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2018 Orlando City Season in Review: Richie Laryea

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6 years ago

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After seeing the field in 12 games for 250 minutes in 2017, it seemed that Canadian midfielder Richie Laryea was on course for bigger and better things in 2018. Particularly after Orlando City pulled the plug on the Justin Meram project in the middle of the season, there seemed plenty of room for a creative attacking midfielder to get minutes in the team’s preferred 4-2-3-1 shape.

That didn’t materialize ultimately, with James O’Connor opting to play extra defensive midfielders in lieu of giving more minutes to Laryea. As a result, the No. 7 overall pick in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft played only three minutes more than last season — in three fewer appearances (though one additional start).

Let’s take a look at the Akron product’s season.

Statistical Breakdown

Laryea appeared in nine games, starting two, as opposed to his 12 appearances and one start in 2017. He played 253 minutes in 2018 — just three more minutes than the previous year. None of his four shot attempts were on target.

He committed three fouls while drawing 12 from his opponents, using his quick, sudden movements to his advantage. However, discipline is still an issue with the Canadian, as he picked up two yellow cards in his limited action, though he was not sent off. Laryea passed at an 81.3% rate, averaging 0.3 key passes per game. He averaged 1.2 tackles, 0.2 interceptions, and 0.1 clearances defensively.

He did not appear in any U.S. Open Cup matches in 2018.

Best Game

With so few appearances, it’s not too difficult to pick out a match where Laryea stood out. For this, we’re going all the way back to the Lions’ 2-1 home loss to Minnesota United on March 10 — the second game of the 2018 season. Laryea started and played 67 minutes in a performance that saw him win Orlando City Man of the Match honors from our former writer Ethan Smith, who praised the Canadian’s play, although our readers chose Yoshimar Yotún and picked Jonathan Spector second.

As the game approached halftime, Laryea fired a shot over the bar and had a header blocked by the defense, but then was able to get his team an opportunity to tie the match when he beat Ethan Finlay to a ball at the edge of the box and drew a penalty after video review determined the initial contact on the foul occurred inside the penalty area.

Yotún converted from the spot and tied the match at 1-1. The Loons eventually scored the winning goal 10 minutes after Laryea was subbed off. Laryea departed with an 87% passing accuracy, one official shot, a key pass, four fouls won, a tackle, an interception, and a clearance. It was a good night for the 23-year-old, but he was unable to build on that performance. He subbed on for 23 minutes in Orlando’s next match but then didn’t see the field for the following seven games.

2018 Final Grade

The Mane Land staff gave Laryea an incomplete grade for 2018, and frankly I’m not sure why we did grade him on just 250 minutes in 2017, when we gave him a 5. I must have had a senior moment in allowing Scott to award a grade for his 2017 season. With total playing time of just 253 minutes in 2018, it would be unfair to give a grade to Laryea for the season as he never had an opportunity to find any rhythm or gain any consistent time with his teammates in game situations. Perhaps our criteria was different last year but you can retroactively change last year to an incomplete in your mind to do Richie some justice. Fewer than three complete games worth of minutes in a 34-game season seems a bit light of a workload to judge a player on.

2019 Outlook

As I write this, I’m aware that player decisions for next year could come at any moment. All I can do is write in the moment and, as such, I’ll note that Orlando City has a decision to make on the young Canadian. There’s still much potential to be mined from Laryea, but 2018 did him no favors. Without a USL affiliate to get him minutes, he languished on the bench or out of the 18 altogether this season. He showed bright passages against Minnesota and in October against New England but other than that he was relegated mainly to late substitute appearances. On a team that was bereft of attacking midfielders, one would expect the Canadian to see the field more, but if you don’t earn the coaching staff’s trust, you’re not going to see the field and Laryea apparently didn’t do enough to give O’Connor or Jason Kreis sufficient confidence to play him when Meram was either struggling or had already departed.

For the reasons in the previous paragraph, I’m not sure Laryea’s future is in purple unless he’s willing to take a cut in his $164,000 guaranteed compensation. He might be able to revive his career elsewhere but his MLS prospects seem about 50/50 at this point. His slender build enables opponents to muscle him off the ball and sometimes he appears to go down too easily under contact, but he seems to have the requisite quickness to play at the MLS level if he can adjust his game to deal with the physicality. You don’t have to be the biggest or strongest to play the beautiful game, so it’s up to Laryea to take the next step in his development. If he can do that, he still may have a bright future in MLS, but whether that’s in Orlando or somewhere else, we’ll soon find out.

Previous Orlando City Season in Review Posts (Date Posted)

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Orlando City

Orlando City’s Fullback Dilemma

Examining a weak point in Orlando City’s defense as the playoff hunt continues.

Published

14 hours ago

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September 12, 2024

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City has compiled a 6-2-2 record over the last 10 matches, climbing into the playoff picture in the process. The club sits in seventh place with 37 points heading into the weekend, which puts the Lions four points above Toronto FC in eighth place. During those 10 matches, the Lions have scored 25 goals while allowing 14 goals for a +11 goal differential. That all seems pretty good, but it doesn’t mean everything is clicking.

One of the reasons for the 14 goals allowed in that period — and the 41 goals allowed all season — has been the quality of play at the fullback position. There aren’t really any new faces from last season’s record-winning club, so what is going on? Let’s take a look at the left and right back positions.

I’m going to start on the right side, because things aren’t nearly as dire over there. Dagur Dan Thorhallsson hasn’t been perfect, but most of the time he’s pretty good. He’s had the odd game where he didn’t seem to be clicking, but more often than not he’s been fine. Offensively, he has two goals and four assists on the season. There have been defensive lapses, but he is in some ways still developing as a left back. If he wasn’t doing well, we might have seen more of Michael Halliday by this point.

It’s the left side that is more concerning. Oscar Pareja has gone back and forth between Rafael Santos and Kyle Smith. Santos has played in 25 matches, starting 16 and logging 1,451 minutes. Meanwhile, Smith has played in 23 matches, starting nine, and logging 834 minutes. Neither of the two have been consistent enough for Pareja to name one as the go-to starter.

I think the dilemma stems from both players struggling on the defensive end of the pitch, which is the primary assignment for a left back. Both have been culpable on goals allowed by the defense. I think that Smith is exactly who we think he is. He has a pretty good game, is otherwise fine, but probably shouldn’t be a starter in MLS.

Santos, on the other hand, showed us what he is capable of after he locked down the position last season. I’m not certain what happened, but he hasn’t been as good this season, at least not consistently. It poses quite the conundrum for Pareja as neither has made a definitive case to be the starter. That is a potential problem for a club chasing a playoff spot.

This is where you might expect me to have an answer for the fullback dilemma, but alas I do not. I’ve previously suggested letting Luca Petrasso get a start to shake things up, but the truth is he’s probably not ready. That means that we will still see either Santos or Smith get the start. It will probably depend on which player looks better in training.

This isn’t a great situation as the end of the regular season approaches. Santos was able to step things up late last season, and frankly he needs to do so again.

Let me know your pick in the comments below.

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 9/12/24

Orlando Pride plan for the Kansas City Current, Americans return to their clubs, MLS coaches on the hot seat, and more.

Published

17 hours ago

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September 12, 2024

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

How’s it going, Mane Landers? It’s been another hectic week for me, but I’m a few pages into Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne and it’s helped me unwind a bit. I’m looking forward to plenty of soccer and hanging out with friends at a sangria festival this weekend. For now though, let’s dive into today’s links from around the soccer world!

Orlando Pride Prepare for Kansas City

The Orlando Pride remain unbeaten this season and face a tough test on Friday at home against the Kansas City Current. It’ll be another duel between the Pride’s formidable defense and the Current’s potent offense. The Pride have only allowed 12 goals all season and have secured a clean sheet in each of their three wins since the Olympic break. The Current may not be lighting up scoreboards as of late, but Temwa Chawinga continues to find the back of the net. Pride Head Coach Seb Hines spoke on what the team will need to do to limit Chawinga and the rest of Kansas City’s attack, as well as how the Pride are focused on building momentum to create more separation in the standings.

Americans Abroad This Weekend

With the international break over, Americans will return to their clubs after an underwhelming pair of friendlies against Canada and New Zealand. Haji Wright, Aidan Morris, and Brenden Aaronson are just a few of the Yanks expected to play in the EFL Championship on Saturday. Left back Antonee Robinson wasn’t called up for the recent friendlies so that he could rest, and he may play when Fulham hosts West Ham United on Saturday. In Serie A, AC Milan duo Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah will take on Gianluca Busio and Venezia. Unfortunately, we won’t be seeing Giovanni Reyna for a while, as he will be out for a few weeks according to Borussia Dortmund Head Coach Nuri Sahin.

Getting to Know Mauricio Pochettino

A new era has officially begun for the United States Men’s National Team, with Mauricio Pochettino becoming the 40th head coach in the program’s history. In his 15 years of managing at the club level, he’s had a penchant for turning teams around, doing so with Espanyol, Southampton, and Tottenham. The 52-year-old also has a track record for giving opportunities to young players and that bodes well for a USMNT that is fairly young compared to other teams on the global stage. Although it’s his first time coaching an international team, he does have experience playing for Argentina. Only time will tell how well his skillset translates to coaching the USMNT, but I have high hopes.

MLS Coaches On the Hot Seat

While the MLS playoff race heats up, coaches across the league may be starting to feel the pressure to finish strongly. Braden Chalker of Sports Illustrated named four coaches who are on the hot seat, including the Philadelphia Union’s Jim Curtin. The 45-year-old has been with the Union since the summer of 2014, but a fresh start could be coming for the club if it misses out on the postseason. A similar clean slate could be coming for Sporting Kansas City, which has been coached by Peter Vermes since 2009. His team would need a miraculous rally to close out the season just to make the playoffs this year. Austin FC’s Josh Wolff and the Chicago Fire’s Frank Klopas may also be looking for work once the season is over.

Free Kicks

  • There are going to be open tryouts at Sylvan Lake Park for Orlando youth players, so be sure to let the eligible youngsters in your life know. Best of luck!

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

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 9/11/24

Orlando Pride playoff ticket information, USMNT draws New Zealand on awful late goal on the day it formally announces Mauricio Pochettino, and more.

Published

2 days ago

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September 11, 2024

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Mark Thor

Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers. We have a full weekend of fun ahead with all three teams in action. The Orlando Pride start things off on Friday, with Orlando City playing Saturday, and Orlando City B finishing things up on Sunday. Hopefully, we can have a nine-point weekend.

Of course, today is a day of remembrance of those who lost their lives both on that tragic day in 2001 and from the effects that followed. Take a moment today to let those you love know that you love them. Let’s get to the links.

Pride Power into Playoffs

We know the Orlando Pride have already made the 2024 NWSL Playoffs, but now you can let the club know if you are interested in potential playoff tickets before things get crazy. It’s nice knowing that we don’t have to wait until decision day to find out if the Pride are in. They are. Decisively. In the least surprising news ever, the Pride topped both the ESPN NWSL Power Rankings, and the Goal.com NWSL Power Rankings once again.

Pochettino Hiring Official

The hiring that everyone knew was coming was made official Tuesday as Mauricio Pochettino was named as the new head coach of the USMNT. Pochettino is the type of big name hire that U.S. fans have been waiting for following the double stint of Gregg Berhalter. Pochettino will be expected to get the best out of what some consider the greatest generation of American soccer players when he leads them to the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

USMNT Draws New Zealand

The same night that Pochettino was announced as the new USMNT head coach, his new team played New Zealand to an uninspiring 1-1 draw. Christian Pulisic put the Yanks ahead in the 69th minute, but the U.S. was unable to see the match out, allowing an 89th-minute equalizer on a completely awful goal that was misplayed by both Caleb Wiley and Mark McKenzie, with the latter providing the finish with a clearance attempt off of New Zealand’s Ben Waine, over Matt Turner, and into his own net. The match was only a friendly, but it illustrates the need for the new coach.

The Growth of the NWSL

The NWSL is in a good place. The league is growing both in the number of member clubs and in the attendance at matches across the league. There are many reasons for it, including the Olympics and big name stars like Marta and the recently retired Alex Morgan, but most importantly, the growing fanbase for the women’s game. ESPN spoke to general managers at every club in the league to get an idea of the challenges in the ever-changing landscape that is the NWSL. All the answers were anonymous, but it’s still very insightful information.

Free Kicks

  • In the ongoing series from the Orlando Pride, it’s now time for you to get to know Carrie Lawrence.
  • Let’s keep the clean sheets coming, Anna Moorhouse.
  • Declan Rice was a bit petty in Arsenal’s match against Brighton last weekend, nudging the ball away from his opponent on a free kick. The action earned him a second yellow and a sending off. Now, the board that reviews referee decisions has stated it was the correct call.

That will do it for today. Check back as we get you ready for this weekend’s matches.

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