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Orlando City vs. Montreal Impact: Player Grades and Man of the Match

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5 years ago

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James O’Connor threw a curveball with his lineup as Orlando City’s official graphic on social media lined the Lions up with a back three like the previous two outings and included Chris Mueller at left wingback, but it actually played as a 4-3-3 with Mueller on the right of the front three. He was one of four changes as Kamal Miller, Alex De John, Kyle Smith and Tesho Akindele made way for Carlos Ascues, Ruan, Chris Mueller and Dom Dwyer.

It didn’t go well. Montreal ran out 3–1 winners with Ignacio Piatti scoring his ninth and 10th goals against Orlando in his final MLS season, the most goals scored by any single player against the Lions. The team looked shocked after a 90-second spell saw them concede two but unlike the season opener, they failed to mount a comeback. Head Coach James O’Connor commented on the subpar standards shown against Montreal, saying he “didn’t see the performance coming” and spoke at length about the defensive errors in particular. Needless to say,my grades agree.

It’s never easy to pick a Man of the Match in a game like this, so please note that The Mane Land Managing Editor Michael Citro selected the one for this post. You can vote on the poll at the bottom with your own pick and leave a comment telling us why. Kay Rawlins already made her pick, shouts to The Wall:

Starters

GK, Brian Rowe, 7 (MotM) —Yup, that’s a rating of seven for a goalkeeper in a 3–1 defeat. Another thankless shift for the MLS veteran, Rowe‘s goal was once again peppered with shots — 19 to be precise, with 11 on target. He did excellently to keep the score down, making several reflex saves and was confident coming off his line to collect crosses, through balls and closing down players to make saves one-on-one multiple times as the likes of Maxi Urruti and Piatti ran riot. If you want to blame him for the crazy 90 seconds in which his defense completely whiffed, actively put Montreal in scoring position, and asked far too much of him then we weren’t watching the same game. By the time the third goal came, Orlando was in all-out attack mode with only one central defender on the pitch, committing bodies forward and Rowe was once again left stranded. His distribution must improve, though.

LB, Danilo Acosta, 6 — Acosta doesn’t come out of this Montreal game with his stock particularly damaged, which may count as a compliment given the current climate. He had an OK day defensively, registering five successful defensive actions between blocking, tackling and intercepting, and tracked Saphir Taïder well all game, even on the first phase of the first goal and got a foot to the assist to buy his teammates enough time to close it down. Despite the change in shape, it was clear Acosta was still being asked to push high up the field and my biggest criticism of the 21-year-old so far has been his lack of production: his 80% passing accuracy dropped to 50% in the final third today and he has still only registered one successful cross in his nine attempts across all three games so far this season.

CB, Carlos Ascues, 5.5 — Making his first appearance of the season, the Peruvian had some rust to shake off and clearly didn’t do it in time for Montreal’s first goal — and that was after Montreal nearly scored off an even earlier mistake. He was the closest defender to Orji Okwonkwo, as the Nigerian, on loan from Serie A’s Bologna, dug out the cross from under his feet with minimal pressure from a slow-to-react Ascues to place the ball into the far corner of the goal. After that he was actually pretty assured and is undoubtedly Orlando’s best ball playing center back, registering the third-highest passing accuracy (81.6%) on the sixth-most passes (38) and leading the team in successful long passes (5).

CB, Shane O’Neill, 3.5 — O’Neill came out after last week’s match, taking the blame for the Chicago Fire’s late equalizer, and the error was perhaps still playing on his conscience as some slack marking between him and Ascues for the first goal was quickly followed from kickoff by a horrific attempted back pass to Rowe that never made it and instead gifted a second to Montreal. From there, the Impact never looked like letting their early lead slip. His yellow card was reckless, a sign of his own frustrations, and it was telling that De John was no longer on the field as a sweeper in a back three to clean up the same mistakes he made last week. His days as a starter (O’Neill has started 16 of the 17 games he has been available for since joining in July) look numbered, especially with only two spots available in a back four, with De John looking on from the bench, Lamine Sané yet to return from injury, and the imminent arrival of Swedish international Robin Jansson.

RB, Ruan, 7 — Ruan subbed in for Kyle Smith last week and was a vast improvement in Chicago with the performance earning the Brazilian his first MLS start this week. He put in a good defensive shift again, staying touch tight to Piatti for a large proportion of the game, which is no easy feat. A feature of O’Connor’s game plan is for his fullbacks to join the attack, something Ruan wasn’t shy in doing. It sometimes left him completely out of position for want of a better term because every time that happened, it was because of a sloppy turnover in midfield. Without those, he was in exactly the position he should be in. He was second in the team for touches, with most of Montreal’s problems coming from his play down the right wing, finding Dwyer with a cross and teasing a couple more good balls into the box that nobody chanced to get on the end of.

MF, Sebas Méndez, 6.5 — I praised Méndez last week as he continued to grow into his anchor role, screening a back three and the team ran a lot of the passing game through him. This week saw a lot of the back of the Ecuadorian rather than him facing upfield, as he was continually forced to chase play in the direction of his own goal from slack turnovers, covering for the absence of a third central defender that had been there in his first two starts. It is no surprise then that he comes out of the game with seven successful defensive actions: two tackles, three interceptions, one clearance, and one block. He also led the team with 74 passes, with a completion rate of 81.1%. But for all the numbers he put up, they were in deep areas of the pitch where he couldn’t affect much.

MF, Will Johnson, 6 — Johnson forced the issue early with some good pressing and could have easily won a free kick as he was fouled just outside the box in the opening minutes, but the referee instead stopped play for the head injury Johnson sustained on his way down. That knock would ultimately spell the end of the day for the Canadian, who had been one of the stronger performers in the opening two weeks and the best player in purple in the opening exchanges against Montreal, eventually departing with a suspected concussion inside 20 minutes.

MF, Sacha Kljestan, 6 — Here’s a quote from last week’s player grade for Kljestan: “I’m struggling to assess Kljestan’s performance in Chicago. It wasn’t good but it certainly wasn’t bad. It just happened.” It was much of the same, arguably veering towards bad, for the former back-to-back MLS assist leader. I bring up that title to remind you that there was once some creativity and accuracy to his passing. Today his pass completion dropped to 70.8% and, although he made a concerted effort to track back, it really isn’t his game. I’m not sure what his game is any more and I don’t know if O’Connor does either, but with Higuita a better central midfielder and Josué Colmán, Orlando’s record signing who is at this point having his development stunted so early in his career, a better prospect at CAM, I’d rather see the lineup freshened at this point. Since arriving, O’Connor has given Kljestan 1,442 minutes to Colmán’s 428.

F, Nani, 6.5 — Last week’s man of the match showed his quality early on while the game was still scoreless, cutting back inside the box and picking out Dwyer only to see the U.S. international shoot over the bar. Initially starting on the left side of a front three, he switched sides frequently with Mueller to try and pick apart an opening. Despite connecting on 81.4% of his passes, including two key passes to Dwyer — who should’ve done better — he once again failed to take a shot and had a relatively low impact in comparison to the first two showings, linking up well with the likes of Cristian Higuita in the final third, but nothing clear cut.

F, Dom Dwyer, 6 — It was a day of fluffed lines for Dwyer as he continually failed to capitalize on the chances that fell to him. The striker blasted an early chance over the bar on the turn after a pull-back from Nani, headed a golden chance from a Ruan cross into the ground straight in front of Evan Bush, and then blazed over the bar when he was in alone with only Bush to beat after a Montreal giveaway, a chance you’d typically see him calmly chip over the keeper. He eventually managed to net a late conciliation goal after Mueller curled a ball in behind the Montreal defensive line to Patiño, who in turn poked it to an on-rushing Dwyer for a tap-in. Only two of his six shots were on target and he struggled to make the usual nuisance of himself in the box that he normally does, only registering 26 touches, with Johnson, Patiño and Colmán only seeing fewer in their limited minutes. Although he didn’t take his chances, credit to the striker for at least putting himself into that position.

F, Chris Mueller, 7 — As ever, Mueller’s work rate was some of the highest in the squad. He registered 51 touches, good for the sixth-most on the team, had a 79.3% pass completion rate, and tried to pick up the mantel when he cut inside to unleash a fierce shot from distance only to find the top of the net. Orlando’s eventual breakthrough also came as a result of Mueller, as he curled a nice weighted pass into the path of Santiago Patiño. But for all the good, Mueller was easily dispossessed on a couple of occasions, including by Samuel Piette, which led directly to the first goal, and some of the passes he didn’t complete were simple mental errors indicative of the team’s performance as a whole.

Substitutes

MF, Cristian Higuita (21’), 7 — Higuita made his first appearance of the season early in the first half as a replacement for Johnson and grabbed the opportunity with both hands. Despite the reduced minutes, the midfielder ranked second for passes. He completed 49 at an impressive rate of 91.8% and also stepped in with seven defensive involvements: a team-high four tackles, two interceptions, and one clearance. Even though statistically a lot of his passes were sideways and backwards, he was finding players in space and helping switch play with pace, something which has been lacking so far. That was a wake-up call for O’Connor and I can’t see any justification for him to not start against New York Red Bulls next weekend. Johnson will be unavailable either through injury or due to international duty.

MF, Josué Colmán (74’), 6 — The introduction of Colmán was an issue of too little too late for me. When he came on he injected some pace into the team and he hassled and harried defenders in the closing stages like the rest of the team should have been doing from the start. He isn’t shy to crack a shot from distance, as shown by his sole effort in the cameo appearance he had today, and even though it was a few yards wide and Evan Bush never looked troubled, I can’t say I mind. It’s just good to see some direct, attacking play.

F, Santiago Patino (74’), 7 — Orlando’s No. 3 overall draft pick in 2019 sounded excited for game day on Twitter and his hopes became a reality late in the second half as he stepped onto the field for his professional debut. We didn’t get to see much from the Colombian-born forward for the most part, although he was strong enough to hold off the challenge of Piette and had the awareness to unselfishly prod the ball to Dwyer for a tap-in, registering his first MLS assist.

It was a bad day at the office all round for Orlando — a performance littered with individual errors by practically everyone, although it’s safe to say some had a bigger impact on the scoreline than others. Fingers crossed this is a blip and O’Connor’s side has now got it out of their system and can bounce back. After all, the entire off-season talk was about having the right attitude, the right mentality, and shaking off that losing feeling.

Well there you have it, the first loss of the season, winless in the opening three matches, and for anyone keeping score from last season, that’s one win in 18 games. Let’s see where we go from here.

Polling Closed

PlayerVotes
Brian Rowe43
Ruan12
Cristian Higuita24
Chris Mueller17
Other16

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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

15 hours ago

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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

17 hours ago

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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

21 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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