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Orlando City

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

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3 years ago

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Orlando City grabbed a win in the team’s return to Major League Soccer play with an exciting 3-2 victory. The easiest road trip of all time was nearly a disaster after blowing an early two-goal lead, but Junior Urso played the hero and rescued all three points. Here’s how everyone fared in Orlando’s return to action:

Starters

GK, Brandon Austin, 5.5 — It was an ok first outing for Brandon Austin in place of Pedro Gallese. The young Englishman did concede twice, and nearly a third if it wasn’t for Kyle Smith, but also made two good saves. He wasn’t asked to do much in distribution, but completed nine of 12 passes. If there’s one big criticism for Austin it was the way he commanded his area. He wasn’t sharp off his line or in the air, giving Toronto chances. Maybe that’s a bit harsh, but he could’ve been a bigger presence in the box. Granted, he’s young and it’s his first game, so that could easily develop as he gets more comfortable.

D, Joao Moutinho, 7 — Joao was a good contributor against the Reds. He played slightly deeper a lot of the time, more of a left center back almost, but his presence was felt. His passing was important in possession — completed 71 of 84 (85%) — while still adding a forward thrust, adding three accurate long balls, two key passes, and an accurate cross. He also still got forward, finding a half chance in the box he couldn’t control and hit well wide. His defensive work was also impressive with three aerial wins, a tackle, an interception, and nine ball recoveries. The one real demerit on his game was his occasional sloppiness, as he was dispossessed twice. He did also pick up a yellow card on a tactical foul. 

D, Robin Jansson, 6 — Not bad, but not an overly influential performance from Jansson. Not too much distribution work from the Swede, with only 33 completed passes (impressive 97% though), including just one completed long ball. Defensively, he made seven clearances, an interception, and two ball recoveries. He was beaten in the air for Toronto’s first goal, and while Ayo Akinola is an incredible athlete, you expect more from your center back that close to goal

D, Antonio Carlos, 6.5 — Another good all-around performance from Antonio Carlos. His distribution was great, completing all 40 of his passes, including six long balls. Defensively, he was his usual self, with 10 clearances, three aerial wins, and four ball recoveries. He also had a blocked shot off a set piece. He was a little slow to close out space, giving the likes of Alejandro Pozuelo and Richie Layrea too much space, and was arguably culpable on Toronto’s second goal after overrunning the play. 

D, Kyle Smith, 7.5 — This man just gets the job done. Smith was great for the Lions once again, making countless good defensive plays and providing some danger from the right flank. While he did struggle at times to handle the dribbling of Richie Layrea and company, he did make a tackle, two interceptions, nine ball recoveries, and four clearances, including a fantastic goal-line clearance in the second half. Offensively, he completed 40 of 46 passes (87%), but was a solid creative presence in combination with Silvester van der Water and Urso on the right flank. He had two successful dribbles, a key pass, an off-target shot, and an accurate cross. Smith will never be as dangerous as Ruan in attack, but his all-around excellence and grit might make him a first-team regular even after the Brazillain returns. 

MF, Junior Urso, 8 — It was a big box-to-box performance from the Bear against Toronto. Effective in possession and keying the transition, he completed 43 of 47 passes (91%) and got off two shots, including a well-taken goal to win the game late on. He won the ball back in midfield and played a quick one-two with Chris Mueller before making a clean finish. He was also effective defensively, particularly winning the ball back in midfield, with a tackle, interception, and five ball recoveries. Both he and Perea were occasionally caught upfield, giving Toronto space to attack, but their presence pushing forward and on the press gave Orlando a real threat. Urso also picked up his first yellow card of the season.

MF, Andres Perea, 7.5 — An understated but impressive performance from Perea standing in for Sebas Mendez. He was excellent in possession, completing 59 of 63 (94%) of his passes, including three of four long balls. Like Urso, Perea’s defensive presence was impressive, with two tackles, an interception, and seven ball recoveries. He wasn’t as offensively involved as his Brazilian teammate, but he was an effective player who opened things up for the creative players ahead of him, including an excellent line-splitting ball to Mauricio Pereyra that eventually resulted in the opening goal.

MF, Silvester van der Water, 7.5 — Originally this was a little higher, the Dutchman is such a bright spot on this team it’s hard not to highly rate him, but I have to keep myself honest. His intelligence and work rate created the second goal, perfectly pressing Toronto’s Quentin Westberg to force a mistake and create an excellent opportunity in the box. He got a secondary assist for Nani’s goal as a result. He was a goal threat, cutting in from the right, with one shot hitting Westberg and he had goal disallowed for offside just before the half. Unfortunately for Orlando, he really faded down the stretch before being subbed off in the 70th minute for Mueller. In total, he completed 28 of 31 passes (90%), had a key pass, a successful dribble, and six ball recoveries. Even if he faded, the technical quality and dynamism he’s shown the last three games have made him a must-start player and a real threat for Orlando City moving forward.

MF, Mauricio Pereyra, 8 — This is the Mauricio Pereyra we saw last year. The Uruguayan picked up an assist on the opening goal, picking a perfect through ball to the feet of Tesho Akindele. He also played van der Water in behind on multiple occasions with slick passes. Pereyra completed 44 of 53 passes (83%) including four of six on long balls with two key passes as well. If there’s one real demerit to Pereyra’s game it’s his lack of a goal threat. There were opportunities for him to potentially find a shot, but he’s always looking to create. That’s mostly great, and he was good again tonight, I just wish he were more direct at times. Defensively he was involved with six ball recoveries and a clearance.

F, Nani, 8 — Awesome stuff from Nani in his return to action. He got off the mark early, grabbing his fourth goal in his last five appearances in the eighth minute on a good headed finish. He was active, with three shots — including a sublime free-kick just off the mark — and also two key passes. His crossing was dangerous, if slightly underwhelming with only one accurate cross on eight attempts, and he completed 27 of his 35 passes (77%). He got back and contributed defensively as well with a successful tackle and three ball recoveries, while also being a force in the air with three aerial wins. Another great performance from Nani as he continues his scorcher of a start to the season.

F, Tesho Akindele, 8.5 (MoTM) — Tesho has been playing great this season. The Canadian got back on the scoresheet in the first minute of the game and added an assist soon after. While he didn’t have a shot after the goal, his all-around work continues to impress, making selfless runs, pressing hard, and holding the ball up well. He completed 16 of 19 passes (84%), had a key pass, won an aerial duel, made a ball recovery, and made a clearance. He might not be as consistently goal dangerous as Daryl Dike or maybe even Alexandre Pato, but the all-around work Tesho puts in is incredibly valuable. 

Substitutes

F, Daryl Dike (64’), 7 — He’s back! It was a good 30-minute shift for the rapidly ascending American. He gave Omar Gonzalez fits, drawing a foul and a yellow card on the top of the box and nearly having another breakaway chance before Chris Mavinga snuffed it out in the box. Not much in the way of stats for Dike though — no shots, only two passes attempted (one completed), and he won an aerial duel. If he gets to go from the jump he will be a nightmare for the opposition. 

MF, Chris Mueller (71’), 6.5 — Another mixed bag of a game for Mueller. I will say he was generally pretty good and he did have the assist on the winner — his third of the year. He also had a shot from a dangerous opportunity, though it drifted wide. The execution wasn’t quite there, as on a misplaced pass to a wide-open Dike in the box, but to see Mueller being more direct and aggressive is a promising sign. It wasn’t the most efficient of outings. He only completed four of his seven passes and had some rough touches at times. To his credit, he made up for it with his effort, particularly defensively, where he made two clearances and two ball recoveries.

F, Benji Michel (80’), 6.5 — There’s not much to say about Michel’s game. Brought in to add that extra punch and go for the winner in the last 10 minutes, Michel brought energy to the final third. While he wasn’t really involved in the goal, his pace and willingness to take people on is always welcome late in the game. He did get a shot off, completed two of three passes, won an aerial duel, and made a ball recovery in his 10-minute run out.

That’s how I saw everyone’s performance, but what did you see? Let us know down below and make sure to vote for your Man of the Match.

Polling Closed

PlayerVotes
Tesho Akindele12
Nani7
Mauricio Pereyra6
Kyle Smith30
Junior Urso24
Other (Comment Below)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

18 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

20 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

23 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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