formation. Given the contract issues, his versatility could be something that the next coach can utilize.
6. Cochran - All going to come down to next coach and existing contract requirements.
7. Sissoko - Same as Cochran.
8. Koffie - Same as Sissoko. 

Hope they return:

1. Arteaga - Team's leading scorer. Poacher with a non-stop engine. Hope he's back.
2. Law - For me, it was Nicky and Ayoze as the top talent on the team this year. It would be a shame if he didn't return. He has expressed that he wanted to make the move to the States for awhile. Whether he saw Indy as a stepping stone to somewhere else could be a possibility, but I had a gut feeling that he wouldn't have made the jump without a guaranteed two year contract.
3. Wild - Much like Arteaga (and Moon), his desire to attack the goal was never in question. Whether he could effectively do that when forced to kick with his right food is another story. However, another year with Arteaga-Law-Wild and their familiarity could prove to be key.

Final Thoughts

With back-to-back seasons out of the playoffs and the amount of budget that Indy has compared to other teams, the expectation will be that the coach and the players will have to be an immediate impact. Some familiarity between players might be enough to see a good portion of the roster return. 

Carroll Stadium may be the place that many fans hold dear to their hearts, but Indy need to take a tangible step towards Eleven Park, in whatever form that takes right now. The team moved off the bottom rung on the stadium, but their persistent placement on that next run has started to make fans believe that the stadium won't happen. "Land acquisition" needs to change to questions about the design and construction of the stadium. While it's basically an amateur team, Indy's addition of a women's team in the USL-W League is a key step to make me think that Indy might move to the USL women's Super League in the near future. A stadium will help with that addition. Team officials have indicated to me that the team is working on the women's team details, but wouldn't provide a timeline for that. For good reason: see the above discussion of the team's announcement of a stadium announcement by end of March 2021. 

Indy is going to have a busy off-season. New coach. New players. Stadium announcement? Every single detail of a women's team. Strap in Indy fans, it's going to be a busy off-season.

Indy Eleven 2020 Recap & 2021 Off-Season Outlook

Despite any of the successes that can be gleaned from this year, the 2020 season feels like a failure. Indy Eleven were built to contend for a conference and league championship with an expectation that anything less than a run in the playoffs would be falling short of their goal. The roster was not intended to take a step back from last year and watch the playoffs from the comfort of their own homes. 

The 2020 season turned on its head with the suspension of play due to the COVID19 pandemic and the realignment of the conferences into 8 regional groups, but Indy still looked to be in a prime position to make the playoffs. While Indy's Group E initially looked like, and end up being, one of the hardest groups to get out of in the league, Indy was still considered by most to be one of the two teams that would make the playoffs from the group. Louisville looked to be a given, while Saint Louis FC and Sporting KC II would get points off of everybody. Indy's out-of-group games were some of the hardest in the league, having to face Hartford once and Pittsburgh twice, who ultimately finished as first and second in Group F, respectively (admittedly against less than stellar competition in New York Red Bulls II, Philadelphia Union II, and Loudoun United FC). 

After Indy defeated Pittsburgh on August 15th, the Eleven had a 6W-1D-2L record, were top of the group, and were 5 points clear of Saint Louis with Louisville sitting in third after a rough start to their season. Then the wheels came off as Indy finished the season with just one win, one draw, and 5 losses. Three of those losses were to Louisville and the other two occurred in 2-1 defeats in the final two games of the season, which solidified Indy's place as spectators for the playoffs. 

I've said it on numerous occasions over the years that to be the best you have to beat the best and right now, that's Louisville City FC. Indy should be competing against LCFC and getting better results based on Indy's talent, but it can be forgiven to an extent as they try to get over the hump. However, there's no excuse for spending the postseason at home after losing the final two games of the season when one of those games was at home and the team only needed a draw in the other. Indy are, and need to be, better than those results reflected. 

How the team moves past this season's setback and moves forward may be determined by what happens during this off-season.

Looking to 2021

Stadium

I'm going to touch on this briefly, only because I have addressed it in every off-season recap that I've ever written. However, from an outsiders perspective, and since I can't get any information from the team, nothing much has changed during 2020.

• Indy still have approval from the state legislature to build a development thanks to Senate Enrolled Act 7. 
• The stadium and development still need to be within Marion County. 
• The stadium and development can be "discontigous," but within 1 mile of each other. 
• Indy Eleven's ownership group has to provide 20% of the cost of the stadium, whether up-front or throughout the life of the loan. 
• Final approval needs to go through the State, City of Indianapolis, and the Capital Improvement Board.

In last year's review of the season, I indicated that I knew that the team intended to use Lucas Oil Stadium "for the foreseeable future," which is at least 2 years, maybe 3. With the length of time required to design the stadium/development and construct it, and with seemingly no progress made this year, it looks like it's going to be at least 3 years (or 2 more years from now).

I do not have any update on a location nor do I feel like speculating about locations, having covered the stadium multiple times over the years. If I get any hints of a direction, I'll post another stadium specific article.

Coach

Many people are starting to outwardly express frustration with Coach Rennie and the team's inability under him to win against the top teams in the league, and particularly, against Louisville. Which is understandable. However, I don't see any way that Coach Rennie is let go after this season. As I indicated after the Sporting KC II loss, Rennie still has one of the highest win percentages of the modern USL for his time here. In a pandemic year where the team didn't have enough games to bounce back from a rough patch (that's a euphemism for the end of the season), unless Rennie decides to go somewhere else or is caught doing something illegal, I just don't see Ozdemir and Stremlaw firing Rennie.  

Though, and I know a few folks who this will make happy, Coach Hankinson now goes back to being the Indy Eleven coach with the highest percentage of games to get positive results. 

Last year, I stated that "I would like to see Coach Rennie take a step back from the Technical Director role that he is also filling and see the team hire a dedicated person for that role. Though I don't expect to see that happen." Thinking about it further, I wonder if it might be best to keep Rennie as the Technical Director and hire a new coach. He clearly has an ability to find talent and to get them to buy into a system, but this same group of players with a different coaching philosophy might be able to push them over the hurdle that continues to block their way, i.e. consistently scoring their opportunities and getting better results against Louisville.

Players

The 2020 season marks the third season under Coach Rennie. Many of the players were released after his first season here, which means that many of the players on this year's roster have been part of Indy Eleven for two seasons. It seems that the majority of the player contracts for Indy Eleven have been two year contracts or 1 year with a 2nd year option. Either way, there are a lot of guys whose contracts are ending. Which means that the quick player announcements that we saw last year might take a lot longer as the team will need to go through more extensive player evaluation. Last year, Barrett, Gibson, Hackshaw, Ilic, Newton, Ouimette, and Walker were quickly announced as returning, likely because they were on 2-year contracts. With the way that this season ended, guys could decide that they have unfinished business and are eager to come back, which could make many of these guys come back for at least one more season. However, here are my thoughts on what might happen with this year's roster (these are just my opinion and I have not been able to get any information from the front office on the roster evaluation process):

Definitely gone:

1. Contreras - Could he return since he was only released due to the COVID restrictions? Yes. Likely? Probably not.
2. King - Coach Rennie said often that he liked King and that he thought he was poised for a breakout season. Little did he know that it would be with a different team. Macca was traded to El Paso mid-season and became an immediate starter and key cog of Coach Lowry's lineup and is now set to play Phoenix in the Western Conference finals. Seems like the trade has turned out okay for him and a new set of fans are seeing his well-placed crosses.
3. Walker - Traded to Louisville at the end of the season for depth. He's now set to play Tampa Bay in the Eastern Conference finals. Seems like the trade has turned out okay for him too. 

Probably gone:

1. Dumas - He saw just 77 minutes of action in the season. I seem to use this phrase in season recaps, but if history is any guide, that's a bad sign for him being on the roster next season. 
2. Carleton - I think he could use another season around this group and it will likely depend on what Atlanta does with their roster, but I have a hard time seeing this loan extended another season. 
3. Farr - This is entirely contingent on what Newton does. As of right now, if Newton returns, I don't see Farr getting regular minutes, just as he didn't this season. Farr can't keep sitting on the bench behind Newton if he wants to be a regular starter and his only choice may be to try and do it somewhere else.
4. Pasher - I see this much in the same way that Indy lost Dylan Mares. Somebody is going to offer Tyler money that he would be foolish to reject and Indy can't or won't be able to match the offer. You don't score double digit goals in back-to-back seasons without catching people's attention.

Probably returning:

1. Antley - a young player that Rennie seemed to favor towards the end of the season. He should improve with experience and Rennie will try to keep him around.
2. Ayoze - at Ayoze's age, he might have difficulty finding another team, though not because his talent has waned. Ayoze is still quite often the most talented player on the field and whose first touch, intellect, and vision of the field will keep him on the field another year if he desires continuing. 
3. Barrett - Anchor of the defense. Rennie is going to want him back.
4. Conner - Drew changed the way the midfield operated this year and is why Walker's minutes were reduced to the point where he wanted Kentucky pastures. Conner's effort in the midfield is vital in Rennie's system.
5. Gibson - You don't start every game if the coach doesn't want you around. 
6. Hackshaw - May be the best left back in the league. Unless Hackshaw wants to be somewhere else, Rennie would be foolish to let him go.
7. Haworth - He was Rennie's preferred right winger and consistently had good service into the box, as well as being effective on set pieces. 
8. Lindley - Cam has bounced around on loan to different teams, so this could go another way, but I think he showed enough promise that Rennie might try to get him back.
9. Moon - Rennie put Moon in early and never took him out of the lineup, playing in all 16 games. Moon is much like Antley in that he is young, has potential, and will get better with experience. I think Moon did enough this year for Rennie to want to keep him around.
10. 
    Newton - At 32, Newton has a lot of potential years as a goalkeeper, but he might be running out of chances to make it to the next level. So he might be here until he wants to be somewhere else or Rennie decides to move forward with Farr as the starter.
11. Osmond - Rennie's "fourth starter" on the backline. Again, I can see him wanting to be somewhere that will give him more regular minutes, but Rennie definitely likes having Osmond for depth for Hackshaw, Barrett, and Ouimette.
12. Ouimette - He was one of Rennie's first signings in 2018 and as long as Ouimette doesn't want to play somewhere else, I suspect he will always find a place on a Rennie roster.
13. Watson - Watson has been with Rennie in a number of locations. As I said last year, his age makes him less likely to want to make drastic changes to other locations as long as he is reasonably happy, healthy, and playing well. Watson ably filled the role that was asked of him this year and, like Ouimette, I suspect that he will always find a place on a Rennie roster if he wants to be there.

Unknown:

1. I'm going to lump all of the Academy signings here, including the ones that left after the summer to return to their school programs: Brown, Folds, McDonald, Nieto, Roou, Senanou, and Svetanoff. The team is going to bring back or sign more Academy players because they do not require a salary and it's good to have extra bodies during training even if they aren't being used during games.
2. I'll also put Penn and Guitar in this category. As, presumably, low income players, it would make sense for the team to bring them back for the same reasons as above with the Academy players, but with more potential as depth and gameday roster depth. Penn has already shown his ability in that regard. Yet, as young guys looking to get minutes in the league, they might find somewhere else that offers them more money or time.
3. Ilic - Ilija has had consistent, but not earth-shattering, minutes the past two seasons. Whether that's enough for him to want to stay here may be something that gets discussed during the player evaluation period. 
4. Rafanello - He's one of those players that could go either way for me. For the right dollar amount, he could be back.

Final Thoughts

I'm generally only partially correct with the player guesses and with so many players having their contracts ending at the same time, it really is an unknown on what the roster will look like next season. The expectation will remain that Indy will field a championship contending team, but that was what was supposed to happen this year. 

Indy really needs to provide the fans (and maybe the politicians) with something concrete on the stadium or risk losing interest. As much as fans appreciate the ability to see games in all weather conditions and the cavernous aspect of Lucas Oil Stadium that allowed Indy to be one of only 8 teams in the league to allow fan attendance at the games, it's been over a year and a half since the legislature approved the bill. No news isn't always good news.

Indy Eleven 2019 Recap & 2020 Off-Season Outlook

In the past, my recap and outlook posts have come before the team have made any announcements about the next season, but the Eleven are a bit ahead of schedule this year. Therefore, I'm behind and will have to adjust some of my comments accordingly.

The 2019 season took 2018 another step further. As the team is quick to point out, "the Boys in Blue concluded the 2019 USL Championship season with the most regular season wins (19), most points (63), most regular season away wins (6) and most goals scored (50) in franchise history. [editor's note - from the USL stats, the team scored 48 regular season + 3 playoff for 51 league goals. By my stats, the 2016 team scored 51 + 1 league goals for 52.] ... the club’s longest home undefeated streak at 27 matches across all competitions, including Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and postseason play. The ... side has not lost in regular season play in its last 25 matches, a streak dating back to July 2018 and among one of the best records in league history." With more time to build a roster than he had in 2018, Rennie returned just a handful of guys from 2018 and signed 22 new players throughout 2019. Guys that fit into the tactics he wanted to employ and that he thought would buy into the culture he wanted to create. With a top 4 finish in the Eastern Conference, the ability to host a home playoff game, and two playoff wins, Indy improved upon last year's 7th place regular season finish and its early departure from the playoffs.

With the exception of, once again, losing to Louisville City FC in the playoffs, the 2019 season can be considered a success. They may not have achieved every team's goal of winning the regular season and the playoffs, but they took important steps forward.

However, there were still some things that the team will want to improve upon moving forward in the 2020 season. Most notably, Indy's away form was less than ideal. While Indy finished the regular season undefeated at home (13W - 4D - 0L), obtaining positive results on the road was more difficult (6W - 2D - 9L). Digging deeper into those results indicates that against the top 6 finishing teams in the Eastern Conference, Indy's away form was even worse, not able to get a single win on the road (0W - 2D - 3L) against those teams (Pittsburgh, Nashville, Louisville, Tampa Bay, and New York Red Bulls II).

That will be an important piece for the team to improve next season. Indy's four-game road losing streak at the end of the season likely prevented them from having home field advantage throughout the playoffs. While Indy managed to get a win in their away playoff game in Nashville, having to not travel at all would have been preferable.

So there was progress, but still some things to do in the off-season.

Looking to 2020

Stadium

For the first time in the team's history, there was actual tangible progress made on the stadium side of things. 2019 was the longer legislative budgetary session that happens every two years and Indy was able to tie their hopes in with another sports related bill that was going through with the Capital Improvement Board and the Pacers. This proved to be an effective strategy and Senate Enrolled Act 7 gives the team the ability to finally move forward with a stadium development with some financial assistance from the State. I provided a detailed analysis of my thoughts about this in April and then provided some additional thoughts on locations in August so I'm not going to rehash all of that here. I'll summarize just a few key points:

• The ownership group finally agreed to provide a more significant amount of the cost of the stadium in their proposal, which was a piece that I've said since the beginning was going to be necessary for this to become a reality.
• Incorporating the stadium into a larger development (also something I recommended for some time) also helped during this go around.
• There is a key component in Senate Enrolled Act 7 that allows the stadium and the development to be "discontiguous," but within a 1 mile radius of each other. I have a feeling that this might come up later and could be another sticking point with the State, City, and the CIB if the team does attempt to have the stadium and the development in different locations. 

There was a recent report that the City had been in discussions with the team about being in the GM Stamping Plant location after the most recent developer, Ambrose, has decided to back out of building there. Many foresee a lawsuit and I doubt the ownership group will want to get involved in it and potentially wait until it is all resolved. The team had previously indicated that they would like to make an announcement on a location by the end of the year. I have reached out to the team for an update, but have not yet received any information. I do know that the team intends to use Lucas Oil Stadium "for the foreseeable future," which is at least 2 years, maybe 3.

I see this as a major issue with the team moving forward due to the likely possibility that the playoff issues that the team saw this year will occur year-after-year until they have their own facility. Lucas Oil Stadium has another primary tenant who supersedes any desire from the Indy Eleven, as well as being booked by other yearly events like the Indiana State School Music Association marching band finals and the Bands of America events. This means that any home field advantage that Indy develops during the regular season goes out of the window when they have to move to Carroll Stadium for playoff games. If I were the team, I would try to schedule a few more training sessions during the year at Carroll, just to get a better feel for the place instead of waiting a week before the first playoff game. I have also reached out to the team about their thoughts on the use of The Mike for the playoffs and am still waiting on a response from those questions as well.

Coach

Much like last year's announcement about Coach Rennie returning being met with a "ho-hum" response from most fans, unless he decided to move to another team, there was little doubt that he would be coming back. Indy have cycled through coaches every couple years in its history, but back-to-back playoff qualifying teams makes it difficult to rationalize firing a coach unless he's completely lost the locker room. I've heard of some questioning of the coach, but nothing close to a locker room mutiny.

So while the announcement is an important one from a continuity standpoint and will make Coach Rennie the longest tenured coach in the club's history, it was not unexpected. I am curious to see if there are any changes in the assistant coaching staff as we move forward. I'm interested to see if Juan Guerra stays on for another season or if he moves on.

I would like to see Coach Rennie take a step back from the Technical Director role that he is also filling and see the team hire a dedicated person for that role. Though I don't expect to see that happen.

Players

As I stated in my introduction, the team has already been busy announcing players with additional players expected to be announced this week and next. So we already know 11 guys that are returning or joining the team.

Announced as returning:

1. Barrett, Gibson, Hackshaw, Ilic, Newton, Ouimette, Walker - As I indicated on Twitter after the announcement, with the exception of Ouimette, the other six guys were the first six signed for the 2019 roster. This seems more like a "these are the guys who signed 2-year contracts that will return next year" type of announcement to me. Ouimette joined the team at the same time as Rennie and was a stable on the right side of Rennie's three-back lineup. I can see Rennie wanting all of these guys back from a consistency standpoint as they accounted for 46% of the team's regular season minutes.
2. Watson, Farr, Ayoze - These were the next three to be announced and only the re-signing of Farr slightly surprises me. Watson has been with Rennie in a number of locations. He and Ayoze's ages make them less likely to want to make drastic changes to other locations as long as they are reasonably happy, healthy, and playing well. Both are playing well and seem to be healthy. With the announcement of these three players, the percentage of the 2019 minutes jumps to 59%. If you're looking for consistency, there's only one glaring piece missing from the announcements and everybody is waiting on pins and needles for that one. My only question with Farr was whether he was willing to sit behind Newton again for another season. I still fully expect Rennie to consider Newton the #1 goalkeeper going into next season, meaning Farr's abilities will be sitting on the sideline as the team's most enthusiastic cheerleader. Moving forward with Newton and Farr on the roster, I (and others) would like to see Coach Rennie rotate them more throughout the season. There was no reason for Newton to be playing in the first Open Cup game (a game where Newton picked up a red card) nor try to play every game in some of those multiple games in a week stretches when Farr was available. With Newton's injuries the past two seasons, giving him some additional rest days would be helpful. Though that is something that Rennie could/should do with more of the players, but I don't see that in his mode of operation. 

Announced as joining:

1. Conner Antley - This season's Defender of the Year in the USL League One was announced at the end of the week. Indy paid a transfer fee to get him on the roster as he was under contract with Tormenta FC for this next year. This is a big deal for the team and the league and shows that the team may have concerns about its depth in the back. I recall a time this year where Hackshaw had just returned from international duty and wasn't planning on being played. However, Osmond picked up a early first half yellow and a number of referee discussions and Coach Rennie felt that they had to get him out of the game and not risk picking up a second yellow and playing a man down. He had to play Hackshaw because he didn't think he had any other good options (I would have shifted Ayoze back and adjusted from there, but that's for another time...).

Others I expect to return:

1. King - Coach Rennie often spoke highly of King and thinks he is poised for a breakout season. 
2. Farias - He'll be competing for time with King, but the team could use the two of them the way they did this year when they were both healthy. Assuming Pasher returns (see below), Indy needs a more consistent attacking presence on the right side of the field to counteract the Ayoze/Pasher left side and both Farias and King showed glimpses this year.
3. Conner - Conner was a spectacular mid-season find and he seemed to fit in nicely with Rennie's system. He's a little more box-to-box, which is something that the team needs; a defender who also likes to push forward.
4. Novoa - His pace was a good compliment to Pasher's, but his size is going to prevent him from being any kind of target forward for this team. Despite that, I think Rennie keeps him around.
5. Osmond - The fourth "starter" in the three back system, Rennie isn't going to want to sign Antley for depth just to get rid of his current depth.

Unknown:
I'm not sure the last time I had so many guys on the unknown list, but it's because I think it's anybody's guess on whether they stay or leave for a number of reasons.

1. Pasher - Pasher's stock rose exponentially this year and I'm sure he was on the 2nd year of a 2 year contract so he and his agent would be foolish to not shop him around. Even if it was just to be able to negotiate more money here. Rennie needs him back. Fans want him back. Still might not be enough to keep him around.
2. Starikov - Similar to Pasher, I think he was probably on the 2nd year of a 2 year contract and is now a free agent. His injury and its duration hampered him through most of the year, but even after his return, he struggled to get minutes. I often thought he looked frustrated at not getting time and am curious if that causes him to look for another team.
3. Kelly - I can go either way with Kelly. There were glimpses all season of his goal scoring abilities. There were example after example of his inability to score this year. He might not be the right forward in Rennie's system. Enevoldsen struggled in Indy, but scored 10 goals in 15 games in Sacramento. Being in the right system and being happy can make all the difference in the world. Whether the team and Kelly all want to try for another season is yet to be seen.
4. Diakhate - He was a feel-good story at the beginning of the season. He was an after-thought towards the end. He is likely inexpensive depth though.
5. Nieto - Remain on an Academy contract? Maybe.
6. Brown - Remain on an Academy contract? Maybe. 
7. Rodrigues - To say he struggled would be an understatement. Despite his size, he was frequently bullied out of position and was not the target forward many fans expected he would provide. My guess is that he doesn't return, but could depend on what happens with Pasher/Kelly and a desire for depth.
8. Perea - My gut says he is gone too, but I think it may depend on the size of the contract. 

More player news will be coming this week. Whether those include signings or announcements of departures or both is yet to be seen.

Final Thoughts:

I've decided to not dive into some other topics I would like to discuss as it relates to players and coaches. It's a long off-season so maybe they will get discussed later. For now, 2020 is looking like Indy is going to be a strong team again, vying for a playoff position and conference title. Whether they can take that next step (or two to a league final) is yet to be seen.