Indy Eleven vs Rowdies - 03.01

 - Opponent: Tampa Bay Rowdies
- Location: Tampa Bay, Florida
- Attendance: 5,740
- Final Score: 0-0 T
- Starting XI: Busch, Palmer, Falvey, Janicki, Vukovic, Ring, Paterson, Braun, Ubiparipovic, Lacroix, Zayed
- Substitutions: Larrea 63' (Paterson), Reinoso 73' (Lacroix), Franco 82' (Palmer)
- Unused: Cardona, Mares, Smart, Miller
- Goals: None
- Bookings: Ring 53' (Yellow)
- Adage goals: None

A draw on the road in the first game of the season with the number of changes that this team has seen from last season to this one can never be considered a horrible result. There were moments where the team looked really good, held possession, and seemed to be in control of the game and tempo. There were also moments where they looked completely under attack. Like the last 5 to 10 minutes of the second half where I wondered if my habit of keeping track of adage goals was going to be tested. I'm hoping that that I can stop keeping track of that statistic with this Indy Eleven 3.0.

Despite the difference in possession skewed towards Tampa Bay at 60% to 40% and the pressure that Tampa Bay placed upon the defense, the back four, as well as the defensive midfielders Ring and Paterson, did a really good job of limiting most of the Rowdies chances. I can only remember one time where the defense broke down giving Heinemann a really good opportunity inside the box from a pass Alhassan, but Busch was there to collect it. 

In February, the NASL announced a partnership with Opta, to bring substantially more statistical data to the NASL fans. This additional data is amazing and I can't wait to see how others use this data throughout the season. For now, I'm going to talk about a few stats that jumped off the page at me about this game, including using a few (hopefully not illegal) screen captures.

Under the General Play tab of the statistics, it indicates that the Eleven turned the 50/50 balls into a 60/40 proposition, which coincidentally was the same as the possession battle. The Duels Won and Aerial Duels Won stats are two that I want to keep track of this season. Yet despite the fact that they weren't winning the 50/50 balls, the Eleven held better than a 4 to 1 advantage in intercepting Tampa Bay's passes. That speaks to good positional awareness and anticipation of their opponents' passes.

Switching to the Distribution tab, it shows that nearly a quarter of the team's passes were considered "long." That's another one that I'm curious to watch because mid-way into the second half, I remember thinking that it seemed that Palmer was falling into the Frias category of blasting the ball forward from the backline in hopeful attempts to get the ball into the Eleven's offensive third. Given that the team wasn't winning those battles according to the Duels stats, it wasn't an effective strategy. Similarly, the team had 13 crosses, which averages out to a cross every 7 minutes. While I think this game had a more defensive strategy that other games might have in store, that's still not a lot of attempts to get the ball into the box. Yet, combine the relatively few crosses with the Duels stats and you get a Successful Crosses Percent of zero. That's right, not a single cross found the head of an Eleven player. This is one of those stats that I wish I could rewatch the game to verify. If true, that trend can't continue if the Eleven want to be successful.

Moving onto the screen caps (Opta Data Screen Capture from NASL Match Center). As can be seen from the Heat Map of the game using both teams, this game was clearly played in the middle half of the field. Busch was active, but this graphic is a telling sign that this game was a midfield battle.

Look what happens though, when you take away the heat map associated with Tampa Bay's players. The bulk of the Eleven's heat signature is in their defensive half of the field and maybe just as concerning was the absolute minimal amount of presence within Tampa's box. The Eleven struggled to get into near the goal and it shows.

The last screencap that I thought was representative of the game was the graphic, showing the Average Position where players were located throughout the game. #15, #3, #17, #2 are Tampa Bay's backline and #5 (Palmer), #32 (Falvey), #12 (Janicki), and #82 (Vukovic) are Indy's backline. I love how this graphic shows how both defenses kept their shape throughout the game, but what is indicative of the game is how Tampa's backline is pushed higher on the field that the Eleven's. That means they were able to push the ball more into the Eleven's half of the field, more consistently. The other thing that disappoints me about the Eleven looking at this data is how the entirety of the Eleven's midfield is huddled within the center circle. Some of this could potentially be attributed to the wingers switching sides, but if that was the case then Lacroix would be more toward the center than he is shown. So four of the five midfielders' average position were right on top of each other.

Throughout the preseason games that I saw, I kept thinking that every time one of the Eleven midfielders got the ball on the offensive side of the field, they seemed to drift into the middle of the field instead of keeping their width. When you are playing with five midfielders, if you drift into the middle of the field, it just seemed to clog the passing lanes. During preseason, I wondered if it was just something that wasn't as prominent as I thought it was, but through the first game, my assessment was proven. The other thing that needs to happen if those midfielders do push in though is that the outside backs need to be able to make some overlapping runs and I felt like Vukovic was doing that more often that Palmer. Maybe that's partially why Vukovic's shown slightly higher up the field than Palmer.

"Figures often beguile me, particularly when I have the arranging of them myself; in which case the remark attributed to Disraeli would often apply with justice and force: "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.""
- Mark Twain's Own Autobiography: The Chapters from the North American Review

Statistics can be useful or they can be a distraction from the game and the results. Regardless, I'm going to be intrigued to find if the Eleven's future games and results compare to the NASL/Opta stats as they did with this first game draw with Tampa Bay.

Congratulations Vukovic for making the inaugural Team of the Week for the 2016 Spring Season!

HIGHLIGHTS:

2016 NASL Season - There's Hope and It's Practically Here!

Only a couple days remain before the NASL season officially says goodbye to preseason training camps, friendlies, and absolute guesses about candidates for Golden Boot, Golden Glove, and Young Player of the Year and kicks off the official start to the 2016 Spring Season.

Carolina hosts Minnesota.
Fort Lauderdale hosts Miami.
New York hosts Ottawa.
Rayo OKC hosts Edmonton.
Tampa Bay hosts Indy.

Whether one of the games is your home opener or you're forced to watch the game from the friendly confines of your home or local pub on one of the 200 media partners (I kid...kind of...1, 2, 3, 4), there's one consistent thing among all of the fan bases right now. Hope. The Standings are a clean slate, just waiting for teams to determine what trajectory they are going to go.

There aren't any win streaks. No losing streaks. No trends.

There aren't any attendance figures. Nobody has walked through the gates to give the chuckle on a rain-delayed Saturday night when the announced attendance takes longer to announce than it would to actually count the number of people in the stands.

There are no Wins. No Losses. No Draws. No Goal Differentials. No Points.

There is only hope that this is the season where the team pulls it all together. Hope that the injury bug finds itself somewhere else. Hope that the defense is stout and the offense is lighting up the scoreboard. Hope that the team starts strong and wins the Spring Season. Hope that the team finishes strong and wins the Fall Season. Hope that the team is consistent enough to at least be one of the top four in the Combined Standings. Hope of a Championship.

Right now, anything is possible. Right now, Hope wins!

Tomorrow?

Well, tomorrow starts the exuberant, colorful, gut-wrenching, heart-breaking, last-minute-winning, beautiful joy ride we've waited all off-season to enjoy.

...Even if the Koluder tried to prevent it...

How The Koluder Stole Spring Season
by Drew as inspired by Dr. Seuss

Every Bricker in the Battalion liked The Spring Season a lot...
But the Koluder,who lived just north of the Battalion, did NOT!

The Koluder hated The Spring Season! As well as the Fall Season!
Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason.

It could be his head wasn't screwed on just right.
It could be, perhaps, that his cleats were too tight.

But I think that the most likely reason of all,
May have been that his heart was crushed every Fall.

Whatever the reason, maybe he just liked to bicker,
He stood there on Spring Season Eve, hating the Brickers,

Staring down at the Battalion with a sour, Koludery frown,
At the Indy Eleven buzz slowly growing in their town.

For he knew every Bricker in the Battalion beneath,
Was busy now, waiting to scream through their teeth.

"And they're preparing their chants!" he snarled with a sneer,
"Tomorrow is the Spring Season! It's practically here!"

Then he growled, with his Koluder fingers nervously drumming,
"I MUST find some way to stop Spring Season from coming!"

For Tomorrow, he knew, all the Bricker gals and chaps,
Would wake bright and early and head to Chatham Tap!

And then! Oh, the noise! Oh, the Noise!
Noise! Noise! Noise!
That's one thing he hated! The NOISE!
NOISE! NOISE! NOISE!

Then the Brickers, young and old, would sit down to a feast.
And they'd feast! And they'd feast! And they'd FEAST!
FEAST! FEAST! FEAST!

They would feast on corn dogs, and rare Full 90 beer.
Which was something that always put the Koluder on his rear!

And THEN They'd do something He liked least of all!
Every Bricker in the Battalion, the tall and the small,
Would stand close together, with the Red Card Regiment ringing.
They'd stand hand-in-hand. And the Brickers would start singing!

They'd sing! And they'd sing! And they'd SING!
SING! SING! SING!

INDY!
COME ON YOU BOYS IN BLUE!
COME ON YOU BOYS IN BLUE!
INDY IS RED AND BLUE!
INDY IS RED AND BLUE!

Indy Eleven back home from Casa Grande

The Eleven are nearly half-way through their preseason games with three more games within a week of each other starting Saturday so I thought I would take a minute to give some thoughts despite the fact that preseason games can be a mixed bag. As professional athletes who generally all have a competitive nature, winning results are the desired outcomes, but a win, loss, or draw doesn't necessarily mean that there were positives, negatives, or apathy, respectively. Preseason games, from the team's perspective, are a multi-faceted undertaking designed to accomplish many things; fitness, camaraderie, lineups, experience, and if all goes well, results.

All of those came into play in the Eleven's first four preseason games. The first game was a 9v9 game against Indiana University, while the other three games took place as part of a 10-day stay in Arizona against NASL and USL competition. Coach Hankinson has said that some guys came into preaseason ready to go from day one with their fitness level, while others were less focused with their off-season preparation. As players start to work themselves back into shape, some minor injuries have happened so it's not a surprise that players aren't getting a full game's worth of minutes yet. In fact, most of the players have only been in for half of the game in the first four games. So the team is working on getting everybody's fitness level up but easing them into it. If the team's fitness is improving, then this piece is a positive.

Camaraderie. The roster stands at 23 (plus at least one trialist who we found out was with the team during their trip to Arizona) with 11 returning players and 12 new players. While I've talked about how smart it is that the team has brought in multiple players from various teams (3 from Ottawa, 2 from Sacramento, 2 from Chicago), that's still a lot of guys that need to get used to each other before the first game. The trip to Arizona was intended to help with that piece. The guys were with each other basically 24 hrs a day for 10 days. The traveled together, ate together, walked to the field together, and maybe as importantly, played together (on and off the field). If the ten days in the desert got the team better in sync with each other professionally and personally, then this piece is a positive.

Given that the players aren't seeing much more than a half's worth of playing time each game, it's difficult to know exactly how the starting lineup will look come April, but it is assumed that some combination of the starters from the preseason will be utilized. To this point in the preseason, Busch, Palmer, Vukovic, Falvey, and Ubiparipovic are the only ones who have started all four games. I would guess that Zayed's absence from the starting lineup in the final game of the trip was to reward Wojcik for this hat trick in the previous game. So it seems like Coach is closing in on who might be the starters next month. The one player who looks like he's making a strong argument to be in the opening day starting lineup is Duke Lacroix. I expected Lacroix to get some minutes due to his speed, but thought it might be as a super fast super sub. Yet, he is getting minutes this preseason and a lot of them. He played the second half of the Indiana University game and then started in the three games in Arizona, playing 71', 70, & 67' minutes respectively. So while many of the starters were coming off at halftime and making way for the "2nd team," Lacroix is getting minutes with both groups. He wasn't one of the players that I thought would get starter minutes, but he's clearly making an impression on Coach Hankinson at this point.

I'm going to skip the "experience" piece because every single player on this roster has professional experience. Some just have more than others, but every single day they play their experience grows, individually and collectively.

I want to talk about the results.

As fans, we may know and understand all of the above, but we want to see positive results when the final whistle blows whether the game is preseason, season, friendly, or post-season. Right now, the team's record is 1W-1D-2L against a NASL team, a University, and two USL teams. As someone who has watched two seasons full of good efforts curtailed by poor results and have been told that the season three roster was built with guys with experience, leadership, and winning ways, the early preseason results are a little disheartening. The Eleven have also had an issue with scoring the past two seasons and have now gone scoreless in 6 of the first 8 halves of the preseason, against what looks like "lesser" competition on paper. This is also a little disheartening. There are so many factors that affect the results during a season and the preseason only amplifies those factors, but this roster has so much promise and seems to be fixing the issues that Eleven 1.0 and Eleven 2.0 had that it was hard for me to not expect better results that what the team has achieved to date this preseason.

Are the misses and miscues a function of fitness, experience, and camaraderie that will resolve themselves with training and time or are the Eleven fans in for another year of good, but not great, play coupled with inconsistent results? Only time will answer that question, but the team still has five more preseason games for us to get a better evaluation of how this team might do when the games actually matter.

Indy Eleven Season 3 Preview - Cautionsly Optimistic Expectations Edition

The Indy Eleven off-season has been a busy one. Let's take a look at where they've been, where they are, and I'll give my thoughts on where I think they're going.

The Indy Eleven finished the 2015 season with a 8W-9D-13L overall record with a 5th place finish in the Spring Season, a 9th place finish in the Fall Season, for a 9th place overall finish. Before the Spring Season concluded, the team fired Coach Sommer and placed the Interim Coach title to previously title Assistant Coach Regan. With that limited amount of success in the record books and working with an Interim Head Coach, things were bound to change. 

I talked a little about the hiring of Coach Hankinson here, so I'm not going to go into much detail here. I also touched on the initial 8 players that were re-signed from last season in that article, so let's dive down into the rest of the roster moves for a bit. The Eleven created great election style banners for each of the player announcements so I'm going to use them here as I discuss the signings. I hope they don't mind.

These are the initial 8 players that the team re-signed: Janicki, Franco, Miller, Mares, Stojkov, Smart, Wojcik, and Lacroix. Three defenders, three midfielders, and two forwards. A total of 11,772 minutes of last year's team, or just under 40% of the total team minutes from last season.  As I indicated in my other post, these guys all seem to fit into the "warrior" mentality that Coach Hankinson wants for this year's team. While scoring was an issue at times for this team, I think keeping Woj and Lacroix had a lot to do with the fact they are young guys who are still learning the professional game, but their size and speed, respectively, are key to their return. I like this group and think it's a good core group to start a roster rebuild. Given Janicki's history with Coach Hankinson, he's the only player from this group that I expect to be one of the opening day starters, but I think they all are going to be able to compete for starter roles. Mares, Franco, Miller, and Smart have shown they have starter ability and if they have used the off-season to improve, they will push for those roles regardless of who was signed after them. Stojkov's warrior attitude will endear him to Coach Hankinson so he'll find some minutes. Wojcik and Lacroix are still young guys with lots to learn, but I see them as substitutes. If Lacroix can find a little more consistency, he may find himself in the "super sub" role that has been Smart's the past three seasons, as his speed late in the game against an opposing team's tired legs could be a nice weapon to have.

Brad Ring was the next player from last year's roster to make his way back, bringing the team to 44% of last year's minutes retained. Ring's signing marked the start of the direction for the 2016 team. Experience. At just 28, Ring is one of the oldest players being re-signed from last year's roster, but he was able to be a steady force in the defensive midfield spot and I think he'll again fight for time at that position this season. Like the rest of the returning players, Ring fits into that "warrior" description that Coach Hankinson wants this team to embody so I'm glad to see him back.

Sinisa Ubiparipovic - Signed 12/15/2015

Indy's first non-returning player was Sinisa Ubiparipovic, the first of what would become three players from last year's runner-up team Ottawa Fury. At this point in the roster signings, it's hard to say which players will be starters and which ones will be substitutes, but Ubiparipovic will be an opening day starter. He's the first of a trend of veteran signings for the Indy Eleven, but he was signed from Ottawa to take the playmaker role that was missing at times last season. Mares has shown glimpses of what he's able to do, but Ubiparipovic brings a more experienced view of the field than Mares can bring at this stage in his career. I'm not convinced that the presence of Ubiparipovic means that Mares will be relegated to the bench, but he's going to have to use the work ethic that took him from season one level to season two level and bring it up to compete for the starting spot against Ubiparipovic. The team had visions of Kleberson being that playmaker role last season and his injury meant that the team spent the entire season trying to find the right depth at that position. Ubiparipovic and Mares brings the team that depth again.

Daniel Keller & Keith Cardona

The Eleven went back to signing a couple of last year's players after signing Ubiparipovic by re-signing Daniel Keller and Keith Cardona. With these two players, which would turn out to be the last two players re-signed from last year's team, the minutes retained is brought up to just over 50%. I continue to harp on that statistic because of what I have noticed in the past couple seasons and these two players are good signings for how it looks like Coach Hankinson wants to go with this team. I don't see Keller getting starter minutes yet, but he was more than a serviceable holding midfielder this past season. He's a young local guy who I think is going to relish the opportunity to improve and play some valuable minutes throughout the season. I'm glad to see Cardona back, but based on the later signings I don't see him as the starting keeper. He has tons of ability and he's getting a great role model to learn from this season. More on both of these guys after I talk about the rest of the roster additions.

Neil Shaffer & Eamon Zayed - Signed 12/23/2015

The new signings began in earnest when the team announced the additions of Neil Shaffer and Eamon Zayed right before Christmas. Zayed's signing proved to me that I might as well stop guessing what players the Eleven were going to be signing because they went to the other side of the world for this signing. The guy is a prolific goal scorer and for a team that struggled to put the ball in the back of the net last season, I don't see any way this guy doesn't make it onto the opening day starting lineup. My hope is that he scores that game and just continues to show the NASL what he has shown in every other league he has played. Neil Shaffer is listed as a midfielder, but it is expected that he will see some time at left back as well. Though, I think he will be providing depth in that position based on subsequent signings.

Lovel Palmer - Signed 01/12/2016

Lovel Palmer comes from the Chicago Fire as a hard-working, fan-friendly defender. He's played for the Jamaican National team, has played for a Jamaican Premier League winning team in Harbour View, and was a frequent starter for the Chicago Fire last season. Palmer will likely be the starting right back for the Eleven, meaning Franco will be working to provide depth at the right back position. There's also the possibility that Palmer could play in that defensive midfielder position with Franco on the right back. I think he's going to make some fans for his play on the field, but off the field, I have yet to hear an interview with him where I didn't think to myself that this guy is going to make a ton more fans for his eagerness to interact with them.

Colin Falvey - Signed 01/15/2016

Colin Falvey continued the Indy Eleven trend this off-season of signing Ottawa Fury players. The team has said that nobody is a lock as a starter, but I don't see any way that Falvey doesn't make the starting lineup. He's an organizing defender whose unafraid of tackles and was part of the stout Ottawa defense that gave up a paltry 15 goals in the entirety of their games in the Fall Season, which included 4 goals in the Championship and only 23 goals overall. Since I believe Janicki is the other center as the front-runner for the center back position and that Coach Hankinson thinks Janicki works best with someone else organizing, I hope this pairing gels quickly.

Justin Braun & Nemanja Vukovic - Signed 01/19/2016

Justin Braun and Nemanja Vukovic both join the Eleven from Sacramento FC of the USL, further adding to the Eleven's plan of buying in bulk. When the team signed Eamon Zayed, that's when I knew that my limited knowledge of the available soccer players was going to be drastically challenged this year. While Braun and Vukovic are at least a part of the American soccer scene, I honestly don't know a lot about them, but coming from a winning team like Sacramento can only help the culture of the Indy Eleven, which is desperate to get over that hump of competing, but not getting good results. I think both of these guys are going to be providing the depth needed to keep the team healthy through the entirety of the season.

Jon Busch - Signed 01/22/2016

A 5'-10", 165 lb goalkeeper who will turn 40 before the end of the year may not seem like a very sexy choice to anchor the defense, but Jon Busch has carried a chip on his shoulder his entire career because of the opinions of his size and it has not let him down. A 40-year old goalkeeper doesn't bother me and the team summarized exactly why Busch is a great addition to this team when they wrote his bio. "The 39-year-old Busch racked up a 113W-92D-101L record in MLS regular season play and ranks fourth in league history in goalkeeper games played (309), shutouts (83) and saves (1,151) and fifth in wins. The native of Queens, N.Y., helped Columbus (2004) and San Jose (2012) to MLS regular season Supporters Shield titles, won the 2002 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with the Crew and earned the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year award and earned a spot on the MLS Best XI Team with the Fire in 2008."

Nicki Paterson - Signed 01/26/2016

The Indy Eleven have a 1W-0D-5L record against the Ottawa Fury in the team's two years in the league and have been outscored by them by a 2 to 1 ratio. Nicki Paterson completed the Indy Eleven's off-season motto in regards to the Ottawa Fury of "if you can't beat 'em, sign 'em." So now the Indy Eleven have the backbone of last year's runner-up Ottawa Fury. Winners who have a hunger to get back to the Championship and experience it with better results is going to be what drives these guys this season. I hope all of them come into this season with a chip on their shoulder and that fire in the belly.

Gorka Larrea - Signed 02/10/2016

I'm going to be honest, when the team announced this signing, I immediately thought that Gorka Larrea looked like he could be related to Cory Miller. The team agreed with him and tweeted this image later. I expect Larrea to be providing depth in the midfield, but he's another player that is going to be able to provide a seasoned voice to the team.

Stephen Deroux - Signed 02/12/2016

The signing of a left back has been teased by the team for a long time and the Eleven's signing of former San Antonio left back Stephen Deroux filled an obvious gap in the team's roster. I feel like I could write this about all of the team's former players and new signings (and that's a testament to the team that Coach Hankinson, Coach Regan, and out-going President and GM Peter Wilt), but Deroux fits the bill of being a warrior and has been a staple to the San Antonio defense the past three years. Deroux is the last piece in what should be a very formidable backline this season.

Dino Williams - Signed 02/23/2016

Today, the Eleven made official what has been rumored for about a month and is expected to be the final signing unless something comes of any of the trialists that make the trip with them to Arizona next week. Dino Williams joins the Eleven from Montego Bay United where he was recently coached by the Eleven's newly hired Coach Hankinson. Williams was previously also a trialist with the Eleven in 2014 before getting injured so he's been on the Eleven's radar for awhile. He leaves the Jamaican Premier League having scored 14 goals in 16 games so he comes to the team in good form. Whether that form translates from the Jamaican Premier League to the NASL will be determined. Williams' signing brings the official number of forwards on the team to 5, but I anticipate that in the 4-2-3-1 formation that Coach Hankinson has previously indicated would be how the team starts (at least on paper), four of the forwards are chasing Eamon for that role. Coach Hankinson has indicated that Williams is "a dangerous performer on the wings" so Williams may find his way onto the field in that role.

While I made several jokes about the Indy Eleven signing multiple players from the same team, I think it's a wise move. For starters, it means that there are guys on the team that are already familiar with each other and so it reduces, even if ever so slightly, their need to learn the habits of one more guy. They have a base to start. With a 23-man roster where only 11 of them are returners from next year, there are still a lot of connections between the other 12 players that should help make this a smooth transition for them all. I think I'm correct in saying that only Shaffer, Zayed, and Larrea are the only players who don't have some kind of direct experience with one of the other players or coaches. 

This could be said about a lot of the positions, but the off-season signings have provided a lot of depth at all of the positions with guys who are capable of playing in multiple roles and locations. This will serve the team well during the 32 game season (plus whatever comes of the U.S. Cup and any international friendlies that might get added between the Spring and Fall Seasons). Before Larrea, Deroux, and Williams became official signings, the team posted the below graphic showing the possible combinations of the players as they might fit into Coach Hankinson's 4-2-3-1 formation.

Looking at all of the players that have now been signed, and without any knowledge of how the practices are going and who is clicking with each other, my best guess on the starting XI is as follows:

---------------Zayed----------------

Mares----Ubiparipovic----Smart

----Paterson-------------Ring----

Deroux---Janicki---Falvey---Palmer

---------------Busch---------------


Though like I said above, I think Lacroix's speed is going to be help him get into games late to exploit opposing team's tired legs. Stojkov is going to get minutes because he personifies Coach Hankinson's warrior mentality, as will Miller for the exact same reason. In fact, I think if Miller can become a more effective header in the offensive third (and we all know his ability in the defensive third), I would like to see him late in games as an aerial option, particularly in dead ball situations.

On paper, I really like this roster. The average age of the returning players is 25.6 years old, while the average age of the new signings is 30.75 years old. Dino Williams at age 25, is still older than more than half of the returning players from last year. This team has some really good young talent that is now being led by older, experienced, winning players. I think the backline has the potential to be one of the best in the league, with the ability to bring in two of the more consistent players from last season in Miller and Franco. Combine that with a Goalkeeper of the Year winner in Busch behind them and the defense is going to be tough to beat. If Zayed and Williams can provide anywhere close to the production that they have had through their careers and recent season, respectively, then one of last season's problem areas will be highly upgraded.

I want to go into this season gung-ho optimistic, but I'm not there yet. Let me see how some of this pre-season games go before I remove the cautiously optimistic label.

An Airport Stadium?

I wasn't planning on writing about this because it seems so speculative, but there was an article in today's Indy Star that was enough to push me to write. The article by John Tuohy, was titled "Developer wants to draw pro sports team to airport stadium" in the online edition, but was titled "If he builds it, will pro team come? in the paper edition. I'm going to pull from the online edition text as appropriate. Today's article was proceeded by an article yesterday titled "$500M sports medicine complex chosen for airport site".

The first article stated:

The developer, the Athlete's Business Network, said its development would employ 3,000 workers. Built on 130 acres south of Washington Street near High School Road, the complex would have five medical office buildings that specialize in sports performance, substance abuse sports medicine, and orthopedics and sports medical technology. The centerpiece, called the ABN Global Center for Brain Health, would focus on brain trauma.

Plans also call for two 250-room hotels and a 20,000-seat stadium. The project would be built in two phases.

Like I'm sure many Indy Eleven fans, the words "20,000-seat stadium" has become the de facto number of seats for soccer specific stadiums and so the words jumped off the screen at me. However, it's vagueness was enough for me to dismiss it as not worthy writing a post about it. The concept of a stadium at the airport isn't new. I even did two versions of it (again using the Chicago Fire's Toyota Park as my basis), but never discussed it because of the Indy Eleven's repeated desire to be in Downtown Indy. The first option I did had it located in the place of the old terminal, which is a location that the City and the Indianapolis Airport Authority would desperately like to have developed again.

Airport Option at the old Terminal site

The second option moved it to the other side of High School Road because of my perceived difficulties with placing a soccer stadium directly within the airfield.

Option across the High School Road, east of the old Terminal site

There is more space than the Eleven have indicated they would need, but it is close to transportation, is a part of town that the City would like to have look like more than a massive amount of concrete parking lot, and has available hotels in the immediate vicinity, making it a reasonably desirable site. Though, can you imagine spending two hours at the game and having a fly-over every 90 seconds?

One other clarification quickly, the first article and the subsequent articles refer to "developing the former terminal site at the Indianapolis International Airport." I don't believe that the developer has plans to develop the terminal site WEST of High School Road, when you look at the rendering provided in the article.

Rendering taken from Indy Star article

To me, that looks like the complex is being wedged between I-465 on the East and High School Road on the West. The right side of the rendering looks like the On/Off ramps for the Sam Jones Expressway.  Coincidentally (or not), the area between those two thoroughfares is 130 acres.

So I think the plan is more similar to my second alternative. The facility is being proposed by a developer, the Athlete's Business Network, in partnership with:

developers The Pataki-Cahill Group of New York; Walsh Construction Co. of Chicago; construction company The Hagerman Group of Indianapolis; real estate consultant Johnson Consulting of Chicago; investment bank Ziegler and global design firm Gensler of Houston.

Two of those are construction companies that are likely in frequent competition with Indy Eleven's owner Ersal Ozdemir's company, Keystone Construction. This piece by itself was enough for me to feel that this venture did not include the desires of the Indy Eleven, but was something that I would continue to watch progress to determine the realistic possibility of the stadium component to the complex.

I didn't expect that only a day later, more details would be provided that were even more confusing. While the first article didn't provide many details of a stadium, the follow-up article was much more explicit.

The developer of a $500 million medical complex on the site of the old Indianapolis International Airport terminal said he is talking with out-of-state professional sports organizations about moving to a stadium on the city's west side.

Included in Athletes Business Network Holdings’ plan for a five-building complex is a 20,000-seat stadium or arena to host entertainment and sports events year-round and be the home field/ice/court for a pro team.

ABN co-founder Craig Sanders said he has had serious talks with representatives of pro sports teams about locating at the new stadium.

“We are having very active discussions with sports organizations outside of Indiana, professional and amateur," Sanders said, though he declined to name which organizations.

There's a lot in that little segment that could be both good or bad for the Indy Eleven's hopes of getting their own stadium. First the bad. Is Sanders in discussion with another soccer team from any of the three higher tiers of American soccer, MLS, NASL, or USL? I limit it to those three tiers because I don't believe any teams in lower tiers have attendance figures that would necessitate a 20,000 seat stadium. If he has had those discussions, a privately funded stadium would certainly hamper the Indy Eleven's current legislative route of helping to pay for the stadium. The article implies that the stadium could be used by the Indy Eleven, but that isn't any more advantageous to the team than its current arrangement, where it would still be paying rent to play there and not be able to control the money that is made there for other events. Plus, it means a direct competitor for supporters.

The good news is that it would seem unlikely that an existing MLS team would relocate here because that would have made the rumors by now. It makes absolutely no sense for a NASL team to relocate here because there is already a team here and the NASL wouldn't expand in that fashion. So that leaves a USL team. A league that mandates that all teams have a soccer specific stadium by 2020. I'm sure if I dug deep enough, I could find a USL team unhappy with their current location, but enough that they would risk moving to a new city to directly compete for fans of an existing team? I don't think so. The Indy Eleven may have the highest attendance in the NASL, but I'm not convinced that it could support two professional soccer teams.

It just doesn't seem to make good business sense to build a stadium for a relocated soccer team in a city that already has a team. That extends further down the major professional sports market for Indianapolis.
NFL team? Check.
NBA team? Check.
WNBA team? Check.
Professional hockey? Check.
Professional baseball? Check.

Professional soccer?
Men's team? Check.
Women's team? Not checked. Could it be a NWSL team with the hopes of bringing in the Eleven as a partner to use the facilities. Possibly, but I don't see a team relocating within the league. A new team maybe, but I still think that an explicit partnership between the Indy Eleven and a NWSL team would be beneficial for both teams, not just them using the same facilities. I don't think those conversations have occurred based on the rest of the article (see text below).

Indianapolis loves sports and have built a reputation as such, but with the exception of possibly adding a women's soccer team, supporting multiple professional teams within the same sport/league seems a bit much.

Then the article went off the rails for me:

"but Sanders said he had not been in contact with team owner Ersal Ozdemir.
...
A spokesman for the Fuel could not be reached, but the minor league hockey team  is in a long-term agreement to play its home games at Indiana Farmers Coliseum at the State Fairgrounds. Likewise, baseball's minor league Indianapolis Indians recently signed a 20-year lease extension to stay at Victory Field Downtown.
...
A spokeswoman for Mayor Joe Hogsett said the mayor had no advance knowledge of the medical center plan or the sports stadium.

Barry Levengood, executive director of the Capital Improvement Board, which oversees the city-owned pro sports venues Lucas Oil Stadium, Bankers Life Fieldhouse and Victory Field, said that in his 25 years with the board, it never discussed getting another sports team.
...
Sanders said his stadium also could host top-level amateur events, such as the NCAA’s Final Four, without stealing thunder from Lucas Oil Stadium or Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

"Our objective is to be a collaborative partner and help elevate the city as a whole,” Sanders said. “Especially as various other entities seek to develop sports infrastructure Downtown.”

So you want to be a collaborative partner and you haven't talked to a single entity within the City (or State?) that runs a sports organization or doesn't already have a long-term agreement in place for their home games? The stadium portion of the proposal seems completely unrealistic to me now and there's a reason why it's included in Phase 2 of their plan. I don't know to whom Sanders has been discussing the plan, but I don't think it's anybody in Indiana willing to tell him the plan seems flawed.

I assume they haven't gone into this concept completely haphazardly, but my two day old evaluation of the plan has me wondering how anybody would take the rest of the proposal seriously. Particularly when the rest of the plan includes hotels totaling 500 rooms in a part of town that can't routinely fill the hotels that are already located there. While the articles continue to reference the Indy Eleven, including providing a photo of Woj in the second article, I firmly believe that a stadium near the airport is not in the team's plans and Indy Eleven is only being mentioned by the Indy Star because of the recent stadium discussions with the team.

The Politics of Soccer

In a couple of months, I will have been writing this blog and about the Indy Eleven for two years. In that time frame, I have written about wins, losses, players, coaches, tactics, and the business of soccer. I hate writing about the losses, but even more so, I hate writing about the business of soccer. Even though the predominant topic of the writing is about a professional team in the Indy Eleven, I still often think about soccer in terms of the child-like joy it brings me and not the business of it. Men getting to play a game. A game that I have loved since I was a little kid. Men getting to do what I wish I could do.

Player signings and releases, coach firings, the departure of Peter Wilt so that he can work to get a competitor into the league, the hiring of a new President, and a future hire of a General Manager to replace all of Wilt's duties; all of this constitutes the business of soccer.  All of this is what takes the child-like joy out of writing about my favorite team.  Yet, I recently became aware that there is an aspect of writing about soccer that I enjoy even less than the business of soccer.

The politics of soccer.

It's always been there as I've been writing about the Indy Eleven, but it's been more of an unspoken player.  I think it was because it was more wrapped into the business and economics of soccer that I let myself gloss over the politics of it. Yet, the way that the club has pursued the funding of a new stadium through the Indiana Legislature makes it clearly a political venture and a piece of the puzzle since before the team ever played a single game. The politics of soccer has always been there, it's just now more apparent to me.

There was an article published in the Indianapolis Business Journal, dated January 20, 2016, entitled "State lawmaker tells Indy Eleven owner 'be a man,' pony up for stadium". In the article:

Senate Appropriations Chairman Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, told IBJ on Tuesday he’s not expecting any movement on a soccer stadium during this year’s legislative session—and not ever unless Ozdemir, the Eleven’s owner, agrees to kick in significant funding for the project.

“I keep telling him to stand up and be a man,” Kenley said. “If you’re a real capitalist, you should have money of your own in this. He’s one of those developers who’s had a little success and who realizes if he can get government to pay for this or that, then that’s a good deal for him. He acts like that’s pro forma.”

Obviously, this made a lot of noise with the Indy Eleven fans. Some have questioned where Senator Kenley stood on the $870M funding of Lucas Oil Stadium. Well, it turns out that he was part of the process that put together that deal.

According to the agreement negotiated between city and state officials, taxpayers were responsible for funding 87 percent of the stadium. That makes Lucas Oil Stadium the most heavily taxpayer-subsidized stadium in the country.
...
State Sen. Luke Kenley (R-Noblesville) helped put together the final deal and says city officials knew they were responsible for finding money for the operating expenses.

I have been told that Senator Kenley has indicated that part of the difference between the Lucas Oil Stadium deal and any Indy Eleven Stadium deal is that Jim Irsay put in money himself and that Ersal Ozdemir has not stepped up to any extent in his proposals.  While I disagree with that since the versions that went through last year included using one of Mr. Ozdemir's hotel properties to make up any shortfall each year that was not achieved through the use of the stadium, let's also look further at the Irsay piece of the pie. The other 13% beyond the 87% that the taxpayers  were responsible was contributed by Jim Irsay...

Colts owner Jim Irsay was able to cover his 13 percent portion of the cost when he sold the naming rights to the Lucas Oil company for $120 million.

So isn't that Lucas Oil that put the money in?  Couldn't Ersal Ozdemir do the same thing for the soccer stadium? Just for simplicity and talking purposes (and for those not wanting to do the math), 13% of the $85M that the team originally suggested as a starting point is $11M. Indiana Farmers Mutual Insurance agreed to a 10-year $6M naming rights deal for the Coliseum at the State Fairgrounds. I have to think that the team could find somebody willing to do at least that, maybe all $11M. Has this not been part of the discussion and when did Irsay acquire the Lucas Oil money in the process of that stadium funding?

Put all of that politics in your memory bank for now.  Three days after that IBJ article, there was another one that seems to have gone completely unnoticed by many Indy Eleven fans, but I think speaks volumes. That article was titled, "Key lawmaker wants state to buy GM site for green space". I'll give you three guesses which lawmaker wants the space. That's right, Senator Luke Kenley,

One of the most-powerful members of the Indiana Senate wants the state to buy the 102-acre General Motors stamping plant site on the western edge of downtown and turn it into an expansion of White River State Park.

Senate Appropriations Chairman Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, wants lawmakers to allocate funding for the purchase when they craft the next two-year budget in the spring of 2017.

“For the long-term benefit of the state and Indianapolis, it’s better to have the whole 100 acres and dedicate it to White River State Park,” he said. “You only get one chance at a piece of property like this. It would be silly not to try to consummate that deal.”
...
Kenley’s proposal would not necessarily derail the widely discussed plan to build a $30 million, 10,000-seat amphitheater on the eastern half of the property. He said he’s open to using some of the land for a concert venue, but doesn’t want any restrictions on the state’s purchase.
...
Local developer REI Investments Inc. last year agreed to buy 51-1/2 acres on the east side of the property for the $30 million concert venue. It would build the project in partnership with White River State Park, Live Nation and the Indianapolis Zoo.
...
Construction of the amphitheater can’t proceed without the state’s blessing, however, since it hinges on the state’s ponying up half the $30 million cost.

Kenley said he has discussed buying the site with Gov. Mike Pence and REI President Mike Wells. He expects the purchase price would be well under $15 million.

Under REI’s plan, it would develop the venue, White River State Park would own it, and Live Nation would run it. Live Nation also runs Klipsch Music Center in Noblesville and the Old National Centre downtown.

There's a lot there that's interesting to me, but the old GM stamping plant locale has always been one that Indy Eleven fans have thought would make for a great location for a new soccer specific stadium and was one of the first that I discussed in my first potential stadium location posts, but had to eliminate because it appeared to have other uses. It's also a site that I believe Mr. Ozdemir made a bid to get at the time. It's close to downtown, access to major roads and transportation, and plenty of space for the stadium (and practice facilities?), parking, and other development. What's interesting to me about Senator Kenley's proposal is that a business would develop the site, but it would be owned by the State, and another business would run it. How are those businesses being paid for their efforts? Isn't that from the taxpayers, as well as the $15M for the site coming from the taxpayers too? Will 100 acres be able to generate any income to the state or will it only be taking from the taxpayers?

I find it interesting that the same politician that tells a businessman to "man up" and put some of his own cash into a venture turns around three days later and suggests that the state provide $15M to fund a public park on a piece of property that would seem like it could be used by other businesses, including by the same businessman that he told to "man up."

It's been the general consensus among many Indy Eleven fans that the new President of the team, Jeff Belskus, was brought in as much for his past experience with navigating the political landscape in Indianapolis from his time with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as he was for his business ability. Mr. Belskus is here to run the business side of Indy Eleven with the departure of Peter Wilt, but that likely includes the creation of a new stadium as one of his highest priorities. That's my assumption...

Which may be why 7 days after Senator Kenley told Ersal Ozdemir to "man up," and 4 days after indicating that he wants the State to purchase the 100 acres of the GM stamping plant for $15M, Jeff Belskus tweeted this:

At an event for State Senator Luke Kenley. A great Hoosier! pic.twitter.com/8T5ovlHWaE

— Jeff Belskus (@Indy11_Jeff) January 27, 2016

I officially hate the politics of soccer more than I hate normal politics. Shaking hands, kissing babies, and seemingly playing games with my childhood love.

The Soccer Life - John Koluder

Indy Eleven's Public Relations Director John Koluder takes part in this edition of the Soccer Life, which I hope with his help becomes a more frequent occurrence this year with other Indy Eleven staff and players.  By the nature of this questionnaire, this provides a relatively surface level introduction to John and his way into the Soccer Life, but if you have an hour and a half, I would highly recommend listening to the Bloody Shambles boys' podcast interview with John from a few weeks ago. Good stuff.

Oh, and if anybody can locate a 2006 episode of What's Wrong With...Soccer? that includes an appearance by John, please point us all to the link.  Yes, our favorite PR flack has an IMDB listing.

1. Name:
John Koluder

2. Role (Player, Parent, Coach, Referee, General Spectator, All of the Above, None of the Above, Other):
- Indy Eleven PR Director

3. Soccer-specific Nickname (and any story behind it):
- Never been given one, but if I did it would probably be “Gimpy” as I tend to injure myself more than I should when I attempt to play!

4. Age started playing:
- 9 years old … and retired by 11

5. First recollection of the game:
- Running around the fields of Marion playing for the PAL league’s team sponsored by “Keep it Simple Photography”

6. Highest level of play achieved:
- Said Police Athletic League team in Marion, which is to say not very high

7. Last competitive match – Date (if known) & Level of Play
- If you don’t count the IUPUI Rec League a couple of summers ago, the D.C. United Media Game in 2002 (winning goalkeeper in a 7-6 battle on the RFK Stadium pitch).

8. Position:
- Usually play fullback, although I fancy myself a true #6 in my dreams

9. Jersey number:
- #15 (when possible)

10. Most memorable moment(s):
- During my youth soccer days, I got hit in the face with a free kick by Tricia Streeter (the best player in our league) right before halftime. At the start of the second half, I immediately went and kicked/tripped her off the kickoff and got a yellow card. Well worth it!

11. Least memorable moment(s):
- Two-footing myself and doing a ligament in my foot during a pick-up game in Salt Lake City (don’t ask how one can two-foot himself … it’s possible, believe me).

12. Favorite team:
- Indy Eleven obviously, but back-up would be Real Salt Lake

13. Favorite player:
- Historical: Chris Armas

- Current: Michael Bradley

14. Indoor vs Outdoor:
- Outdoor, always

15. Grass vs Turf:
- Grass, always

16. Coaching experience:
- Was assistant coach for a U-10 team in Chicago for about 4 months … that was enough for me!

17. Refereeing experience:
- None, although I always thought I had the temperament for it

18. Favorite World Cup moment(s):
- Tie - Landon Donovan goal vs. Algeria in 2010 and watching the USA-Belgium 2014 game with thousands of folks on Mass Ave

19. Honors/Awards:
- Won the 2010 MLS PR Department of the Year award when at Real Salt Lake … and the local weekly arts rag out there gave me a “Best of Utah” award in 2011. I hold both in equal regard. Also lucky enough to have been on staff for RSL’s MLS Cup run in 2009 and for the Chicago Fire’s 2003 & 2006 U.S. Open Cup titles … didn’t help them win, but I got rings and medals anyways!

20. Other sports played (and to what level):
- Let’s see … played baseball (2-time little league all-star 2nd baseman!), basketball, and football on organized teams … none past elementary school!

21. Other Comments:
- Weeks before I started my internship at D.C. United in 2002, MLS had contracted both Florida teams and there were severe doubts as to whether professional soccer in the USA would go the way of the dinosaur. I’m glad to see those fears were horribly wrong and to have played a very, very minuscule part in helping the sport grow, especially here in my home state with Indy Eleven the last three years.