Tactical Tidbits: Indy Eleven spoil another expansion opener
Indy Eleven defender/midfielder Daniel Keller. Photo credit: NASL.com
The Indy Eleven’s first meaningful match of 2017 is in the books.
After laboring through the first half against the San Francisco Deltas, a half in which neither team really separated itself beyond the obvious Deltas goal, Indy emerged as the better side after the break. Ultimately the Eleven settled for a 1-1 road draw after equalizing on rookie Tanner Thompson’s header in the 58th minute.
It wasn’t the prettiest point ever earned, but the Eleven did out-possess, out-pass, out-cross and out-shoot their West Coast counterpart. And for the second straight season, Indy prevented an expansion club from getting three points in its inaugural match.
In our first-ever edition of “Tactical Tidbits,” we take a look at Justin Braun and Gerardo Torrado’s positive influence on the pitch, as well as break down the performance of the two Indy center backs.
PREFONTAINE LIVES
Indy forward Justin Braun’s fitness and work rate on the pitch have always been sublime. Good news: He wasn’t frequenting Krispy Kreme in the offseason. Check out his heat map against the Deltas:
Braun doing what Braun does — popping up all over the attack. Photo credit: NASL.com
While his touches on the ball and passing weren’t incredibly impactful, Braun looked like the fittest player on the field. He tends to do that.
With some new faces in the attack to mesh with, Braun took it upon himself to set an example of what type of effort level is expected up front. No wonder former teammate Neil Shaffer dubbed him “Steve Prefontaine” in a beIN Sports video segment last season:
Getting to Know Indy Eleven Pkg by Beinsports-USA
Braun’s insane motor allowed him to rack up 42 touches and fire off three shots. There isn’t a cranny anywhere on the offensive side of the pitch that he won’t find.
A TALE OF TWO HALVES FOR TORRADO
Indy’s starting XI looked a little out of sync in the first half. One of the bright spots, however, was central midfielder Gerardo Torrado. He controlled the ball in tight spaces, made a few perfect short passes and showed excellent vision in gambling on a couple dangerous long balls toward the corner flag with varied success.
El Borego’s pass distribution. Photo credit: NASL.com
Ironically, in the second half when Indy played better Torrado didn’t seem to play as well. His final numbers versus the Deltas weren’t eye-popping, and his Opta-registered 31 of 44 accurate passes didn’t necessarily do his performance justice, either.
He also played 50 percent of his passes forward — a severely underrated attribute he displayed last year that he appears to have carried over to 2017. Torrado understands that playing the ball backward or laterally is generally a last-resort option to maintain possession; he picks his head up and looks forward upon receiving the ball.
Torrado shouldn’t have been in Man of the Match consideration, but he was rock solid in the first half when his teammates came out showing season-opening jitters. His vision, technical ability and field generalship helped Indy survive a rough patch and overcome the 1-0 deficit.
“MIDFIELDER” SHINES AT CENTER BACK
Photo credit: NASL.com
With Lovel Palmer nursing a mild knock, Eleven coach Tim Hankinson went with a center back pairing of Kwame Watson-Siriboe and Daniel Keller. Watson-Siriboe was signed to be a starter — no surprise there. But Keller projected to be more of a utility defensive midfielder this season, and was even listed as such on the official team roster after exclusively playing defense last season.
Hankinson might want to reconsider the position change after Keller turned in a very efficient, steady performance in the opener. The veteran completed a stellar 40 of 44 passes to go with five duels won and five clearances among his 55 total touches in the match.
He actually outplayed Watson-Siriboe, who failed to block a cross that led to the Deltas goal and produced zero tackles or duels won across his 34 touches. It wasn’t all bad for Watson-Siriboe though, as he did have four clearances and two interceptions.
Not too much stock can be put into one game, but Keller settled into his old digs quite comfortably among the back four. Don’t be surprised if Hankinson deploys Keller as a defender way more than a midfielder this season, despite what the club’s website says.
Follow Kevin on Twitter @KJboxing.
