2. New signing — Ben Speas — I’m curious how Speas will be deployed this season. I felt he was at his best as a support striker for Minnesota United last season. His best game, of course, was scoring a brace against Edmonton in April. Speas ended the season with 4 goals & 4 assists in 27 games for Minnesota United; not a bad return for a player who played as an attacking mid/support striker all season.

So why am I concerned?

There’s an element of inconsistency there. During Minnesota United’s 6 game win-less streak in the fall, I felt Speas was full of energy/workrate, but was poor on the ball. His final ball was largely disappointing during that time, but to be fair, so was the entire team. And, no surprise, the only game Minnesota won from mid-September through end of October (Edmonton) was marked by a Speas assist.

So, he can galvanize an attack when he’s playing well.

There’s also the question of how Hank will deploy him; given Ubi enjoys the AM role (and frankly, shouldn’t play anywhere else) and Justin ‘Bieber’ Braun was crucial to Indy XI’s attack last season as a support striker. Perhaps a 4–2–3–1 would allow Braun-Ubi-Speas to play behind Zayed?

Overall, really excited to see Speas play, and I think he will be a success at Indy XI — I have faith that Coach Hank, that short-haired, beardless Gandalf will find a system to bring the best out of him. And, at 26, hopefully Speas is entering the phase of his career where we can expect consistent performances.