Our first ever offseason signing.

Our statement of intent.

Our showcase of talent mismanagement.

Just 381 days after the official announcement that Rhode Island FC signed Detroit City star Maxi Rodriguez, it has been announced that Maxi Rodriguez is heading back to Detroit City.

When his transfer was announced, this writer was over the moon. It is not often that you get the opportunity to integrate a First Team All League player into your conference championship winning side. As I laid out in that article, it was a dream signing as Maxi’s strengths aligned well to RIFC’s weaknesses.

While Maxi and RIFC started off slow, he seemed to be integrating well starting at the end of April netting three goals and two assists from April 27 – May 31. He averaged a 7.39 on FotMob and played 91% of the team’s available minutes across 8 matches.

Rumors are that Coach Khano and his staff couldn’t figure out how to make the best use of Maxi’s talent as the team’s tactics shifted. This tracks when you look at Rodriguez’s minutes per month of the season.

Just 24 minutes across three playoff matches where the team scored a total of two goals was head scratching.

This was a season where the on-field product never matched the level of talent. An indictment of Coach Khano. This is now a marquee signing departing after one season, weeks after most of the free agent market has been scooped up. An indictment of GM Khano.

While the run to another Eastern Conference finals was a great success, there’s plenty of question marks about this team both on and off the pitch. This chapter only opens up more. Can Coach Khano maximize the talent that he has available into a consistent, winning product (see also, Clay Holstad)? Can GM Khano build a roster that reflects his ideas and properly sets the team up for success? When managing one of the largest payrolls in the USL, 7th place and being one of the worst offenses in the USL needs to be a fluke season and not the norm.

But my biggest question: how does the Northern Guard welcome back Maxi? Free Charmin for all the first match at Keyworth.