Against Minnesota and D.C. United, Orlando Can Still End May on a High

May has been a true nightmare to Orlando City SC. The Lions are yet to win a match in the month and have amassed only two points, with two ties and three losses over the five games played in the fifth month of the year. The team was not prolific on either side of the ball, scoring only four goals and conceding 12 so far.

Because of its amazing MLS season start, Orlando isn’t in a bad spot in the Eastern Conference despite the recent bad results, as the team ranks fourth in the conference, but the Lions definitely turned the yellow lights on among the players and the technical staff.

“After every single win we talked about the improvements we need to make and so after the loss we stay the same,” said Head Coach Jason Kreis after last weekend’s 3-0 home defeat to New York City FC. “We’re not going to go into a shell or believe we’re the worst team in the league or that we’re in some very, very bad spot. We still need to improve. We still need to work hard every week”.

One of the good things about soccer is that a couple of good results are usually enough to put things back on track for any club. And the MLS schedule has been kind to provide the Lions with two straight favorable match-ups in Minnesota United, on Saturday, and D.C. United, on Wednesday.

 “Five games without a win, it is starting to bother us,” Kaká said. “There are a lot of things that are happening. We traveled through this period, we had some games in a row, we had a lot of games during the week. So there’s a few things we have to understand, set up, and get ready for the rest of the season.”

Minnesota is no longer the awful team it was in the beginning of the season, when the Loons were considered by some the worst-ever MLS team. They have clearly progressed and are now ninth in the West, but they are still struggling as they have only won one of their last four matches and have been pretty inconsistent at home, with three wins and three losses. They also possess the worst defense in the entire league, with 30 goals conceded in 12 matches.

D.C. United has amassed the same 11 points Minnesota has so far, but the Black & Red are on the bottom of the Eastern Conference. The team is going through a hard time recently as it lost its last three matches, all at home, and failed to score a single goal in any of them.

Orlando has all the tools to erase its recent bad results with back-to-back wins in the next six days and regain its confidence. If the Lions manage to collect all six points in dispute against Minnesota and D.C., they would have 26 points in 14 games, reaching a point-per-game ratio (1.85) that would be good enough to be the third best in MLS right now. It’s up to you, Lions!