Fans sometimes don’t look beyond season one when it comes to the success of a new franchise. The first season is filled with glitz, fireworks, and occasional success in terms of the on field product. Like any successful business, the first season for any sports team needs to be planned and set up properly in order to cast a proper light on the idea you want people to buy in to.
Indy Eleven sprung into the Indianapolis market like the youngest sibling begging to hang out with his older brothers, a market dominated by schools like Indiana University and Notre Dame, a NBA team with the Indiana Pacers, and the widely successful Indianapolis Colts of the NFL. Indy Eleven was met with equal parts excitement and raised eyebrows as it went on to win three games in its first season, as well as selling out their home schedule during both phases of the North American Soccer League season in 2014.
Now, with the sun rising on the coming Spring Season, we look to what no one really was paying attention to: What’s Next?
Protect the counter attack:
Even as an expansion team, Indy Eleven could score fairly easily with the right attack movement and with a midfield that felt they could see a play forming. With Kleberson, the former World Cup Brazilian taking command of the midfield, plays formed often during the attack. What often happened on the other side of the ball is what needs to change this year.
One of Indy’s area’s of improvement in year two is the defense. The weakest part of Indy last year was defending the counter attack. A number of times, the team would score, and within five minutes give the goal back to the opposition. Sommer needs find a center back or a pair of defenders who have that awareness of “okay, here are these guys coming toward us” and get people in the right position. You build a team from the back forward. You need the field general, and Indy has those pieces, they just need to put them into place.
Get the right forwards:
Indy recently announced Brian Brown as a loan from Harbour View FC of Jamaica’s Red Stripe Premier League. The move gave the clear understanding that Wilt and the front office saw what was a strong point for the team last season, but can still be improved.
Indy worked well with the forwards they had. Ambersley (who is now with Saint Louis FC), Charlie Rugg of the LA Galaxy, Ben Spencer, the U21 US National from Molde, as well as Julliam all provided good sources for goals, but the issue was blending. You can only do so much with training and friendlies to build a team, and the forwards last season didn’t blend well with the rest of the field.
I firmly believe you can stick almost any striker up top and if you have the right playmakers, they can make them look good. Like a running back on a NFL team, the offensive line can make or break the back most of the time. A good supporting midfield can build things for a striker.
The team all but cleaned house with forwards, and brought in Brown, who was a spark plug for the Union of MLS. Alongside him is a player that I foresee working well with Brown and that is Wojciech Wojcik… I’ll give you a few minutes to try and figure out how that is pronounced while you watch this:
Both guys will be able to work well together up top, and should be able to produce cleaner goals for an Indy team that will need a strong attack in a league that is filled with strong defensive teams. The thing that Woj can also provide is the key sense of being able to feed Brown properly while also knowing when he can get into a good spot near goal.
Knowing when to counter:
One thing I found during the 2014 campaign was the slowness that Indy had when they got the ball. They would win possession, and a gap would open up and whoever had it wouldn’t pitch it in gap. Sommer needs to push the counter attacks and use the quickness on the field to his advantage. This will take a midfield that will see these opportunities unfold.
On field vision is a skill that can make an okay player good, a good player great, and a great player amazing. Kleberson will need to step into that role and help feed Brown and Woj when he can get the ball in there.
No team is perfect, but I am excited to see what team Sommer puts on the field against the Silverbacks the first Saturday in April. The expectations of the team were high last season, but they will continue to build. The honeymoon is over, let’s play soccer you Boys in Blue.
Thanks for reading this column. If you could please take a moment to follow me on twitter @LWOSBrianCook and tweet me your thoughts on this article or anything involving soccer.
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