Indy Eleven vs Pittsburgh Riverhounds FC - 08.08

Summary

- Opponent: Pittsburgh Riverhounds FC
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: 4,999
- Final Score: 1-0 L

- Starting XI: Farr, Ouimette, Cochran, Hackshaw, Timmer, Ayoze (C), Buckmaster, Law, Wild, Smith, Arteaga

- Substitutions: Seagrist 70' (Ayoze); Moon 70' (Buckmaster); Hamilton 75' (Ouimette); Malic 88' (Smith)
- Unused: Edwards, Koffie, Vassell

- Scoring Summary:
PIT - Williamson 37'

- Bookings:
PIT - Griffin 25' (Yellow)
PIT - Peters 59' (Yellow); 62' (Yellow) - RED
PIT - Williamson 59' (Yellow)
IND - Ayoze 65' (Yellow)
IND - Seagrist 89' (Yellow)
PIT - Dixon 90' (Yellow)
PIT - Dikwa 90'+3' (Yellow)

- Referee: Chris Ruska
- Adage goals: None

Thoughts and Opinions

The starting lineup carousel continued tonight as Buckmaster got his first minutes since game three against Sporting Kansas City II and his first start since the opening night against Birmingham. Rennie also decided to keep as many defensive players in the game as possible by including a back three of Ouimette, Cochran, and Hackshaw, and placing Timmer in the holding midfielder role next to Law.

The good news is Indy didn't let Pittsburgh score in the first 5 minutes of the first half. Given that is the first time they have done that in 3 of the previous 4 halves, that's a positive. However, there aren't too many other positives to be taken from this game. This was not the kind of game that you expect from a team who is playing at home on six days rest.

A suspect foul was called just outside Indy's box that gave Pittsburgh a free kick in the 37th minute. As the ensuring kick pinballed off Ayoze and then Timmer, Farr was only able to watch in disbelief as his momentum, once again, was headed in the wrong direction and prevented him from being able to make a save. 

Wild put a shot off the post from a free kick about ten minutes before the Pittsburgh goal, which doesn't count as a shot. That was the only thing that resembled a shot on target all night from Indy. Indy finished with a single shot on goal, but 6 offside calls. Six offside calls is inexcusable. Four of them were by Wild. You have to figure out how the defense is playing their line and pay attention. I appreciate Wild's propensity to attack the defense with his dribble, but every offside call kills momentum and the number of the calls against him shows he either wasn't learning or wasn't paying attention. Neither is good.

Worse than that... 

Pittsburgh's Peters picked up a second yellow in the 62nd minute, which meant that Indy spent more than 30 minutes with a man advantage. It also meant that Indy spent more than 30 minutes looking like they were completely unsure on how to break down the Lilley Bunker (TM). Long balls were easily gobbled by Pittsburgh's back 5 or Leeker. There didn't seem to be anything creative to break down the Pittsburgh defense and everything was taking too long. Pittsburgh easily rotated their players to cover Indy's attack. 

Brad Hauter said it best - "Slow pass, multiple touches, everybody shifts back over." Indy did not, or could not, move the ball fast enough to break down the Pittsburgh defense. There was a hint that Rennie was blaming the field on that during the post-game press conference. To paraphrase, "we're not able to play in this stadium the way we want to play." We've seen this style of play from them in every stadium this year.

He also said some odd things about talking to Greg (Stremlaw) and (paraphrasing again) that he isn't the coach to be able to get it done here. I'm not sure what all that means, but it was a level of frustration and language that I've never heard from him in post-game press conferences. Guess we'll see how that plays out in the coming days or weeks.

Rennie keeps saying how many goals Arteaga and Hamilton scored in preseason, but we know the caliber of competition during preseason. There have been flashes, but Indy couldn't get these two guys on the board when Indy had a man advantage for more than 30 minutes of game action.

A three game losing streak is rough. This stretch of games was always going to be a challenge, but to get 1 point out of four games after "winning" against Louisville City makes a look a the schedule feel like an effort in futility. With the way this team is playing right now, where does the next win come? Maybe SKCII this coming Sunday and then it's Louisville, Birmingham, and ATL2, all of the teams that are above Indy in the standings.

I saw nothing tonight that makes me feel confident moving forward. 

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Nicky Law. Until somebody else takes it from him, Law is the GBGB winner. He is the class of this team.