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Orlando City vs Los Angeles FC: Player Grades and Man of the Match

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6 years ago

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The Lions’ first visit to new MLS franchise LAFC ended poorly, for the club and new head coach James O’Connor. I would love to wax poetic, but let’s jump right into how did the players perform individually?

Starters

GK, Joe Bendik, 5 — Not a whole lot Joe could do this match. He had a couple fantastic saves, and a couple big blunders, one of which was thankfully not a problem due to an offside call. This was certainly not his best performance, but the score line is most certainly not entirely his fault.

D, Donny Toia, 6 — For the majority of the first half, all play was up the left side of the pitch, and Toia certainly was a part of that. Unfortunately, that is about as far as I can go with the praise, with the exception of the fact that he did notch the assist on the Sacha Kljestan’s goal, and did register a shot.

D, Amro Tarek, 3.5 — Quite possibly his worst night. His poor clearance attempt led to the first goal and his awful touch led to him coughing up the ball that led to the fourth goal when Adama Diomande muscled him out of the play. Also seemed to be out of position through most of the match. He pushed forward often, and you could see he wanted to add to the team offense, but his missteps on defense overshadow everything this match.

D, Jonathan Spector, 5.5 — Never want to see an Orlando City center back succumb to an injury, but that is exactly what happened to Specs in the 25th minute. He was playing well up until that point, and his presence was certainly missed for the remainder of the match.

D, RJ Allen, 4.5 — Did not have many touches it seemed in the first half, as most of the Lions possession pushed up the left side, but saw more of the ball in the second. His 69% pass success is something certainly needs to be examined, considering the role he was asked to play this match. Struggled with Latif Blessing’s pace and shifty moves.

MF, Yoshimar Yotún, 5 — It is fantastic to have Yoshi back from Russia, but it almost looked as though he might be dealing with jet lag still. He only completed 76% of his passes, which is wildly off from his norm, and he seemed to be constantly one step behind the rest of the team. Hopefully the World Cup hangover is gone soon.

MF, Oriol Rosell, 5.5 — A good night for Uri, but not the best. For some strange reason, he seemed to be left alone too often during the match. The obvious absence of Yoshi has certainly affected the chemistry of the defensive midfield.

MF, Josué Colmán, 6.5 — Easily appeared to be the biggest attacking threat in the first half. Had a few moments of sheer brilliance, and I am honestly still wondering why this player has not seen more minutes as a starter.

MF, Sacha Kljestan, 7 (MOTM) — That goal meant so much, as did most of his play for the greater majority of the match. There were some obvious lapses in position, but Sacha certainly had the biggest impact on the match, outside of forces that the team could not control. Would have had the “hockey assist” on the Dom Dwyer goal that was waved off and provided Dom the team’s best scoring chance of the first half with a crafty through ball.

MF, Chris Mueller, 6 — I am still holding my ticket for the Cash Money Train, and his hustle was apparent again this match. Unfortunately, the vast majority of play was on the opposite side of the Orlando City formation in the first half. He worked well with the starting front four, but I think his best style of play was hindered by the play behind him.

F, Dom Dwyer, 6 — Dom was Dom again, keeping the back line of LAFC honest, and to be honest, they got the better of him a bit too often. The other problem was Tyler Miller of LAFC had a phenomenal match, and had a few epic saves against Dom. On the bright side of things, Dom’s hold-up play was much better, and I will not fault him for the majority of offside calls as there is only so long you can hold your run. He appeared to score the tying goal, only to see it overturned.

Substitutes

D, Chris Schuler, 6 (25’) — Chris came on early for Spector and did a very good job, although the score line may not agree. Schuler may not be the fastest center back on the squad, but his football IQ got him into good positions during the match to hold play up and certainly helped to minimize the damage.

MF, Justin Meram, 5 (46’) — Honestly, he appeared pretty even, if just slightly off, but I will argue that VAR was wrong on that call to negate the goal. Outside of that, Meram just seemed to be trying too hard. His 84% passing accuracy was a step in the right direction.

MF, Mohamed El-Munir, 6 (65) — El-Mo coming on for Mueller was a shock, but it seemed to work. His work rate was good, he pressured for the ball at all times, and was pushing the players around him on the right side of the pitch for the entire time he was out there.

It really is hard to grade this team at the moment, but I tried to give it my best shot. It is certainly obvious the squad is still in a bit of limbo, and is going to need a bit more time to iron a few things out. With that being said, who did you see as the man of the match, and how well did my grades line up with yours?

Polling Closed

PlayerVotes
Dom Dwyer9
Sacha Kljestan43
Donny Toia1
Chris Mueller9
Other15

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 10/11/24

Orlando Pride in Portland, U.S. men and women news, international upsets, and more.

Published

3 days ago

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October 11, 2024

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Mark Thor

Milton has finally made its way out of Florida, though many of us will be dealing with the aftermath for a while. We hope that you and yours are safe and that the damage is minimal. I know that many are still without power — which is why I’m writing Lion Links today instead of Marcus Mitchell. Fortunately, the Orlando Pride play in Portland tonight, although it will be a late one. Let’s get to the links.

Pride in Portland

The Orlando Pride may be the NWSL Shield winners, but with three matches left in the regular season, the job is not done. Now, the club will take on the Portland Thorns. The Thorns haven’t been great as of late, but Providence Park is a tough place to play. While the club is focused on the upcoming playoffs, the Pride still want to finish undefeated in the regular season. Portland, like many clubs, are fighting for a playoff spot.

USWNT Players in the News

Lindsey Horan didn’t have the best Olympics in my opinion, but she is doing very well in her start to Lyon’s season. She’s scored five goals in four matches to help Lyon top the table. Back home, Crystal Dunn is being honored by Empowerment on the East River hosted by Black Players for Change.

USMNT in Action

The USMNT plays its first match under Mauricio Pochettino Saturday night against Panama, and you can watch it on multiple platforms. There are no conflicts of interest this go-around, but next year, some players will need to choose between playing in the Club World Cup or the Gold Cup.

International Results

Orlando City, and all the other teams and leagues, aren’t playing right now due to an international break. The matches have already begun. Perhaps the biggest news was Greece’s stunning 2-1 win over England. The victory puts Greece atop Group B2 in the UEFA Nations League competition.

Over in Group A2, Italy blew a two-goal lead to draw Belgium 2-2. There were plenty of other results, including Erling Haaland becoming his country’s all-time top scorer after scoring a brace in Norway’s 3-0 win over Slovenia. If you want to catch more matches, here’s where you can watch.

Free Kicks

That will do it for today. Check back tonight for our Pride match recap, and follow The Mane Land on Twitter during the match. Vamos Orlando!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 10/10/24

Orlando City’s potential as a playoff dark horse, the Orlando Pride’s rise to prominence, the USMNT prepares for Panama, and more.

Published

4 days ago

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October 10, 2024

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Mark Thor

I hope you’re all staying safe out there as Hurricane Milton tears across the state of Florida. While we endure the storm and wait for the Orlando Pride to play in Portland on Friday night, let’s distract ourselves with some links from around the soccer world.

Orlando City’s Dark Horse Potential

On the latest episode of the Offside with Taylor Twellman podcast, he spoke on how Orlando City will be a dark horse in the tournament. The Lions have been on an incredible run of form over the past few months and can host in the first round of the playoffs if they manage to hold onto the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference. Nearly all of the team’s attackers are hitting their stride and a recent win over FC Cincinnati is evidence that the Lions aren’t to be overlooked in this year’s playoffs.

“[Orlando City is] the best team in MLS since July 1 and they are scoring goals for fun while winning 10 of those 13 games,” Twellman said. “They will fight, they will claw, basically they will do anything to get under your skin.

“Nobody, and I mean nobody, wants to play this version of Orlando City.”

How the Orlando Pride Made History

It still feels a bit surreal that the Orlando Pride lifted the NWSL Shield with three games left to play this season. Here’s a great feature by Henry Bushnell of Yahoo Sports that dives into some of the reasons behind the Pride’s dominance this season. Vice President of Soccer Operations and Sporting Director Haley Carter has helped build a culture of confidence, comfort, and resilience by investing in the players as humans and not just what they can do on the field.

Pro Soccer Wire‘s Jason Anderson detailed how the Pride were able to beat the Washington Spirit to deservedly lift the trophy and it’s also a great read. The Pride did well to adjust to the Spirit’s commitment to their formation and cranked up the tempo to create opportunities to win.

MLS 2024 22 Under 22 List Unveiled

Although Michael Halliday and Heine Gikling Bruseth were eligible, no Lions made this year’s MLS 22 Under 22. Inter Miami midfielder Diego Gomez tops the list, with Real Salt Lake’s Diego Luna and the Philadelphia Union’s Jack McGlynn rounding out the top three. The youngest player on the list is 15-year-old midfielder Cavan Sullivan, while the Chicago Fire’s Chris Brady is the only goalkeeper to make the cut. Of the 22 players listed, 16 play in the Eastern Conference. As for notable players who weren’t listed, CF Montreal’s Caden Clark has thrived since being traded by Minnesota United and Matai Akinmboni deserves some recognition for his role in D.C. United’s defense at 17 years old.

USMNT Prepares for Panama

The United States Men’s National Team will play its first match under Mauricio Pochettino on Saturday when it takes on Panama in a friendly in Austin. This will be a rematch of when the two nations squared off in Copa America on June 27, with the U.S. falling 2-1. The Yanks failed to make it out of the group stage of that tournament and Gregg Berhalter was fired as head coach in July. A statement win against a Panamanian side that’s currently 37th in the FIFA rankings would be a great start to Pochettino’s tenure as head coach.

Free Kicks

That’ll do it for me today, as my power has just gone out, so it’s the perfect time to wrap things up. Stay safe out there!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 10/9/24

Orlando City’s on fire, OCB to face the Fire (2), the USMNT’s upcoming friendly, and more.

Published

5 days ago

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October 9, 2024

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Image courtesy of Orlando City B / Mark Thor

Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers. I made the trip down to Inter&Co Stadium to see the Orlando Pride win the 2024 NWSL Shield over the weekend. I know it was raining — fortunately, I remembered my rain jacket — but if you weren’t there, you really missed an amazing night. You can read about it in our recap, but seeing the team raise that shield was unforgettable. Hopefully, it won’t be the only hardware the Pride raise this year. Let’s get to the links.

Red Hot Lions

Orlando City has won 10 of its last 13 matches to climb into position to potentially begin the playoffs with home-field advantage. The run of good form has the Lions sitting in fourth place in the Eastern Conference. The latest 3-1 victory over FC Cincinnati moved the team from eighth to sixth in the MLS Power Rankings, and up to fifth in the Goal.com Power Rankings. Orlando City’s last match of the season will be at home against Atlanta United on October 19.

Pride’s Success No Accident

Marta had a great match Sunday and more than earned her moment in the sun when she lifted the NWSL Shield. Of course, none of that happens if the people working behind the scenes aren’t doing everything possible to help the Pride in this incredible turnaround. The players will likely tell you that the club’s success is in part thanks to the organization that has been built.

Of course, not every women’s club gets the amount of support that the Orlando Pride receive. Many clubs do not have the infrastructure from staff to facilities to truly grow the women’s game. It’s an issue for many clubs in various leagues across the world. Coaches end up having to pick up the slack, and that isn’t sustainable. While I’m grateful that the Wilf family and Haley Carter are providing the necessary tools for the Pride to succeed, I would like to see other organizations step up as well.

OCB to Face Chicago Fire II in Playoffs

Orlando City B will square off against Chicago Fire II away from home to start the playoffs. OCB finished the MLS NEXT Pro regular season in fifth place — which isn’t too bad when you look back a few weeks. Unfortunately for OCB, the top four clubs get to choose their first-round opponent in the playoffs (well, the top three do…the fourth-place club doesn’t really have a choice). It’s one of the weird things that MLS NEXT Pro does. No one above the fourth-place Chicago Fire II opted to play the Young Lions. The match between the Young Lions and Chicago Fire II will take place Sunday, Oct. 20, at 3 p.m.

USMNT Ready for Poche

The Mauricio Pochettino era for the USMNT kicks off Saturday with a friendly against Panama at Q2 Stadium in Austin, TX. Three days later, the new U.S. boss will face rival Mexico in Guadalajara. Big-name players like Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie are on the roster. One player who won’t be there is the injured Folarin Balogun. That might open a window of opportunity for Josh Sargent to make a splash with the new coach. Sargent’s more rounded style of play is something that forwards have demonstrated under Pochettino at the club level. A friendly is exactly the sort of place for Sargent to show his stuff.

Free Kicks

That will do it for today. Check back this week as we get you ready for the Pride’s upcoming match in Portland. Most importantly, stay safe as this hurricane makes its way towards Florida. Vamos Orlando!

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