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Orlando City vs. Sporting Kansas City: Player Grades and Man of the Match

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8 years ago

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Orlando City threw a homecoming party, and it was fun, but it wasn’t quite as fun as it could have been (or maybe should have been). The Lions drew Western Conference foe Sporting Kansas City, 2-2, at Orlando City Stadium on a night that could have seen the hosts take more, or fewer, points.

In the end, maybe a draw was fair.

Jason Kreis’ team certainly wanted to wash away the memories of a two-game road swing without taking a point. But instead of taking all three — which has been the norm at the club’s new stadium — the Lions got only one before they head to San Jose for a midweek meeting with the Earthquakes.

Here are my individual ratings for Orlando City’s participants in the match.

Starters

GK, Joe Bendik, 7 — There wasn’t much Joe could do about either of the goals, which simply pinged to the wrong person at the wrong moment. He finished the match with six saves. He found himself in a tangle of bodies on both and couldn’t do much other than get a touch. In the 32nd, he made a diving punch on an effort from Fernandes. made another big save in the 51st and punched a Feilhaber effort over the crossbar three minutes later. In the 90th, he stopped another Gerso effort.  

D, Donny Toia, 5.5 — Although he mostly played well, Toia can be partly culpable on both goals, as they originated on his side of the field. But his man appeared to come back from an offside position on the first and he was a bit unlucky to stumble on the second while tracking Gerso Fernandes. He finished with three tackles, two interceptions and three clearances, and passed at a 73.3% rate, but he didn’t have a single cross in a more defensive posture than we’ve seen in recent games.  

D, Jonathan Spector, 7 — His highlights started early when he made a saving tackle to break up an attack in the third minute. He conceded a free kick in a dangerous area in the eighth minute that led to the first SKC goal but it wasn’t a great call as he went shoulder to shoulder and we saw the first of many instances of a Sporting player going down easily. Prevented Feilhaber from getting onto a Fernandes cross on the goal but the ricochet fell perfectly for Latif Blessing. He recovered defensively after a Cristian Higuita turnover in the 36th to put out the fire. Spector led the team with six clearances, and tallied one tackle, a blocked shot, and two interceptions. His passing was good (86.7%) and seven of his 10 long balls were accurate.

D, Jose Aja, 6.5 — It was an eventful night for Aja, who was booked just 11 minutes in although it merely looked like he got tangled up with his man. If Ricardo Salazar was sending a message that he would put up with no nonsense on this night, well…he put up with a lot of nonsense after showing Jose yellow. He struggled to get back to help deny the first goal (more on this below). He lost his man on the second goal but thought he’d made up for it by scoring on a beautiful header two minutes later, but the play was whistled dead and a goal kick awarded. He passed well (95% with 5/6 accurate long balls), and finished with two interceptions, a clearance, and a blocked shot and was pretty good in the air.  

D, Scott Sutter, 6.5 — He couldn’t have made a more accurate cross than the one he served in to Kaká in the 26th minute. He had zero other options in the box but picked out the captain, who had three men on him, from way out on the right wing. It was a deserved assist. He got caught watching a bit on the first goal but got fooled by the deflection momentarily. He rightly tried to point out that just before the goal, this happened without a call:

Sutter had one interception and three clearances defensively, and passed at an 85.7% clip. Unlike his assist to Kaká, the accuracy on his long balls was off, only hitting one of five.

MF, Antonio Nocerino, 6.5 — It was a fairly quiet night for the Italian, which is what you want from your defensive midfielder. His passing rate was good (90.3%), He was dispossessed in his own end once but overall played a much safer game than he did last Saturday. He stepped in front of a shot in the 64th minute to block it and he finished with three tackles and a clearance. He even made a nice run into the box early but Cristian Higuita didn’t see him. 

MF, Will Johnson, 7 — Will’s service was good but came with an asterisk on this night. His 29th-minute corner found Spector at the back post but the whistle blew for an infraction. His late cross was perfectly placed for Aja but curled out before cutting back in for Jose…apparently. His shot in the 60th minute didn’t miss by much and would have been a great goal. His 93.2% passing rate was top notch for his team-high 44 passes, and he completed two key passes on the night, with 6/7 accurate long balls. He made one tackle, two interceptions and three clearances on defense, was not dispossessed and had no bad touches. A solid night for Will.

MF, Cristian Higuita, 5.5 — The Colombian did a good job of recovering the ball, but he also had moments of sloppiness that were costly. He coughed up the ball in his own half in the 36th minute but Spector bailed him out. Four minutes later he was booked for a chop to the ankles. He made a fantastic — and utterly unexpected — run in the 48th minute and forced Graham Zusi to pull him back and take a yellow card, or he’d have been in on goal. He teamed up with Sutter to foil Jimmy Medranda’s attack in the 63rd. Higuita was dispossessed three times and had two bad touches, and recorded an uncharacteristically low one tackle. He added two clearances and completed 83.3% of his passes.

MF, Kaká, 7.5 (MotM) — The secondary goal scorer everyone was looking for during the first month of the season has arrived. The Brazilian calmly chested down Sutter’s cross in traffic in the 26th minute, took a dribble toward center, and stroked home a beautiful back-post goal to put the Lions ahead. His free kick in the 50th from just above the box didn’t sail high by much and his nifty moves earned a corner a minute later. His silky move in the 79th minute forced Ilie Sanchez to grab him and take a yellow card. He hustled back after taking a free kick in the 89th minute to break up a counter attack with a nice defensive play in space. His 81.3% passing rate was OK but not stellar, but he was two for two with long ball accuracy. He contributed a tackle and an interception, with one key pass.  

F, Carlos Rivas, 7 — Carlitos made an early impact with a tremendous defensive play off a short SKC corner to force a goal kick. Nearly got onto a long ball in the fifth minute but Tim Melia just got there first. His scrumptious cross in the 16th minute gave Cyle Larin little to do but stick out a toe to score. In the 28th minute, Rivas stole the ball right off the foot of Ike Opara, one of the best center backs in MLS, but his cross for Larin was deflected away. As usual, the stat sheet doesn’t show how much he influenced the game. He took a lot of attention of Opara on the night and was always a threat on the counter. He was dispossessed three times and had three bad touches, and completed only half his six (!) passes. He sent his lone shot high over the bar. His main contribution was the space he created for Larin and Kaká and the attack seemed to go nowhere after he was lifted for Giles Barnes, which kind of gives him a case for Man of the Match. Two of his three crosses were accurate.

F, Cyle Larin, 6.5 — The Canadian returned to the score sheet in the 16th minute, doing what he couldn’t do in Toronto by finishing a nifty cross from Rivas. Stole the ball with some good defensive work in the 21st minute and got into the box before being dispossessed by Roger Espinoza, who may have gone through his back before getting a foot to the ball. He nearly got a second goal in the 71st but couldn’t get his shot over Melia, and the two collided, which ended up requiring treatment for Larin. Both his shots were on target, he contributed a clearance, and completed 75% of his passes. He showed a good work rate but couldn’t consistently worry SKC’s back line. 

Substitutions

F, Giles Barnes (64’), 4.5 — After relieving a beat-up Rivas, Barnes came on but didn’t have much chance to get involved in the match. His 83.3% passing rate seems pretty good but he only attempted six passes. He didn’t attempt any shots or create any chances, and recorded no defensive statistics at all. Quiet night for the Jamaican, who just couldn’t leave his mark on the game. 

F, Luis Gil (65’), 6 — It was a steady performance in relief for Gil, who came on for Higuita, who was on a yellow. His passing rate wasn’t stellar (55.6%) but it was a small sample size. He finished with a tackle and a couple of crosses on the night. He sent a ball that put Larin in on goal for a scoring chance in the 71st and he fired on target off a corner in the 95th. 

That’s how I saw it. What did you think? Vote for your Orlando City MotM below and let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Polling Closed

PlayerVotes
Jonathan Spector23
Joe Bendik10
Will Johnson0
Kaká84
Cyle Larin2
Carlos Rivas21
Other (tell us who in the comments)1

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Orlando City

How Orlando City’s Offense Stacks Up Against What Atlanta Does Defensively

How Orlando City has performed against teams playing with three or four defenders, and how that may influence the playoff game against Atlanta United.

Published

17 hours ago

on

November 21, 2024

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

The most famous quote about real estate is that “there are three things that matter in property: location, location, location.” Soccer coaches also like to think in threes, especially when it comes to points, but for a soccer coach, the three things that matter might be the rhyming triplet “formation, formation, formation,” as that is where they will have the biggest influence on every game that their team plays.

Throughout his tenure as head coach, Óscar Pareja has preferred to use a 4-2-3-1 as his formation (fbref.com’s lineup data shows that the Lions primarily played a 4-2-3-1 in 65% of their MLS matches this season, and 79% of their MLS matches during the last three seasons). The Lions have lined up in a 4-2-3-1 during each of their last 14 games, and my confidence level is strong to quite strong (can you believe Meet the Parents came out 24 years ago?) that they will do so once again on Sunday when they host Atlanta United.

Atlanta United also prefers to deploy a 4-2-3-1, but was less consistent than Orlando City this season during MLS play, as evidenced by the chart below that shows how Atlanta lined up this season:

The purpose of this image is a table to show how Atlanta United lined up in 2024 (mostly in a 4-2-3-1 but also in one of six other formations).

I am relying on the coders at Opta for their evaluation of the formation, as I do not watch a lot of Atlanta United matches (sounds terrible), but though Atlanta primarily played with four defenders in more than two-thirds of its matches, during the last two matches it played a 3-5-2, the only two matches all season in which interim coach Rob Valentino rolled out that formation. I suspect that the formation change was related partially to playing Inter Miami and trying to defend the Herons’ dynamic offense and partially due to an injury suffered by defender Brooks Lennon in the first game of that series. So, while Atlanta primarily played four in the back for most of the season, there is a good chance it will roll with what worked against Florida’s second-best MLS team when it plays Florida’s best MLS team this weekend.

Now, if you want to read more about Atlanta, then you can read our match preview, which will drop Sunday morning, but I want to look at how Orlando did against teams that play similar styles. Looking only at MLS games, the table below shows how Orlando City performed against different back line structures this season (the left side is how the Lions’ opponents lined up, the right side is how Orlando City performed against opponents in those formations):

Table embedded as an image showing Orlando City doing best in goal differential in 12 games against three-man back lines, second best against four-man back lines, and having played once against a five-man back line (a 1-1 draw).

Orlando City earned slightly more points per game — the stat that matters most — against teams that played four in the back, but the Lions had a better average goal differential when teams played three in the back. Atlanta will likely deploy one of those two formations. In both games against Orlando City this season, Sunday’s visitors went with a 4-2-3-1, but as mentioned earlier, they used three in the back in each of their last two matches, so it really could be either.

Soccer is not like baseball, where players primarily stay in the same spot throughout the game, so some of these stats have to be taken with a grain of salt, as players are not always rigidly in the same position throughout a match. A team may also primarily play with four in the back but switch to three when chasing a game, or five when trying to protect against a late goal.

That said, using the data around Orlando City’s opponents’ general formations, here are the attacking groups who played the most frequently against four defenders during the 24 MLS games where Opta coded the opponents as using a defensive group of four:

Table embedded as an image showing the most frequently used lineups against teams who deploy four defenders. The most frequently used attacking group has a plus eight goal differential for the season.

It is a little ominous that the main starting group, shown in row one, has played 666 MLS minutes against back lines of four this season, but do I like that green goal differential of +8 in those minutes, which is a strong +1.08 per 90 minutes. I like that goal differential more than I like all the things that Cardi B, Bad Bunny, and J Balvin like on their song that is creatively named “I Like It.” Coincidentally, when people ask me what I think about that song, I say, “I like it.” I am very creative.

If we look at the lineups that Orlando City has used against back lines of three defenders then there are some pretty major differences in personnel groupings, but it must be noted that more than half of the games against teams playing three in the back came early in the season, when Ramiro Enrique was unavailable to play. Enrique, my presumed starter at striker, has played fewer than three games’ worth of minutes (265 total) against back lines of three this season, and only 28 minutes with the main starting group, which ranks 13th among all the attacking lineups for minutes played against three defenders. That group scored one goal in their 28 minutes together though, for a robust 3.21 goals-scored-per-90-minutes average.

While the team as a whole has been successful against three-man back lines, I do not expect any of the lineups shown in the table below to play more than a few minutes together this weekend, though the first row and the last row are strong groups and had a lot of success.

Table embedded as an image showing the most frequently used lineups against teams who deploy three defenders. The most frequently used attacking group has a plus three goal differential for the season.

I am sure that all week long the Orlando City coaching staff has been going back and forth on whether it is more likely that Atlanta reverts to its most commonly used four in the back, or if the Five Stripes try for three wins in a row with three in the back. I would prefer that Atlanta plays with zero defenders and goalkeeper Brad Guzan wears a blindfold, but I think that is unlikely to be the case.

Even though Atlanta defeated Orlando City both times while in a 4-2-3-1, based on available personnel and recent results, I believe that the team will come out in a 3-5-2 in Inter&Co Stadium in the conference semifinal. Good things come in threes, and Orlando City’s best offensive production this season has been against three defenders, so I am going to be hoping that this continues, and in the third game against Atlanta the Lions grab the three points. Three’s company!

Well, it is a playoff game, so there are no actual points at stake, but you know what I meant.

Vamos Orlando!

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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. Atlanta United: Three Keys to Victory

What do the Lions need to do to get a victory to advance to the Eastern Conference final?

Published

19 hours ago

on

November 21, 2024

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City continues its playoff journey against Atlanta United Sunday at Inter&Co Stadium. The Lions are coming off an emotional penalty shootout win over Charlotte FC in their best-of-three, first-round series. Likewise, Atlanta United stunned everyone by taking out Inter Miami to advance in its own best-of-three matchup. Now, the rivals meet in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

What does Orlando City need to do to get past Atlanta United to advance to the Easter Conference final?

Beat Guzan

Brad Guzan made 16 saves over Atlanta’s three matches against Inter Miami, including seven in the 3-2 win on the road in Game 3. The 40-year-old former USMNT keeper is in excellent form and is a big reason why the Five Stripes are facing Orlando City. Converting chances against Guzan will be crucial to earning a result. There have been times this season when the Lions have struggled to convert their chances. Despite that, the team has done enough offensively to get to this point. Facundo Torres, Martin Ojeda, Duncan McGuire, Ramiro Enrique, and others have contributed and will need to do so this weekend.

Cartagena is Essential

Orlando City lost twice to Atlanta United during the regular season. What is interesting, and perhaps relevant, is that Wilder Cartagena was out for both of those matches. Cartagena was shown a straight red in the match against Minnesota United prior to the first match against Atlanta way back in March. He was shown a yellow card in the match against FC Cincinnati and then served a yellow card accumulation suspension for the final match of the season against Atlanta. Fortunately for Orlando City, Cartagena will be available for the match this weekend. I’ve mentioned before the importance of Cartagena to Orlando City’s success. When he and Cesar Araujo are on the field together, the defense is simply better. Cartagena is frankly one of the better defensive midfielders in MLS. Atlanta scored five goals in the series against Miami, and Orlando will need to keep the visitors from having that kind of offensive success.

Overcome the Past

That darn international break in the middle of the playoffs is something I don’t love. More precisely, I don’t like it because Orlando City often struggles after a break. It would have been nice if Orlando City could have ridden the momentum from the penalty kick victory into the Atlanta match, but that’s not to be. Now is the time for Orlando City to break some bad habits, including turning around its historical lack of success against Atlanta, and tendency to struggle in the first match after a break. Oscar Pareja needs to have the players in the right frame of mind, and the players need to execute the plan. A full house of supporters can also make a difference. Given it’s a Sunday afternoon match, there’s no reason not to pack the house.

That is what I will be looking for Sunday afternoon. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 11/21/24

Marta’s chance to shine in NWSL Championship, NWSL and MLS award winners announced, 2025 SheBelieves Cup details, and more.

Published

22 hours ago

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November 21, 2024

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride

How’s it going, Mane Landers? I’ve been spending most of this week plotting out some holiday shopping to make things a little less stressful for myself over the next few weeks. A big weekend filled with Orlando soccer awaits us, so make sure to get any errands or obligations out of the way sooner rather than later. Let’s dive into today’s links!

Spotlight Falls On Marta in NWSL Championship

There are plenty of storylines heading into Saturday’s NWSL Championship between the Orlando Pride and Washington Spirit, including Marta’s opportunity to put an exclamation point on what has been an excellent season for the Pride. Orlando has been enjoying the fruits of its labor this season after a rebuild over the past few years that’s included plenty of change in the City Beautiful. Marta has been a constant, however, enduring some difficult seasons since joining the Pride and adapting her game She’s scored in both of the Pride’s playoff games so far and has a chance to author a storybook ending on Saturday.

Ann-Katrin Berger Named NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year

NJ/NY Gotham FC goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger was named 2024 NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year, beating out the Pride’s Anna Moorhouse and Utah Royals FC’s Mandy Haught for the honor. It was Berger’s first year in the NWSL and she’s the first European player to win the award. She only conceded 16 goals across her 22 matches for Gotham this season and was a key reason behind her team’s success. I’m not too surprised that Moorhouse did not win, considering how solid the Pride’s defense was as a whole, but this won’t take anything away from a record-breaking season for her.

Wilfried Nancy Named MLS Coach of the Year

Columbus Crew Head Coach Wilfried Nancy was voted 2024 MLS Coach of the Year after a historic season in which the Crew set club records in both points and goals. The Crew also won the Leagues Cup this summer and their 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup campaign included advancing past Tigres and Monterrey en route to the final. This is Nancy’s first time being named Coach of the Year and he has been a finalist for the award every year since 2021. The Frenchman received 40.02% of the vote, winning the award over Inter Miami’s Gerardo Martino and Colorado Rapids Head Coach Chris Armas.

2025 SheBelieves Cup Details Unveiled

The 10th annual SheBelieves Cup will take place next year and the tournament will return to its usual format where each of the four teams plays each other once. The United States Women’s National Team will host Japan, Colombia, and Australia in February in what should be an exciting tournament. The U.S. will take on Colombia on Feb. 20 in Houston before facing Australia in Arizona on Feb. 23 and finishing the tournament on Feb. 26 against Japan at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego. These games will also be the first domestic games of 2025 for the USWNT as it prepares to qualify for the 2027 World Cup in Brazil.

Eric Quill Named FC Dallas Head Coach

FC Dallas announced that Eric Quill will become the team’s next head coach. Quill joins Dallas after a great year with New Mexico United that included trips to the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals and USL Championship Western Conference semifinals. It’s also a reunion of sorts for Quill, as he previously coached North Texas SC and was named USL League One Coach of the Year with the club in 2019. Dallas missed out on the playoffs this season, with Peter Luccin coaching the team on an interim basis after the firing of Nico Estevez in June.

Free Kicks

  • District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser challenged Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer to a bet involving this weekend’s NWSL Championship, with embarrassing lightshows on the line.

That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday and rest of your week!

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