The sky isn’t falling for Indy XI
A plea to fellow Indy supporters to get some perspective
May 21, 2017
Guys, after having slept on it, let’s have some perspective. The sky is not falling down. As an eternal pessimist, I’m in this weird role where I feel that some of the reaction to the game has been too negative. We all care about this club, and your opinion is as valuable as mine. Some of you have traveled far distances to support this team, and I have so much admiration for that. But, the three major things I will disagree with are:
a) Hank should be fired. b) The players don’t care. c) Booing the players is okay.
#IndyForever. Pic credit: Indy XI
This rant is an attempt to address those 3 points:
1. We lost 3 games this week — 2 of them to a team far superior to us (or anyone else in this league). Yes, the Michigan Bucks loss is indefensible, but, it was one awful game.
2. Those of us who want Hankinson gone; you’re entitled to your opinion and anger. First of all, I disagree with the idea that Hank should be fired. Let me ask you this — who would replace him? There aren’t too many Marc dos Santos/Alessandro Nesta’s out there waiting for us to sign. Especially given our shoe string budget.
3. The players do care. They care as much as you do. I spoke to a couple of them last night, and they’re livid. If you’ve played a sport, you know what it’s like to be in mental quicksand. Indy won 75% of our aerial duels against Miami’s team. We narrowly edged (Source: Opta Stats) on duels won. We matched Miami on many other metrics such as tackles won/percentage tackles/long balls played. So, the idea that our players didn’t care/are playing long balls like the Sommer-era are just demonstrably false.
I listened while Aaron Gunyon and Kevin Johnston interviewed Colin Falvey after the game. I hope Aaron can share some of that audio, because there is no way you could listen to Colin speak and think he doesn’t care about this club and its fans.
4. STOP BOOING YOUR OWN PLAYERS IMMEDIATELY. The ONLY time you boo your own players is if they’ve done something morally/ethically wrong on the pitch. Ask yourself – what exactly will this accomplish anyway?
5. Vent. That’s totally fine. You’re entitled to be angry.
6. We’ve been through worse nights and worse weeks as Indy XI supporters. The sky is not falling in… yet.
7. Hank’s plan (almost) worked perfectly:
7a. Hank’s plan was to siphon the midfield space for Ritchie Ryan (best holding MF in the league) and Dylan Mares – by playing Brad and Lovel as 2 ball-winning midfielders in a 4-5-1. If you watch the game again, you’ll see that Ritchie and Mares had (probably) their least effective games of the season.
7b. Hank’s plan was to force Miami to go wide and send in crosses; which Kwame and Falvey were capable of dealing with. He did not want the likes of Poku to get 1 v 1 against any defenders, or to be able to turn and run at defenders. Except for one occasion in the 2nd half – that plan worked.
7c. Hank’s plan was to have Braun, Speas and Thompson make runs along Miami’s high defensive line, and find themselves played through by the likes of Torrado. From the press box, I counted a number of times when those 3 made excellent, well-timed runs, but the ball to them was either not played (most of the time) or weighted incorrectly (one time). Hank’s plan was right. Our execution was not.
Hi Bill! This passion drives our club. (By the way, while you shouldn’t boo players, it’s perfectly okay to boo Bill. Pic Credit: Indy XI
7d. After ~the 60th minute, Hank switched to a back 3. We created a couple of chances, and then got hit on the break for Poku’s goal. Hank’s decision to go 3 at the back was a good tactical switch which gave us a chance to equalize. By that point, Miami was playing on the counter, and had switched their shape to a narrow 4-5-1 (which is why Vuko had so much space for last 30).
8. So, why did we lose? We made two critical individual errors. For the first goal, our team switched off defensively. For the 2nd, one of our defenders did not play the offside line, allowing Poku to be clearly on-side when the ball was played through to him. Two errors, two goals, zero points. Against a team like Miami, two errors will offset any other defensive organization.
We also lost because this is a league which will be decided on game changers. Given the repeat match-ups, tactics will not decide games – the way it didn’t decide this game – game changers and individual ability will. When it comes to game changers, we have very few. And, with our shoestring budget, I don’t see that changing in the summer either.
We still miss Don Smart (aka bae). I saw him hanging out on the touchline. And, he’s just glorious. He’s just… bae.
Ultimately, everyone is entitled to their opinion. Your passion fuels this club. But, let’s take a deep breath, relax, stop booing and stop asking for Hank’s beautiful head of hair. Come on your boys in blue! #BeatEdmonton
You can follow Nipun and SocTakes at @NipunChopra7 and @SocTakes
