Indy Fail to Restore Pride in Eleventh Match - Indy Eleven V Jacksonville (6/10/2017)

Eamon Zayed heads home Indy's only goal in a 4-1 defeat at home.

By: James Cormack

Expectancy was high as Indy Eleven headed into their eleventh game of the season. Still without victory, Indy were coming off the back of a 2-2 draw in San Francisco and there were hopes that this home game could produce Indy Eleven's first win of the 2017 season.

Indy Eleven's injury woes continued to some extent with Justin Braun, Gerardo Torrado, Craig Henderson, Brandon Poltranieri and Kwame Watson-Siriboe unavailable for this game. Don Smart was a welcome sight returning to the starting lineup and Eamon Zayed made his second consecutive start.

Indy Eleven fielded a lineup that should be capable to win this game with but again there was some juggling, Ben Speas supported Eamon Zayed up front, Speas has been a critical player at left midfield but was not played there, instead Daniel Keller came in. Tanner Thompson played in front of Brad Ring behind the forwards.

With Kwame out the back four comprised of Marco Franco, Colin Falvey, Lovel Palmer and Nemanja Vukovic in front of Jon Busch. There was  enough experience and enough of an element from the 2016 side to put up a strong showing. On paper at least anyway, and in the hopes of the Indy Eleven supporters.

Where are NASL getting these referees from?

This is Younes Marrakchi, don't be like Younes, he is no fun at all.

This has to be mentioned, and it is by no means an excuse for losing this game, but how many times have we seen this year not only in Indy Eleven games but in other matches referees who just want to make the game all about themselves.

It's common knowledge amongst pundits in this beautiful game that any good referee, unless there is no shadow of a doubt and it's unavoidable, is not going to give a penalty in the early minutes of a match, if there is any doubt at all you don't give it. It can ruin a whole game right from the start. This referee was obviously one of those who wanted all eyes to be on him, he wanted the game to be about him,  and it continued that way throughout the game.

Maybe a league that almost ceased to exist can't afford to be picky on who they choose to officiate NASL games anymore, this would not surprise me, it seems we are getting bargain basement refs from Dollar Tree that can neither run fast enough to keep up with the game nor make sensible decisions to control the play in such a way to make the game entertaining and fair. I wouldn't even let this guy ref a youth game for fear some of those kids may decide it's not worth playing this game.

Are we in fact cursed, or have we just given up...

Lets look at the penalty first of all. As I mentioned previously no referee worth his salt is going to give a penalty decision very early in a game unless there it is unavoidable. Was there even a foul, or did Derek Gebhard deliberately use minimal contact to draw the foul and go to ground. The ball was not even near Gebhard and Falvey, both were moving towards the play, yes there is upper body to upper body contact and Gebhard used that as an excuse to go down. This is sometimes commonly known as cheating, but in today's game it can be viewed by some as a valuable tool in the skillset of a modern forward.

Regardless of that, it was a situation early in the game where the referee should have waved everybody up and told them to shake it off and get on with it. Instead Younes Marrakchi wanted his spotlight moment on TV as early as he could possibly get it and he got it in the 3rd minute. Quite ridiculous and it set a bad tone for the game. Jon Busch managed to pull of a great save from Jack Blake's initial strike but could not stop the return fire.

Indy Eleven came back well and put things on level terms thanks to a downward header from Éamon Zayed off of a Vukovic corner that bounced up and beyond Patterson-Sewell and after 10 minutes played the score was tied and we could begin again.

For the majority of the first half despite not being able to field the team we wanted to yet again, Indy Eleven produced several great chances to score, Eamon Zayed could have had a hat trick had the goalposts been slightly further apart. However it was Jacksonville who would take the lead again.

Another example of poor officiating, indicators showing line official and ball, apparently this is what offside looks like now?

A long ball from Jacksonville in the 41st minute found Gebhard in the Indy Eleven box, unable to full control the ball gave Colin Falvey a window to put in a great sliding tackle, but you just never know where the ball is going to pop out and JC Banks was on hand to push the ball away to Busch's right and low into the corner of the net. 

Still not something we couldn't recover from at this point. Until....

FLASH POINT.... Red Card. Controversial? No not really.

We know from past experiences from our own players we will always welcome a fight back, going into the half time break a goal down is never easy but it is not insurmountable. Going into the break a goal down and knowing you have to play the second 45 minutes with ten men is a slightly more complicated task.

There is no argument or defense for what took place in the first half stoppage time. Both players were committing to go for the ball, both players were going in feet high. Blake raised his foot to go for the ball then pulled out, Palmer foot was above Blake's waist in an attempt to clear the ball. It's one of those situations you just dust off get up and get on with it. It was a little reckless probably from both players, but not intentional or malicious.




Lovel Palmer got up and cold cocked him, it was a sucker punch and totally unnecessary in any field of play even amateur Sunday football. It's a straight red from any referee, and in the rules of the game for violent misconduct it is most likely a two match suspension. Just completely embarrassing and avoidable. Blake even extended a hand to help Lovel up and was greeted with a smack to the face.

This was where the game was lost when all is said and done, in one sweeping selfish act from an individual player.

Pushing on with Ten...

To give credit where it's due Tim Hankinson pushed forward with a view to attacking, there is no point trying to defend a one goal deficit obviously and changes were made throughout the second half to provide more attack. At the beginning of the second half Siniša Ubiparipović would replace Tanner Thompson at the beginning of the half with plumhoff replacing Smart and Goldsmith coming on for Zayed later in the game.

Had we cleared our line, JC Banks was undoubtedly offside, two players behind the last man.

With little over five minutes of the second half played however Indy Eleven found themselves two goals behind because of another goal that could easily have been avoided. It's hard to fault Don Smart having just returned to the side, but even a midfielder should know when you are taking a post at a corner or free kick and the ball breaks out away from goal you have to get off the line, off the post and push up with the play.

After the third goal there was no way to even pull back to a draw, it was a killer blow and evn if there was a glimmer of a hope within ten minutes the deficit would be three and the fourth goal was a perfect example of a team even with ten men that had given up.

I might be wrong but I think it was Kalen Ryden who took the ball from his own defense and was allowed to stroll through the middle of the park without challenge, he could have been riding a unicycle and eating an ice cream cone and still would not have been pressured. His pass to JC Banks was attempted to be blocked by Keller but fumbled. Jemal Johnson had what seemed like an entire parking lot of space to work in on the left side and received the ball and passed behind the defense for Gebhard to slot home. It was all too easy.

There were calls for offsides and it clearly was not, if you watch the highlight reel someone is screaming blue murder for an offside call. When the ball is played Franco is inside the six yard box trying to block and Gebhard is outside the box. It is neither here nor there now and not an argument. Indy Eleven were destroyed, the game was lost before half time and the rest was cruel and unusual punishment for those that remained to witness it.

Not even a sending off for Jacksonville when Patterson-Sewell clearly handled outside of the 18 yard box, much to his own disbelief, could give Indy Eleven any way back in the game. Little tip of the hat to JAX reserve keeper though, having to come in cold Kyle Nasta made a fine save from a Vukovic free kick late in the game.

The time for denial is over...

We are the worst team in the league, we have to accept that now. How long we will be the worst team in 2017 is up to the coaches and players. I will admit it does seem like we are cursed, if something can possibly go wrong when it comes to Indy Eleven right now, bad things are just going to happen to us.

Many people like myself are left scratching our heads, we can't put a finger on it. Players are obviously frustrated, you can see it in their faces during games, something is not right and even with our injury woes and bargain basement refereeing we should be playing better than this. A red card for Palmer and also the yellow card for Franco we born of frustration and it showed, despite poor officiating these cards were warranted.

One year ago from today, the 11th of June 2016 we witnessed the "Miracle At The Mike" and a familiar scoreline ,defeating our next opponent North Carolina 4-1 to lift the Spring Championship when even then the odds were stacked against us. A year down the road and we have not won a single game, we have seven draws and five defeats and have been dumped out of the US Open Cup by a PDL team.

In our last 6 competitive matches we have been defeated five times and achieved one single draw. The valid excuses we have cannot cover all that, not even close. Even the draw we had against San Francisco was the result of us giving up a two goal lead.

The Indy Eleven of 2016 was billed by Tim Hankinson as a team of Warriors and he also stated that it is not up to us to worry about the rest of the teams in the league, it is up to them to figure us out, we're just going to play our game. Well in 2017 there is no warrior spirit, there appears to be no backbone to this team and no confidence and as for teams having to figure us out that part is easy, they just need to watch any of our games, we are an open book right now.

At least from rock bottom we can accept the fact we are the worst and move on from there, any great result from here on in will be a welcome surprise. However something is wrong within this club and it is clearly visible to anyone watching. I can't figure it but someone needs to, and soon.

Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before: SF Deltas V Indy Eleven REVIEW (6/4/2017)

Lovel Palmer going for the ball during the Indy Eleven home game

By Brian Cook

Have you ever rewatched a movie? Maybe you like the cast, the plot, or the writing of the movie? Whatever it may be this season's Indy Eleven has increasingly become a movie we are still watching. A movie that we know the ending and we know who stars in it but we still watch it. We still watch it because it's entertaining to us even if our favorite character dies at the end. 

Indy Eleven and the San Francisco Deltas finished a lot like they did in the beginning of the season. A draw at 2-2 thanks to a last minute goal by the Deltas This was a slightly different movie though. Let's call it a sequel. Instead of the structured and rigid form that both teams had at the beginning of the season Indy Eleven's defensive weaknesses shined through and the boys in blue had to contend with the Deltas 26 total shots taken during the game (for reference, the first game of the season saw the Deltas have five total shots) 

How the team played on this June 4th game was 100% different than the team that was played during the March 25th season opener but nevertheless the Boys in Blue gave every bit of a chance for the Deltas to be up 10-2 instead of the actual score of 2-2. 

Indy Eleven's Backline:

Indy Eleven's Backline Heatmap (Via Indy Eleven Dot Com)

One of the fascinating things to watch so far in 2017 has been the work the backline of Indy Eleven has put in. A key aspect of previous levels of success for the Indy Eleven defense has been a fluid backline which is typically reflected in the post game heatmaps.  

For the most part Indy corrected it's work and kept itself intact compared to other times (Miami) where they faced the 4-3-3. The goals by Portilla and Sandoval of the Deltas had little to do about positioning on the pitch.

#ICYMI Cristian Portilla's goal off a corner pulled the Deltas within 2-1 pic.twitter.com/9g2aYcZKIx

— San Francisco Deltas (@sfdeltas) June 4, 2017

We had to see it again. @Big_Dev49 comes up big! #KezarNights pic.twitter.com/sAgsVRY9fo

— San Francisco Deltas (@sfdeltas) June 4, 2017

Both goals show where the real defensive issues lie and where most teams look to exploit. While fluid, if you break open and spread out the backline for Indy you tend to get missed marks and quick attempts. 

Black circles indicate Sandoval's heatmap impact on Indy Eleven's back line 

The goal by Portilla isn't an indication of this but what was the game tying goal shows you how much players like Greg Janicki, who Hankinson had praised for his marking ability, were valuable to the 2016 efforts.

Lovel Palmer's Goal:

What can be said about that goal?

56' GOAL | Lovel Palmer scores to put @IndyEleven up 1-0 #SFDvIND pic.twitter.com/9O5qrFXVQw

— San Francisco Deltas (@sfdeltas) June 4, 2017

Palmer is a right fullback turned wingback turned central defender and now is a pseudo box to box midfielder beside Brad Ring. He tends to favor a holding midfield role that has him playing more stationary and defensive than attacking but this goal was simply beautiful to see. Palmer has become a huge vocal point of the starting eleven for Indy Eleven and it shows that there is still an attack in this team.  

If Lovel Palmer's goal was great, I think Brad 'Legend' Ring's might have been a word yet to be created: 

Legendary Brad Ring living up to his legendary name 

Main takeaway from the game:

The result against Indy Eleven isn't what the team wanted. Being up 2-0 with 10 minutes left in the game is something that should be textbook to wrap up. It shouldn't be something that has the same result as the previous matchups and previous times you have watched your favorite movie. It's a different story. It's a different plot, but in the end the story stays the same and Indy Eleven finally get another point on the board. 

The thing to take away form this game is the slow build. This team is still figuring itself out and it's still learning about it's strengths and weaknesses and still learning about who they are as a club. It's a balancing act that doesn't entirely sit on the shoulders of the players on the field. Expectations have been set based off of last year's performance that Tim Hankinson and his staff (even if they have changed) should be able to stop errors and spot issues and correct them while minimally creating new ones to deal with. 

It's a fair thing for fans to request. It's not difficult. Fix the fixable errors and learn how to minimize the ones you can't fix before the week. If the club ever gets back to a healthy starting eleven we will see what exactly they can do but for now we will want and hope for this team to get back on track. 

At least we can say that Indy Eleven didn't lay down at all during the game:

"Let's call this dance move "The Delta"

Picked Apart: Indy Eleven vs Miami FC REVIEW (5/20/2017)

Frustration was the theme of the night when Indy Eleven faced league leaders Miami FC.

By Brandon Cockrum

Entering Saturday’s match head coach Tim Hankinson described the Eleven’s meeting last weekend as "being ripped apart" by Miami. This week the Eleven lined up with three defensive midfielders in an attempt to stymy a Miami attack that Hankinson said goes right down the middle of the park. The result: rather than being torn apart, Miami cooly picked Indy apart, taking advantage of two defensive errors from the Eleven to claim a 2-0 victory. The loss humbly ends Indy’s NASL record 21-game unbeaten streak at home.

The Eleven lined up with a full-strength back four, however Kwame Watson-Siriboe paired with Colin Falvey at center back to allow Lovel Palmer to shift forward into a central defensive midfield role next to Brad Ring. Gerardo Torrado was deployed in front of them, creating a defensive cone in the center of the pitch to deflect Miami attacks away from Indy’s core.

Ben Speas and rookie Tanner Thompson were split wide of Torrado as attacking midfielders with Justin Braun as a lone striker. Clearly, with just three true offense-oriented players, defense would be a priority for Indy and the strategy would be to manufacture a goal through heart and hustle rather than a refined attack.

For 25 minutes Indy held on with just a few breaks in their defensive shield and seemed to be gaining their footing. Jon Busch was forced to make a nice save from a corner kick header in the 10th minute and a Miami attacker shanked a shot high from seven yards out in the 16th minute.

In the 27th minute Indy looked poised to manufacture the game’s first goal as Justin Braun, after tackling the ball from Miami defender Rhett Bernstein, went one-on-one against goalkeeper Daniel Vega. But, Vega was up to the challenge and stopped Braun’s attempted flick dribble around him.

A rapid Miami counter after Vega's stop of Braun was halted by an Indy foul near the top of the penalty box. While Indy dropped their heads or turned their attention to the referee Miami quickly restarted play. Robert Kcira made a simple pass to Vincenzo Rennella waiting on Busch’s doorstep and the experienced striker calmly finished the play.

In a matter of one minute, Indy went from looking like they had the game’s first goal to being down 1-0 and staring up a large mountain with inadequate climbing gear.

The first half concluded with Miami content and Indy unable to create and possibly the only highlight after the goal being an animated discussion during a stoppage in play between Ring, Falvey, Marco Franco and Hankinson.

Defender Marco Franco looks to spark an Indy attack.

The second half continued similarly with Miami probing and testing the Indy defensive but not causing much trouble and Indy struggling to build anything resembling a threatening offense. Possession was frequently lost by the boys in pinstripes in the midfield through poor passing or lack of control. Only once in the game did the Eleven manage a shot from their opponents penalty box.

In the 72nd minute another defensive error from Indy provided Miami with another clear opportunity on goal. Away from the play, a slow moving Watson-Siriboe kept Miami’s Kwame Poku onside and allowed Michael Lahoud to play a through ball that beat Poku’s defender and put the attacker in on goal where he calmly beat Busch with a shot.

2-0, with Miami in front and not looking over their shoulder,

The sport’s most dangerous lead was never threatened as Indy continued to struggle creating offense. Mild urgency at the end was easily dealt with by the visitors as they saw the game out and claimed their league leading 17th point of the season.

Four Takeaways

Mares eagerly waits to take the field in Indianapolis.

Mares Thriving in Miami

It's bittersweet to see, but Dylan Mares has been a key cog for the league's top team. The plucky attacking midfielder has 2 goals, 1 assist and is a league leader in chances created. The Eleven would have liked to have kept the homegrown product but higher wages, sandy beaches and youthful ambition drew him to Miami. While highly respected, it might have taken a move away for Mares' quality to be fully appreciated by everyone in Indy.

M.I.A.

The Eleven offense, currently missing in action, has now gone four matches without scoring a legitimate goal. Sure, they registered two goals last week in Miami but one was an own goal and one was due to a miscommunication between a defender and goalie on a ball that both had covered, a figurative gift from Miami for a clearly surprised goalscorer, Braun.

Among eight NASL teams, the Eleven are fifth in shots take and seventh in shot accuracy. So, they're not getting many shots off and those they do get are poorly taken.

A healthy Eamon Zayed and Don Smart should help the club find it’s lost attack but neither was even available for action on Saturday. It may be a few weeks (or more) before both return to full form and, even when they do, can we confidently say this team is poised for takeoff? More importantly, what do we do until then?

Roster Makeup

There has been pressure on coach Hankinson due to the poor results but he has lately been forced to put lipstick on a pig. A coach can only do so much with the ingredients he is given. Injuries should have been expected with a roster that is the league’s oldest club, however after the top 14 or so players there was a distinct drop-off in skill and experience. 

Now that injuries and poor form have hit the coach has few options to try. Two goalies are often part of our seven available subs on match day. Rookies David Goldsmith and Thompson have been required to play a lot of minutes, but this is a league that is very difficult for professional rookies to make an impact. Three in-season acquisitions have been feckless, to the point that none of them sniffed the pitch against Miami. On Saturday Daniel Keller was brought in late in the game with Indy needing to find goals. Last season, Nicki Paterson, Sinisa Ubiparipovic or other strong options were available off the bench for Hankinson. (Nothing against Keller but his skills are best utilized keeping the ball out of the net rather than putting it in.)

The club currently sits in sixth place (out of 8), well behind the top five. If club owner Ersal Ozdemir wants things to turn around it seems that he'll have to open up the checkbook for a key summer signing (or two).

Downward Spiral

The club’s poor results - six draws and three losses leave the club as the only pro team in the US without a victory - are now threatening the status of players and coaches. 

"If the downward spiral continues there will be changes, whether that’s coaching staff or players,” Hankinson told Greg Rakestraw on "Soccer Saturday" the morning of this match. 

With another poor result later that evening it seems that someone will be held accountable by the next match - the question is who and will it have a positive effect?

Indy Eleven Announce first Nine Players for 2017 (1/12/2017)

Justin Braun was the first to be announced as returning for 2017

January 12th 2017 - Indy Eleven Roster Announcements.

As the NASL prepares to kickoff in 2017 Indy Eleven made their first roster announcements today bringing news of nine players returning.

1. Forward Justin Braun -  Former Sacramento Republic star signed in 2016 by Tim Hankinson scored nine goals and gave five assists in all competitions.

2. Goalkeeper Jon Busch - The veteran goalkeeper pulled out eleven shoutouts in 29 games for Indy Eleven in 2016

3. Goalkeeper Keith Cardona - Cardona made three appearances for the Eleven in 2016 against Miami, Tampa, and Rayo OKC as well as a clean sheet against Liga MX opponents CF Pachuca in our summer friendly match.

Captain Colin Falvey returns to lead Eleven's charge into 2017.

4. Defender Colin Falvey - 2016 Captain of the team signed by Hankinson from Ottawa Fury, despite missing a few games through injury Colin led the team from the first game to the final in New York in November.

5. Defender Lovel Palmer - Jamaican Palmer came to Indy from MLS side Chicago Fire along with Jon Busch. Lovel appeared 25 times for the Eleven in 2016.

6.  Midfielder Don Smart - Don has been a part of the Indy Eleven family since the beginning signed in 2013, pending further announcements he becomes for now the longest serving player at the club.

Don Smart currently Indy Eleven's longest serving player.

7. Midfielder Siniša Ubiparipović - Though limited in time through injury in 2016 Ubi made a great late push for contention scoring one of the most important goals of the season against FC Edmonton in the Championship semi final.

8. Defender Nemanja Vukovic - One of the biggest surprises of 2016 the towering Montenegran proved himself to be a critical dynamic to the Indy Eleven style with his box to box work on the left side.

9. Forward Éamon Zayed - Indy Eleven's leading score remained in contention for the golden boot throughout 2016 and became the teams all time leading scorer with 16 goals in league and cup play.

Indy's leading scorer Éamon Zayed returns alongside Braun in attack.

Negotiations will be continuing with other players so don't worry too much yet if you don't see your favorite player on the roster, it's just the beginning. Overall, Indy has returned a solid core of first team players in Busch, Falvey, Palmer, Smart, Ubiparipović, Braun, Vukovic and Zayed.