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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. Atlanta United: Player Grades and Man of the Match

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3 years ago

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That sucked. Orlando City went up north to Atlanta but forgot to bring any energy, limping to a 3-0 drubbing. Nobody for the Lions had a good night, but let’s see how each player fared in a night to forget.

Starters

GK, Adam Grinwis, 5.5 — He played exactly as well as you’d expect. Grinwis did make three decent saves and there wasn’t much he could do about the goals. One was a header off the turf into the corner, one was a deflection by his own man, and the other was a free shot from the top of the area just inside the other post. He made two huge saves in the final minutes of the game on Brooks Lennon and George Bello to keep the score from getting completely out of hand. Grinwis completed 12 of 15 passes, but was inaccurate with all three long ball attempts.

D, Joao Moutinho, 5 — Moutinho had some decent moments in this game, including a tackle and an accurate cross, but he didn’t have his best showing. He completed 48 passes at 86%, and one was key pass. Defensively he was largely overmatched by Luiz Araujo at times and didn’t do a great job. He completed a tackle, made an interception, and had five ball recoveries.

D, Robin Jansson, 5 — I thought Jansson was the better of the two center backs, but neither was great. He did a decent job stepping up at times when the midfield was overrun, but gave too much space for Atlanta to attack. He made two tackles, a clearance, and four ball recoveries in his 90 minutes of action. With the ball he was fine, completing 31 of 35 passes.

D, Antonio Carlos, 4.5 — This was one of Antonio Carlos’ weaker performances for Orlando. He got beat at times and made more mistakes than usual. He made three clearances. an interception, and seven ball recoveries. He completed 76% of his passes and conceded a pair of fouls, including a yellow card.

D, Ruan, 4 — Ruan was almost invisible all game. Nothing noteworthy to report offensively, with just 20 pass attempts, although he completed 16 of them. But he contributed no real offensive moments. Defensively he was even worse, losing all of his duels, giving away three fouls, and making zero defensive actions except three ball recoveries.

MF, Joey DeZart, 3.5 — Orlando was really bad in the middle of the park Friday and these grades reflect it. DeZart was too slow and sloppy in possession. Even though he completed 93% of passes, his passing was mostly conservative and the few times he tried progressing the ball he turned it over. He got dispossessed twice and had no answers for Atlanta’s dribblers, sans one foul and one tackle. He also made six ball recoveries. Nowhere near good enough in central midfield.

MF, Andres Perea, 4 — Perea was better than DeZart, but still not particularly good. In possession he was ok, completing 39 passes at 87%, but he made mistakes and didn’t link the lines or find Orlando’s playmakers consistently. Defensively he put up a lot of numbers — three tackles, an interception, a clearance, and eight ball recoveries — but, like with DeZart, it was too easy for Atlanta to progress the ball. Perea was also dispossessed twice and completed a dribble.

MF, Mauricio Pereyra, 6.5 (MotM) — Pereyra was pretty good, all things considered in this game. When he got on the ball, he was mostly effective, completing 34 passes at 83% including six of seven long balls and a key pass. He also completed a dribble, drew four fouls, made a tackle had one interception.

MF, Benji Michel, 4.5 — A pedestrian performance for Benji Michel. He showed flashes progressing the ball, but wasn’t dangerous in the final third and was sloppy, particularly with giveaways early in the game. Michel was dispossessed twice, completed no dribbles, and hit on nine of his 11 passes (82%). He had one shot after Moutinho set him up in a good spot but he fired off target with his left foot. That was it in terms of attacking output. He also registered a tackle, an interception and six ball recoveries.

F, Nani, 5.5 — Neither Designated Player was particularly at fault for Orlando’s lackluster performance. Nani was one of the few creative sparks for the Lions, finishing with two key passes and one of the team’s two shots on target. The quality wasn’t quite there, especially with his crossing, with only one of his seven crosses finding a target. He completed 24 of 33 passes (72.7%), and dropped deep to try to orchestrate play, while also finishing with two successful dribbles and two shots. His lack of defensive effort allowed plenty of room for the cross on Atlanta’s first goal. Defensively, he finished with three ball recoveries.

F, Daryl Dike, 4.5 — It’s hard to judge whether the team did a bad job feeding Dike or if Dike wasn’t good enough to impact the game. Either way, the striker had a poor game. The own goal off an Atlanta set piece is the obvious lowlight, although it hit off Nani first and he couldn’t do much about it, but his lack of offensive impact is what did the Lions in. He had only 21 touches, with no shots or key passes. He completed just six passes (66.7%) and made one dribble. Defensively he made a clearance and a ball recovery. Not all his fault since the service was largely non-existent, but his hold-up play and first touch wasn’t good enough.

Substitutes

F, Silvester van der Water (68’), 5.5 — The Dutch winger had some flashes of creativity but didn’t create much of a tangible impact. He completed just three passes, was dispossessed once, and his lone shot was off target. He also made three ball recoveries.

MF, Uri Rosell (68’), 6 — If Rosell started this game, it might have gone a lot better for Orlando City. He was much sharper with the ball, completing 97% of his passes and making relatively few mistakes. He also had a shot, made an interception and six ball recoveries. He was the only midfielder that made Atlanta uncomfortable enough to play negative balls in his short time on the pitch.

F, Tesho Akindele (74’), 5 — Not much to report on Tesho’s game with just eight touches in 16 minutes of action. To his credit, one of those was a key pass. He finished with two complete passes and was dispossessed once.

F, Chris Mueller (74’), 5 — He attempted — and whiffed on — a bicycle kick and killed a potentially dangerous attack where he was offside. He tried at least, but didn’t do much. Mueller completed six of eight passes including a key pass, and was dispossessed once.

D, Kyle Smith (83’), N/A — A brief cameo appearance for Smith, but he did have a decent cross. He completed three of five passes and made two ball recoveries in his brief time on the pitch.

That’s all I’ve got for this one. Leave your thoughts below and vote for your Man of The Match.

Polling Closed

PlayerVotes
Mauricio Pereyra5
Uri Rosell11
Nani2
Other (Comment Below)7

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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

14 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

16 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

19 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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