Rhode Island FC announced this afternoon that they have acquired Jack Panayotou on loan from the New England Revolution. If this sounds familiar, that’s because Jack P was previously with the team for four matches in May and June of this year. For a sneak preview of what he looks like in the RIFC kit:

Who is Jack Panayotou?

Jack Panayotou is a 20 year old, left-footed midfielder signed to the New England Revolution. Jack has struggled to get consistent minutes in Foxborough bouncing between MLS NEXT Pro and mostly being an unused sub in the MLS.

Jack P’s arrival to Rhode Island FC in May, saw him instantly bring a spark to a team struggling to create chances. In his four matches, he had two assists and 10 chances created. He ranked in the 96th percentile or higher in assists, chances created, successful crosses and cross accuracy per 90 among USL Championship Midfielders (SMALL SAMPLE SIZE WARNING).

An immediate impact we saw from Jack P’s arrival last time was improvement in set pieces. Our expected goals from set pieces more than doubled during his four matches compared to the 8 matches to start the season (0.20 avg. XG/Match vs. 0.45 avg. XG/Match). As a team, we have improved in this area in his absence, seeing Frank Nodarse in particular head home 4 additional goals off of set pieces.

Beyond set pieces, we saw a slightly more dangerous RIFC team. With Jack P in the lineup (again, small sample size warning), the team generated 33% more big chances per match, 12% more XG per match, and 14% more goals per match. Not too shabby.

Another fun factor in all of this is that we never saw Jack P play with JJ Williams. With his ability to whip balls in from the half space and corners, Jack P may just be the key to unlock goals from JJ as we head into the final stretch of the season.

How does he fit in?

So how does he fit in? Again, this is a much easier section to write about a player we’ve seen in our shirt before. I expect Jack P to slot immediately into the attacking midfielder role as a roaming playmaker. While this is harsh on Noah Fuson who has been playing well since coming into this area of the pitch, we can utilize Noah’s versatility to add depth to our strike-force or, as a certain podcaster may have suggested (me), push Noah out to the wing where we’ve seen a ton of impact from him already. In fact, 8/10 of Noah’s goal contributions have started or were delivered from the wing.

Two other factors to consider when thinking about Fuson moving to that left wing back role:

1. Kwizera will miss a few matches as he was called up to the Rwanda National Team again. Huge congrats to Jojea there. This was something coach would have had to solve for anyways. While someone like Gabi Alves would be a fantastic fit there, having Noah in contention for this spot gives Coach Khano a real more attacking option in this area.
2. The loan signing of Morris Duggan pairs well with this shift. As I wrote when we signed Duggan, he’s someone who can really hold his own in that left center back role. With Duggan and a defensive midfielder like Holstad, Ybarra or Herivaux patrolling that left hand side, you can unleash Noah’s attacking quality off the wing while not burdening him with a ton of defensive responsibility.

Overall, this is a fantastic signing to solidify the team through the playoff push and (hopefully) beyond. Fingers crossed that Jack sticks around a bit longer than last time.