Another week closer to the start of the 2020 Indy Eleven Season, Players begin to report next weekend to begin the calendar. Today on Soccer Saturday, Indy Eleven Senior Director of Communications and Marketing John Koluder fills in for Greg Rakestraw. He is joined by Indy Eleven Coach Martin Rennie, New Signee and Midfielder Kyle Folds, USL Championship Associate Director of Communications Nicholas Murray and MLS Beat Writer for The Athletic Sam Steiskal.
Question to Indy Eleven Coach Martin Rennie: It is practically here. The guys report quite soon, can you go over what the calendar is looking like for you and the squad over the next week or so and then maybe a ballpark estimate of how many games you guys will be taking part in before you face off down in Tennessee against newly appointed GM Tim Howard’s crew?
“Yea as you said, its coming around fast.obviously when you go as deep into the playoffs as we did and the season ends a lot later and that is a great problem to have and one that we want to have in the future. And that means the start of the season comes around very quickly. And that is something that is upon us very soon. We will get started with training and next Friday I believe a majority of the players will get started with their testing and screening. Many of them are already here in town and already working out and getting ready. That is one of the nice things that can happen when you have continuity like we do this year. Then we will start getting into games which off the top of my head probably six games in the process of getting ready for the season. In the years past we would travel to Chicago, but I think this year we will stay locally and play at Grand Park. Obviously its a world class facility and we want to take advantage of that. We want to add in a few more college games to connect to that part of our community.”
Question to Midfielder Kyle Folds: You talk about winning a state and National Championship. St. Ignatius was actually crowned Team of the Decade by Max Sports. Talk about being a part of a program with that stature and the pressures with that. How did that make you a better player?
“Yea it was a great four years. The kids I’ve been playing with, I’ve played with my whole life which really adds to that brotherhood and develop a culture this year. We all wanted to play for each other. It wasn’t a bunch of individuals, it was all of us coming together as a group. Some of my best friends came from St. Ignatius soccer which helps us be able to develop and we all push each other and have respect for each other too. We are all very close which helps us get better individually and helped me get better through the season.”
Question to USL Championship Associate Director of Communications Nicholas Murray: Its been a relatively quiet offseason for the Indy Eleven with 17 of the 20 players returning for at least a second season, but their are some new acquisitions and I want to talk about those and how they fit in to the roster, starting with the wiley Canadian Veteran Carl Haworth.
“Well I think this is one of the most highly profile addition that Indy has made this offseason. I think its one of the best in terms of fits we have seen around the Championship. In terms of what Carl brings, I’ve known him and seen him play for a long time. He’s developed a flexibility to where he can naturally play as a forward. thats where I saw him play for KW United and Ottawa Fury back when they were part of USL League Two. But he has adapted his game and has become an incredibly good outside back. And so wherever Martin Rennie decides to play him, he’s going to have a pretty decent impact. I think what Carl brings in addition to that is set pieces. There is no player who has scored more goals from set pieces last year. So when you have the combination of Haworth’s right foot and Ayoze’s left foot. Indy is going to make Indy extremely dangerous.”
Question to The Athletic’s Sam Steiskal: I think the hot button topic these days is questions surrounding the CBA negotiations, what is the latest you are hearing and how close or far apart are the two sides entering the weekend.
“Yea there is not a ton of specifics out there. I do expect a deal to eventually get done probably not too long after the January 31 expiration of current CBA, if not before then. I don’t think they are far apart on a lot of the key issues. Obviously there are some sticking points on both points and the Players Union has been pretty upfront about wanting to get rid of the different buckets of money that the MLS has constructed over the years. Notably the allocation of money, raising the minimum salary, improve player movement, all of those things. But I do expect them to get a deal done if for no other reason the simple fact that a lot of the players can’t miss too many paychecks.”
Listed below for John’s conversations with Martin Rennie, Kyle Folds, Nicholas Murray and Sam Steiskal.
