Indy Eleven’s new coach brings fresh style to Boys in Blue
WESTFIELD, Ind. (WISH) — The Indy Eleven soccer team will kick off a new season March 9 with a new head coach at the helm.
Sean McAuley came to Indy after serving most recently as the interim head coach with the MLS’s Minnesota United FC, where he spent four seasons as an assistant coach.
McAuley’s bringing a more aggressive play style to the Boys in Blue. That’s fitting in well with the players on the roster.
“He’s great. He’s awesome. He’s a good manager,” midfielder Cam Lindley said. “He knows what he is doing tactically. Us as players, we just have to go out there and do what he wants us to do, and we will be successful.”
McAuley’s made it clear that the No. 1 goal is to bring Indy its first USL Championship title. In fact, that was his first message to the team when he got to town.
“I want to make sure that the players work really hard and give as much effort as the supporters would want if they got the chance to play. It’s really important. You know, we can never guarantee a result, but what we can guarantee is effort, hard work and commitment, for the club, for the jersey, for the shirt and the fans, and that’s what we will do.”
McAuley says that championship mindset starts with effort, and he’s happy with how his new players have handled the changes.
“The fact that they really bought into how we want to play. We want to play toward the opposition’s goal as much as possible and put the opposition in pressure and try to score a lot of goals,” McAuley said. “We have been fortunate to be able to do that but there will be times when those shots don’t go in and making sure that through adversity we react positively to it. It’s been really positive so far.”
The Eleven have gone undefeated through three matches of preseason so far. The season will officially kick off March 9 in Oakland. The home opener will be March 23 against Sacramento.
The full conversation with McAuley, plus more preseason coverage of the Boys in Blue, will air in “All ACcess Indy-Indy Eleven” on from 6:30-7 p.m. Friday on WISH-TV.