Ok, so he’s not new, but it sure feels that way. Louisville City announced the Jamaican international’s return around lunchtime. Scott Stewart had intimated that “a new signing” would be on the way on Saturday’s Soccer City Radio show, and that other than a third goalkeeper, that would just about wrap up LouCity’s offseason business. Given that there are two or three trialists going down to Bradenton with the rest of the team in a few days, that sounds a bit grim.

In any event, Speedy’s return is an unqualified boon for Los Morados. The question, though, is how he’ll be used. A sharpied-in starter for most of his tenure at Louisville City starting in 2017, Williams’s minutes took a nosedive after John Hackworth became manager back in August 2018. In City’s last five matches, including the playoffs, Speedy only played 134 of a possible 450 minutes. I know I certainly noticed the absence of a guy that I not-so-secretly thought was the most talented player on the team, but given that City won all of those games running away, I had little room to complain.

Part of the decline in Speedy’s usage, of course, is attributable to Hackworth’s system change to a 4-3-3. Previously, Speedy and Paolo DelPiccolo played a double-pivot in a 4-2-3-1 or the 3-4-3. But when Hack found his groove toward the end of the season, the double-pivot was scrapped, and Paolo played more as a defensive stopper between the two centerbacks, with Niall McCabe and Ilija Ilic playing higher up. That left Speedy mostly on the bench, or not in the 18 at all.

I have no idea how Louisville City will play in 2019, but, given how many returning players there are, it’s easy to say that the 4-3-3 will return. Speedy can play any of the three midfield roles, in my book, but he’s got a lot of competition for a starting spot. If Paolo remains captain, it’ll be hard to knock him out of the Number Six spot. Speedy is fabulous in possession, and a pretty creative player going forward to boot, so the Eight and Ten positions seem a bit more likely.

It’s also possible, of course, that Hackworth does something very different. With the glut of centerbacks and central midfielders on the roster now, a 3-5-2 is a tantalizing proposition that Speedy could easily fit into.

No matter what, Williams’s return marks another very, very talented addition to what was already a very strong LouCity roster. Let’s all welcome Speedy back, and go out and dominate the rest of the offseason!