What Can Orlando City Expect From Guys Off the Bench?

Quality play off the bench is an important part of any successful team's season. Between injuries, lineup shifts for specific match ups, and players simply not having a good match, it can mean the difference between making the playoffs or not in MLS.

So how has Orlando City been so far this season with its substitutions? Of the total 8,624 minutes played by all players, 452 minutes were played by substitutes. That is only 5.24% of the total minutes. While that doesn't seem to be a small amount, the impact has been great.

Fortunately for Orlando City the impact has out paced that number. Of the shots taken, 12.62 have come from substitutes, and of those the shots on goal 13.16%, 20% have been successful. Goals from Adrian Winter, Kevin Molino, and Carlos Rivas, have been effective. The subs have take nearly 13% of the shots, and over 13% of the shots on goal. That 20% looks to be quite effective in that light. There have been three goals scored that count for 20% of all goals scored. One from Adrian Winter, one from Kevin Molino and one from Carlos Rivas.

Additionally, the subs haven't been fouling too much, since they are at 5.45% of fouls committed, though only accounting for 1.12% of fouls suffered. There is an outlier to these numbers, and his name is Carlos Rivas. Rivas has two yellow cards in only six appearances. While he has scored an important equalizer, he is still a bit on the impulsive side.

Carlos Rivas rounds out the rest of our substitution numbers, as he is the only one involved. Carlos took all five of the corners when he was in the game, he was the only substitute ruled offsides, and he has managed two yellow cards. Though to be fair, only one was from the bench.

So what does that say about Orlando City’s bench play? Well, they generally are playing above average according to the numbers. That bodes well for Orlando City going forward if they can continue to get the same productivity from the bench. Though as we’ve seen, lineups are fluid and who the subs are can change from game to game.

Let's hope Adrian Heath's subs can conjure some late-game magic again tomorrow!