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Indianapolis Star
a day ago
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
New style, new faces, emerging leaders: No. 11 Indiana men's soccer 'has a lot of confidence'
BLOOMINGTON — Todd Yeagley's Indiana men's soccer team begins its regular season in blue-blood fashion Thursday night, when the No. 11 Hoosiers host No. 9 Clemson. The reigning Big Ten champions — picked this week to win the league again — will debut healthy roster turnover against last season's ACC runner-up. Familiar faces like JT Harms, Tommy Mihalic, Patrick McDonald and Sam Sarver have moved on, with IU rethinking its approach according to personnel changes in several key areas. Still, between familiar faces, veteran transfers and a fresh crop of promising freshmen, Yeagley and his staff are confident they possess the tools for another long postseason stay this fall. As the Hoosiers prepare for their opener, we examine pressing questions at each level of Yeagley's team, back to front: Harms' 62 starts in 63 appearances gave Yeagley rock-solid consistency between the sticks for three seasons. Now, he's playing professionally, and the Hoosiers will rethink the position in his absence. 'Top to bottom,' Yeagley told IndyStar, 'this might be the most well put-together group of goalkeepers (Yeagley has had at IU).' The frontrunners touch both ends of the experience spectrum. Holden Brown, a graduate student, and Judewellin Michel, a freshman, will compete for the No. 1 shirt this fall. Brown, a Zionsville native, transferred from Virginia last year but missed the 2024 season to a knee injury. Michel comes to IU from the CF Montreal academy, lending him MLS-level developmental experience. Unlike Harms — who measured 6 foot 1, on the short side for a goalkeeper — Brown and Michel each fit the positional stereotype, measuring at 6-4 and 6-5, respectively. 'You can't ask JT to stretch to 6-5,' Yeagley said. 'There'll be a moment in training where I'm like, 'Whoa, I haven't seen that save.'' But neither player can replicate Harms' experience, and neither is probably quite so adept at playing with the ball at his feet (and therefore stepping further away from goal to influence build-up play when Indiana is in possession). Which means whether the starting job falls to the old hand or the freshman, Indiana will probably ask and expect something different from its goalkeeper than it has in recent years. Brown and Michel split time as IU's No. 1 relatively evenly across a pair of comfortable preseason wins against Western Michigan and Louisville. Yeagley said he can envision either in goal for Clemson on Thursday. 'The team just has a lot of confidence, as they did with JT,' Yeagley said. 'You just feel like, both those guys with their length, can make a play on a ball they shouldn't have to get but they can.' From last year: How Indiana men's soccer maintains its culture of success in modern college sports Here, Yeagley enjoys both experience and stability. In central defense, sophomore Josh Maher carries on the family tradition in Bloomington having started all 20 matches he appeared in across 2024. He'll have Virginia transfer Victor Akoum (12 starts in 16 matches last season) alongside him, and veteran back Alex Barger on the left. Penn transfer Ben Do can play down the right, while Breckin Minzey can play either central or wide. 'Breckin Minzey had a phenomenal spring,' Yeagley said. Yeagley even mentioned 6-3 forward Nolan Kinsella as a potential fullback/wing back, with his underlying emphasis on lineup flexibility. Players like Barger (5-9) and Do (5-8) play like more traditional wide defenders, while Kinsella, Minzey (5-11) and Akoum hand Yeagley and his staff greater size. In moments when the Hoosiers need more height to attack corners, or protect a late lead, they can flip their defense knowing multiple players can manage inside and outside roles, while IU knows it still has capable hands when more traditional skills and ideas are needed. 'I like our flexibility within the roster build,' Yeagley said. 'We have a lot of moves we can make.' Insider: New 'heart and soul' of Indiana football offense? 7 things we learned from training camp last week IU's persistent roster theme strikes hardest in midfield, where Patrick McDonald gave the Hoosiers one more year after being drafted but is now with Toronto FC II in MLS Next Pro. But he still has returners there, including sophomore Charlie Heuer, and veteran campaigner Jack Wagoner, who's started 45 games and appeared in 63 across three seasons. 'With Patty gone,' Yeagley said, 'Charlie has been really, really good in stepping into an important role.' Indiana also reached for transfers will specific characteristics there, like Jacopo Fedrizzi (Evansville) and Cristiano Bruletti (Michigan State). 'Cristiano Bruletti, he didn't come off the field for two seasons for Michigan State,' Yeagley said. Fedrizzi also adds threat from set pieces for the Hoosiers, reflecting their shifting approach in attack. 'The final pass and ideas are really high-end for him,' Yeagley said. Insider: The good, the bad and the future: What Darian DeVries learned about IU in Puerto Rico That will be crucial for a team rethinking its approach to creating chances this fall. Sam Sarver, one of the most-decorated forwards in program history, now plays for FC Dallas. Tommy Mihalic, who added 15 goals plus assists across the last two seasons, plies his trade for LAFC2. Coupled to other expected attrition, Yeagley acknowledged IU lost 'a lot of attacking firepower' this offseason. 'If you look at some of our guys that will appear in our front group, there will be times there might be one returner on the field at a time,' he said. Which is why Yeagley and his staff were happy to rethink the entire attack, rather than plugging and playing with less-proven pieces. Sophomore Michael Nesci and junior Collins Oduro, who elected to return to IU after being drafted by Orlando City this winter, give Yeagley proven experience. Butler transfer Palmer Ault (33 goals plus assists in three seasons) will factor heavily into Indiana's plans up top. Easton Bogard and Clay Murador are back. And promising freshman forward Colton Swan gives the Hoosiers a dynamic presence in the No. 9 shirt. He was a prolific goal scorer in the Colorado Rapids Academy and won golden boot honors in the Under-16 MLS Cup. It was in part because of Swan's ability to score goals from set pieces and headers that Indiana pursued Fedrizzi. 'Colton Swan, his heading ability was really elite for his age,' Yeagley said. 'We knew service was really important, so we wanted to add that to our arsenal.' All that turnover led Yeagley to schedule a difficult preseason, one his team came through with flying colors. The Hoosiers defeated preseason-ranked Western Michigan 5-0 across four 30-minute periods, then dispatched Louisville — a consistent NCAA tournament team — 3-0 in 110 minutes. Those games handed Yeagley a long look at his team's best and worst, ahead of a season in which the Hoosiers will need to gel quickly. And he knows there won't be hiding places Thursday night either, with IU challenging itself early and often to get the best out of another promising team. 'These are the games you not only have to win in the Big Ten, but Louisville and Western Michigan are teams that are in the tournament, and way different styles, which is also intentional,' Yeagley said. 'That tested us in some ways the scoreline didn't show. We have a much better idea of where some of these guys are.'
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Ignore ‘retirement league' jibes – Kevin De Bruyne would be great for MLS
Kevin De Bruyne can't run any more. Or not like he used to anyway. That seems to be the verdict of his Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, who obliquely cited an absence of 'physicality' in his explanation for leaving De Bruyne out of the lineup against Real Madrid in February. Advertisement One data point suggests that De Bruyne still covers ground as he did in his gut-busting prime, when he always seemed to be triggering City's high press. The 11.6 kilometers per 90 minutes he ran in the Champions League this season stack up favorably against the 11.5 km/90 he posted in the 2019/20 Premier League season when he won the first of two PFA Player of the Year awards in a row. His top speed, though, tells another story. In 2022, he recorded the highest sprint speed in the Champions League since it had begun tracking it in 2016 at 39.1 km/h. This season, De Bruyne's top speed in European competition was 32.25 km/h. What's more, he has been on the field for less than half of Manchester City's total Premier League playing time this season – last season, it was just 35.7%. He's missed 42 matches to hamstring injuries over those campaigns. Related: Kevin De Bruyne 'a bit surprised' not to be offered new Manchester City deal De Bruyne has not lost a step. He's misplaced several of them. Yet he's still capable of brilliance, as against Crystal Palace on 12 April, when he tallied a goal, an assist and three key passes. Advertisement De Bruyne himself may disagree with the reasons behind his exit, but his contract will nonetheless expire this summer when he turns 34, bookending a decade at City and one of the finest midfield careers in Premier League history. He is likely to come to Major League Soccer, where teams are already jostling for position to recruit him, evidently satisfied that he can still do MLS-level running. If someone works out how to pay De Bruyne a figure palatable to him after earning a reported $25.5m (about£19.2m) a year at City, the Belgian will not only bring his generational passing and reading of the game. He will also come equipped with a charming refusal, or possible inability, to ever be diplomatic about anything. Asked by the Guardian whether Belgium could win the 2022 World Cup ahead of the start of that tournament, De Bruyne was his unfiltered self: 'No chance, we're too old.' Even more memorable was the initially innocuous social media footage of De Bruyne tasting some food with then-teammate Fabian Delph, who froze when prompted to chime in? 'Say something, it's a video!' De Bruyne hollered at Delph in the viral post. Advertisement 'You idiot!' he added in the bit clipped from the video that was posted, a well-placed source inside Manchester City confirmed to the Guardian US – surely the most important scoop this august outlet will get all year. This allergy to tact should deliver yet more funny moments when it collides with the many quirks of MLS. But a stateside signing for De Bruyne would also reignite a tiresome 'retirement league' discourse – the perpetuation of the idea that the league is merely a place for over-the-hill stars looking for one last payday, and little more. This debate is not only very boring, but also a marker of an almost incurable immaturity as a soccer scene. It also is not based in reality. Fixating on the older arrivals to MLS ignores the league's consistent acquisitions of up-and-coming players from South- and Central America, who far outnumber the rare big name headed to one of the league's coastal hotspots. These are also conversations that other established and respected leagues – which is what MLS must be viewed as by now, in its 30th season – simply aren't having. The English Premier League spent the 1990s as a haven for the Italian Serie A's veterans. The fondly remembered Gianfranco Zola didn't arrive at Chelsea until he was 30. Gianluca Vialli had arrived a few months earlier at 32. Paolo Di Canio, Fabrizio Ravenelli, Pierluigi Casiraghi – all in their late 20s. Nobody fretted about what it all meant. Advertisement When Zlatan Ibrahimović and David Beckham went to the LA Galaxy, there was more Retirement League Discourse. Yet when Milan gladly took Zlatan back after his spell with the Galaxy – as they did with Beckham, twice! – Serie A didn't tumble into an existential crisis. If the league fell in the eyes of some in those years, those acquisitions were not the reason why. Zlatan got 34 more league goals in Italy, then retired. Today, some Serie A teams like Milan, which presently has six players signed directly from English clubs in its first-team squad, basically run a jobs program for not-quite-good-enough-for-the-Big-6 Premier Leaguers. Is this considered to be a problem? It is not. Signing older players with big names doesn't mean you're desperately chasing clout for your otherwise irrelevant league. Sometimes they are just opportunities to improve teams with shrewd signings at (often) below-market prices. In the best cases, they can raise the level of entire teams. In Miami, Lionel Messi and his merry band of longtime friends are all clearly much nearer the end of their careers than their peaks, yet last season they combined to amass the largest regular season points haul in MLS history – and while Messi and Sergio Busquets are well paid at a combined guaranteed rate of almost $30m, Jordi Alba and Luis Suárez are sensibly priced at a mere $1.5m apiece. Now that they no longer rely on the reputation of imported veterans to cast their credibility on MLS, its clubs have also grown savvier in avoiding the sorts of players intent on enjoying a leisurely lifestyle in favor of those whose competitiveness still rages. Of late, there have been a lot fewer club-hopping Lothar Matthäuses or lackadaisical Rafa Márquez type-veterans in MLS than those with the relentlessness of Robbie Keane or the ever-irritable Thierry Henry, pushed by a pressing urge to keep winning no matter who they played for. Advertisement Whoever lands De Bruyne, if anyone in MLS indeed does, will surely be improved by his presence, even if he isn't as fast as he once was. And it will doubtless be delightful to behold, as the Belgian has been his whole career. Let's propose, then, that there is no larger referendum in these kinds of signings any more, and that they can just stand alone as injections of joy.
The Guardian
24-04-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Ignore ‘retirement league' jibes – Kevin De Bruyne would be great for MLS
Kevin De Bruyne can't run any more. Or not like he used to anyway. That seems to be the verdict of his Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, who obliquely cited an absence of 'physicality' in his explanation for leaving De Bruyne out of the lineup against Real Madrid in February. One data point suggests that De Bruyne still covers ground as he did in his gut-busting prime, when he always seemed to be triggering City's high press. The 11.6 kilometers per 90 minutes he ran in the Champions League this season stack up favorably against the 11.5 km/90 he posted in the 2019/20 Premier League season when he won the first of two PFA Player of the Year awards in a row. His top speed, though, tells another story. In 2022, he recorded the highest sprint speed in the Champions League since it had begun tracking it in 2016 at 39.1 km/h. This season, De Bruyne's top speed in European competition was 32.25 km/h. What's more, he has been on the field for less than half of Manchester City's total Premier League playing time this season – last season, it was just 35.7%. He's missed 42 matches to hamstring injuries over those campaigns. De Bruyne has not lost a step. He's misplaced several of them. Yet he's still capable of brilliance, as against Crystal Palace on 12 April, when he tallied a goal, an assist and three key passes. De Bruyne himself may disagree with the reasons behind his exit, but his contract will nonetheless expire this summer when he turns 34, bookending a decade at City and one of the finest midfield careers in Premier League history. He is likely to come to Major League Soccer, where teams are already jostling for position to recruit him, evidently satisfied that he can still do MLS-level running. If someone works out how to pay De Bruyne a figure palatable to him after earning a reported $25.5m (about£19.2m) a year at City, the Belgian will not only bring his generational passing and reading of the game. He will also come equipped with a charming refusal, or possible inability, to ever be diplomatic about anything. Asked by the Guardian whether Belgium could win the 2022 World Cup ahead of the start of that tournament, De Bruyne was his unfiltered self: 'No chance, we're too old.' Even more memorable was the initially innocuous social media footage of De Bruyne tasting some food with then-teammate Fabian Delph, who froze when prompted to chime in? 'Say something, it's a video!' De Bruyne hollered at Delph in the viral post. 'You idiot!' he added in the bit clipped from the video that was posted, a well-placed source inside Manchester City confirmed to the Guardian US – surely the most important scoop this august outlet will get all year. This allergy to tact should deliver yet more funny moments when it collides with the many quirks of MLS. But a stateside signing for De Bruyne would also reignite a tiresome 'retirement league' discourse – the perpetuation of the idea that the league is merely a place for over-the-hill stars looking for one last payday, and little more. This debate is not only very boring, but also a marker of an almost incurable immaturity as a soccer scene. It also is not based in reality. Fixating on the older arrivals to MLS ignores the league's consistent acquisitions of up-and-coming players from South- and Central America, who far outnumber the rare big name headed to one of the league's coastal hotspots. These are also conversations that other established and respected leagues – which is what MLS must be viewed as by now, in its 30th season – simply aren't having. The English Premier League spent the 1990s as a haven for the Italian Serie A's veterans. The fondly remembered Gianfranco Zola didn't arrive at Chelsea until he was 30. Gianluca Vialli had arrived a few months earlier at 32. Paolo Di Canio, Fabrizio Ravenelli, Pierluigi Casiraghi – all in their late 20s. Nobody fretted about what it all meant. Sign up to Soccer with Jonathan Wilson Jonathan Wilson brings expert analysis on the biggest stories from European soccer after newsletter promotion When Zlatan Ibrahimović and David Beckham went to the LA Galaxy, there was more Retirement League Discourse. Yet when Milan gladly took Zlatan back after his spell with the Galaxy – as they did with Beckham, twice! – Serie A didn't tumble into an existential crisis. If the league fell in the eyes of some in those years, those acquisitions were not the reason why. Zlatan got 34 more league goals in Italy, then retired. Today, some Serie A teams like Milan, which presently has six players signed directly from English clubs in its first-team squad, basically run a jobs program for not-quite-good-enough-for-the-Big-6 Premier Leaguers. Is this considered to be a problem? It is not. Signing older players with big names doesn't mean you're desperately chasing clout for your otherwise irrelevant league. Sometimes they are just opportunities to improve teams with shrewd signings at (often) below-market prices. In the best cases, they can raise the level of entire teams. In Miami, Lionel Messi and his merry band of longtime friends are all clearly much nearer the end of their careers than their peaks, yet last season they combined to amass the largest regular season points haul in MLS history – and while Messi and Sergio Busquets are well paid at a combined guaranteed rate of almost $30m, Jordi Alba and Luis Suárez are sensibly priced at a mere $1.5m apiece. Now that they no longer rely on the reputation of imported veterans to cast their credibility on MLS, its clubs have also grown savvier in avoiding the sorts of players intent on enjoying a leisurely lifestyle in favor of those whose competitiveness still rages. Of late, there have been a lot fewer club-hopping Lothar Matthäuses or lackadaisical Rafa Márquez type-veterans in MLS than those with the relentlessness of Robbie Keane or the ever-irritable Thierry Henry, pushed by a pressing urge to keep winning no matter who they played for. Whoever lands De Bruyne, if anyone in MLS indeed does, will surely be improved by his presence, even if he isn't as fast as he once was. And it will doubtless be delightful to behold, as the Belgian has been his whole career. Let's propose, then, that there is no larger referendum in these kinds of signings any more, and that they can just stand alone as injections of joy. Leander Schaerlaeckens is at work on a book about the United States men's national soccer team, out in 2026. He teaches at Marist University.
