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TML Staff Roundtable: 2023 Orlando City Preseason Thoughts

The staff weighs in on the season to come in advance of Oscar Pareja’s fourth season in charge of the Lions.

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1 year ago

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As we head into the 2023 MLS season this weekend, it’s time to once again get a feel for the hopes and expectations for the campaign that awaits. Orlando City enters the season with more questions on the back end than the front this season after last year’s team entered the season with the exact opposite outlook.

I reached out to The Mane Land staff to find out what everyone is thinking ahead of the Lions’ eighth season in Major League Soccer. Big thanks to the entire staff for submitting their thoughts.

1. What part of Orlando City gives you the most confidence entering the new season?

Nic Josey: Bringing back Pedro Gallese is what gives me the most confidence entering the start of the season for Orlando City. Having El Pulpo in net means that Orlando will always have a chance to wind up with a result at the end of the day.

Ben Miller: Easy one here, it has to be the attack. While the Lions only got one goal on Saturday against the Revolution, the first half was full of free flowing soccer that resulted in a number of chances, and if not for some stellar saves from Djorjde Petrovic, Orlando surely would have had more than one. This team is not short of attacking firepower, and it should make for some entertaining games.

David Rohe: For the first time in a long time, the attack. With the addition of Martin Ojeda, Gaston Gonzalez being healthy, and Ercan Kara and Facundo Torres having a season under their belts, I think the Lions should increase their goal total significantly in 2023.

Sean Rollins: I think the Orlando City attack will improve with the addition of Ojeda. Additionally, Jack Lynn and Duncan McGuire have both looked good during the preseason, so I expect more goals this year.

Ryan Smith: I’m confident in the direction ownership and Luiz Muzzi have taken the club. I believe in the player investments and acquisitions made this past off-season.

Marcus Mitchell: Goalkeeping. I have plenty of confidence in Pedro Gallese and the Peruvian shouldn’t miss too much time for international duty.

Joshua Taylor: I would have to say the Lions did a great job adding depth to their roster during the off-season, especially at midfield. Hopefully, Gonzalez can stay healthy this time, and we get to see what he can do in purple.

My Take: I’m with Nic and Marcus. I expect Gallese will do what he always does, while I’m concerned with new faces at both fullback positions and physical breakdowns that the center backs have had both last year and in preseason (in Antonio Carlos’ case) without adding any veteran depth behind them. Up front and in the midfield, the club has done well on paper, but until those new guys start performing in games that matter, it’s a question mark, especially at forward, where everyone behind Kara is young. Gallese is the known quantity.

2. What is your biggest concern with Orlando City entering 2023?

Joshua: The area I would be most concerned about is the back line. Robin Jansson and Carlos both had their fair share of injuries to deal with last season. If that trend continues this year, the Lions will have to rely on some young defenders with little experience.

Nic: My biggest concern is center back depth and the lack of addressing it during the off-season. When healthy, Jansson and Carlos make a top duo in MLS but last year showed how vulnerable the back line can be if either or both miss an extended period of time.

Ben: Depth in defense. Carlos and Jansson remain the rocks, and Rodrigo Schlegel is as good a backup as any in the league. Things fall off sharply after him at center back though, and we don’t really know what to expect out of either Luca Petrasso or Rafael Santos at left back. After years of stability in the back line, there are definitely some questions in 2023.

David: I’m most worried about the back line. Yes, Carlos and Jansson are as good a pairing as any in the league, and Schlegel is one of the best backups in the league. But after that, experience falls off a bit. The same can be said for right back. It looks as if Michael Halliday will be the starter, and I’m all for the youngster getting the opportunity. Behind him is Oscar Pareja’s Swiss Army knife, Kyle Smith. The depth simply isn’t where I want it to feel comfortable. 

Sean: The outside backs are my biggest concern about this team because the starters will be new and probably young. They’ll also be asked to take an attacking role, which can leave the center backs vulnerable to a counterattack.

Ryan: My biggest concern is lack of CB depth. Schlegel has proven to be more than capable of stepping up should Jansson or Carlos go down. However, if both go down, I’m not confident in whoever might be Orlando’s No. 4 choice on the depth chart at this point.

Marcus: I’m not overly confident of any of the new fullbacks and the depth at center back is worrying. Orlando can’t afford injuries and frequent suspensions to its center backs during a busy 2023.

My Take: While it would be easy for me to continue to beat the drum about the inexperience behind Kara at striker, the defense is the obvious answer, as evidenced by my colleagues’ responses above. Unproven fullbacks and the continued refusal to add one more veteran center back have the potential to expose the team defensively, but I’m going to extend that out to the central midfield. Araujo is outstanding. However, with Mauricio Pereyra playing deeper last year, the team shipped more goals. The Lions kept only three clean sheets in the back half of the 2022 MLS regular season after notching six in the first half. There were other factors that were partly to blame (injuries on the back line, for example), but Mauri’s aging legs can be an issue in transition defense, especially in the second halves of games and during the grind of the late summer and early fall months.

3. Which new player are you most excited about seeing this year?

Marcus: I’m pretty excited to see what Shak Mohammed can do. He’s young, versatile, and surrounded by creative teammates who can bring out the best in his play.

Joshua: I’m excited to see what Ojeda can do for the Lions this season. Bringing that versatility to the Lions’ offense and playing alongside Torres could be a good one-two-punch combination that can give defenders a headache. If Ojeda can carry that form he had during his time with Godoy Cruz in Argentina, he can fit in well in the attack with Torres and Kara.

Nic: Ojeda is the player I am most excited to see debut this season, hands down!

Ben: Another easy one, it’s Ojeda. Not only was he the big Designated Player signing, but he looked like it on Saturday. Popping up all over the attacking half, and only denied a goal by a superb Petrovic stop, he looks like the real deal and should provide immense attacking firepower. If he lives up to what he showed against the Revs then he’s going to be very difficult to stop.

David: This will probably be the answer for many of my colleagues but it is Ojeda. I think he has the ability to not just score goals and assist goals, but also to be a leader on the field. The potential chaos he and Torres can create with their creativity is something that I think will be a pleasure to watch this season.

Sean: There’s only one answer to this question and it’s Ojeda. The newest DP was exciting to watch against the New England Revolution last Saturday night and his partnership with Torres should be fun.

Ryan: Ojeda! After initial looks against New England in the preseason, he seems to have more pace than I anticipated. He definitely isn’t afraid to rifle off a shot or two when he has a couple yards of space from his defender. I like the thought of seeing more players not afraid to test the keeper from outside of the box instead of trying to wait until they are just a few yards away for a tap-in.

My Take: Ojeda is pretty much unanimous here, and being a Designated Player, that’s to be expected, but with all due respect to Sean’s assertion that there is only one answer, I’m going with Dagur Dan Thorhallsson. He made an impact on the scoresheet in the preseason and brings something a little different to the team. I don’t know how he fits into the lineup or Oscar Pareja’s rotation, but when he’s on the field, I want to see him taking set pieces — something he did well while with his former team in Iceland. Hopefully he’ll have the confidence to take those instead of deferring to Pereyra or Torres. It would be a huge advantage if Orlando City could make opponents fear conceding fouls around the box.

4. Which 2022 newcomer will make the biggest leap in 2023?

Ryan: Ivan Angulo — Just wait until you see him with 10+ goal contributions this season.

Marcus: Excluding Gonzalez, for obvious reasons, I think it has to be Kara. He had a strong first year and could score 15 or more goals this season in an upgraded offense.

Joshua: I think Torres can have another solid year after scoring 13 goals last season across all competitions. Torres has proven to be a dynamic goal scorer, and I can see him becoming the top goal scorer for the club by the end of the season. 

Nic: I think Cesar Araujo is going to make the biggest leap in 2023. I expect him to be named to the MLS All-Star Game in his second year in the league and that we will see him contribute more on the offensive end of the field as well.

Ben: Araujo. He still eats up so much ground and does an immense amount of work in the middle of the field. With a full off-season and a year of MLS experience under his belt, I think he’ll be recognized as one of the very best defensive midfielders in the league by the end of the season. Frankly, I don’t think Orlando will be able to hold onto him for another season if he develops the way I think he will.

David: Kara will make the biggest leap. I know that sounds strange for a guy who scored 11 goals in 2022, but I’m expecting quite a bit more from him this season. One of the biggest issues he had was a lack of service, and I think that will improve thanks to Torres, Ojeda, Gonzalez, and others. I’m looking for the big guy to get closer to 17 or 18 goals this season.

Sean: Many of the returning players on this team had excellent seasons in 2022, so I expect to see the biggest jump by Mikey Halliday. The Homegrown defender hasn’t played much so far, but I expect he’ll get a lot more playing time this season and show what he can do.

My Take: Provided he stays healthy, I think Kara will add to his goal-scoring total in 2023 and serve up a big glass of shut-the-hell-up to some of the national guys who looked at his stats but didn’t take the time to analyze them or to, you know, actually watch the team play. I don’t know if he gets to 17 or 18 — that would be quite welcome — but 15 is a realistic number and I expect his assists to go up too. I think the scoring will be spread out better than it was last year, which is even more important to Orlando’s success than Kara’s goal total rising. If it happens, I think his metrics will be similar to last year but with the totals being higher, he’ll get more respect for the same rate of production, because that’s how these things usually go.

5. What position in the Eastern Conference will the Lions occupy at season’s end?

Sean: I think this team will be better than last year. Replacing Junior Urso with Ojeda is an upgrade offensively and most of the starters are returning. I don’t think they can compete with Philadelphia yet, but I think they can finish in third this year.

Ryan: Second in the East.

Marcus: Fourth. I think this team is going to have a slow start but finish strong as one of the hottest teams in the Eastern Conference.

Joshua: I think the Lions will improve on their seventh-place finish in the Eastern Conference last year and finish in second place in the East this year. 

Nic: I think the Lions will finish the season in the fourth spot, one point clear of fifth place.

Ben: Fourth. Goal scoring shouldn’t be an issue, but I do have some real worries about the defense, especially with the number of games the Lions are going to play this year. There are sufficient bodies to rotate things in the midfield and attack, but unless some young guys step up in a big way on the back line, I think OCSC is going to ship some goals from around August onward, and it’ll mean a fourth-place finish, which would still be respectable.

David: I’m going to be bullish and put Orlando City at third in the East. I think the playoffs are a given, but I’m hoping that once the team truly gels with the newcomers it will be something special. 

My Take: I think this is a team that may take some time to get its chemistry going and could hit some rough patches during fixture congestion because there aren’t enough viable bodies at the back. I think it’s likely the team will end the regular season in fourth or fifth place in the conference but could be peaking just as the postseason arrives.

6. Hit me with your bold prediction for Orlando City’s 2023 season. Make ‘em extra spicy!

David: The Lions win the MLS Cup, and Oscar Pareja wins Coach of the Year. The club accomplishes this because Orlando City goes from scoring 44 goals with a -9 goal differential in 2022 to scoring 65 goals with a +20 goal differential in 2023. 

Sean: My bold prediction is that McGuire will replace Kara as starting striker and lead the team in scoring. Kara is a DP, but will only score with service. I think McGuire is a better fit for the offense because he’ll drop back into the midfield and help create chances.

Ryan: McGuire, Torres, Ojeda, Angulo, and Kara each will have six or more goals in all competitions. Orlando will break its 2016 record of 55 goals scored in MLS regular-season play.

Marcus: The Lions repeat as U.S. Open Cup champions. Head Coach Oscar Pareja is one of the best in the business when it comes to balancing the regular season and tournaments.

Joshua: Winning the U.S. Open Cup last year was nice, but I expect these Lions to be hungry to add another cup to that trophy case. My bold prediction is the Lions will win MLS Cup this year. 

Nic: Orlando City will earn a repeat spot in the U.S. Open Cup final but will lose on the road in penalty kicks during a nail-biting final.

Ben: Angulo scores 10 goals. He got the start on Saturday, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see that be the case for a little bit, while Gonzalez continues to work back from tearing his ACL. Angulo has great control, is devilishly tricky with the ball at his feet, and has speed to boot. While I think he’ll be tasked with a lot of defensive duties to help cover for the roaming Ojeda and Torres, he absolutely has goals in him, and I think he’ll hit double digits after not finding the net at all in his first half-season with the club.

My Take: Some of the above takes are pretty darn spicy. Warn a guy to get his oven mitts, guys! I’m going to go even further and get really nuts. I’m going to make my bold prediction as such: The Lions finally break the Wayne Rooney curse and sweep D.C. United in 2023. If not now, when? Oh, and Orlando somehow gets past Tigres in the Concacaf Champions League before bowing out later to another Mexican side.

If you made it to the end of this roundtable discussion, wow. Good job! We can be a verbose bunch sometimes, but we tried to keep them more concise this year.

Let us know in the comments where you agree and disagree, and give us your own bold predictions.

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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. CF Montreal, Leagues Cup: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

The Lions begin their 2024 Leagues Cup quest at home against Montreal.

Published

9 hours ago

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July 26, 2024

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Welcome to your match thread for a Friday night Leagues Cup matchup between Orlando City and CF Montreal at Inter&Co Stadium (8 p.m., MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+). It’s the first match of the competition for both teams, and tonight’s game marks the third time the two Eastern Conference sides will meet this season. The teams split the points in both regular-season matchups, drawing both times. More on that later.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of the match.

History

The Lions are 8-9-5 against Montreal in the all-time regular-season series and 9-10-5 in all competitions since they joined MLS. OCSC is 4-4-3 in its home stadium against Montreal and 5-4-3 in the greater Orlando area when including a win in the knockout rounds of the MLS is Back Tournament in 2020.

The two sides last met in Montreal on April 20, trading goals back and forth in a 2-2 draw at Stade Saputo. Mason Toye opened the scoring early but Facundo Torres equalized from the spot a few minutes later. Ariel Lassiter appeared to win it late in normal time for the hosts, but Ivan Angulo struck in stoppage time to earn Orlando City a road point. These teams opened the 2024 season against each other in Orlando and played to a 0-0 draw. The Lions dominated the stat sheet but had a goal waved off for offside and simply weren’t lethal enough in front of goal.

The teams met twice in 2023, completing the season series on Sept. 30, 2023, with the Lions winning 3-0 in dominant fashion. Jonathan Sirois’ own goal opened the scoring, and Dagur Dan Thorhallsson and Torres added strikes for Orlando City. That was a good measure of revenge for OCSC, after Montreal defeated Orlando City 2-0 and handed the Lions their first road loss of the 2023 MLS season on May 6 at Stade Saputo. A Robin Jansson own goal got Montreal started in the second half and Romell Quioto added a second goal four minutes later.

These two sides played their biggest game against each other in the 2022 MLS playoffs, with CF Montreal knocking Orlando City out of the postseason by a 2-0 scoreline on Oct. 16, with goals by Ismael Kone and Djordje Mihailovic — the latter coming deep in stoppage time from the penalty spot.

Each team won at home in the two-game, regular-season series in 2022, with Montreal thumping Orlando 4-1 on May 7. Joel Waterman, Mihailovic, Joaquin Torres, and Zachary Brault-Guillard did the damage on the scoreboard and Orlando City managed just two shot attempts, with Joao Moutinho’s goal on a set piece helping the Lions avoid a shutout. Orlando City did not have either starting center back for that match, and it showed. The teams also met on opening day of the 2022 season, when Orlando City captured a 2-0 home win behind second-half goals from Alexandre Pato and Benji Michel.

In 2021, the teams met in Montreal on Decision Day, with the Lions earning a 2-0 road victory at Stade Saputo to clinch a playoff spot. Sebas Mendez and Daryl Dike provided the goals. That season’s matchup in Orlando came on Oct. 20, 2021, with the visitors managing a 1-1 draw. Chris Mueller struck for the Lions just before halftime, but Rudy Camacho answered on a corner kick header shortly after the restart. The first meeting of 2021 took place Sept. 15 in Orlando with the Lions falling 4-2 and finishing the game with just nine men after both Nani and Andres Perea were sent off. Quioto led Montreal with a goal and two assists. Mathieu Choiniere and Quioto put Montreal up 2-0, but despite already being down one man, Jansson and Ruan tied things up. The visitors got two more from Lassi Lappalainen and Sunusi Ibrahim.

The teams met at Red Bull Arena in late 2020 as the team then known as the Montreal Impact played home games in New Jersey due to the pandemic. Orlando City got a Dike goal in the 39th minute to win 1-0 on Nov. 1, 2020. It was the second meeting of the 2020 season, with Orlando also beating Montreal 1-0 in the MLS is Back Tournament knockout rounds on July 25 to advance to the quarterfinals. Tesho Akindele scored the game’s only goal on a Montreal defensive mistake.

Orlando City snapped a six-game winless streak against Montreal (0-5-1) in MLS regular-season play dating back to 2016 when the Lions put the Impact to the sword in a 3-0 drubbing at Stade Saputo on June 1, 2019. Nani (penalty), Akindele, and Will Johnson supplied the offense that day. The Lions fell 3-1 at Exploria Stadium back on March 16, 2019, and Ignacio Piatti was a big reason why, scoring his ninth and 10th career goals against Orlando, adding to a strike by Orji Okwonkwo. Dom Dwyer added a cosmetic goal late for Orlando City to spoil the clean sheet.

Montreal did not allow a goal against the Lions in 2018, sweeping the two-game set from Orlando, and the Impact shut out Orlando City in three of the six meetings in that 5-0-1 run. The lone draw in that time frame was a 3-3 shootout in Orlando in 2017, in which the Impact led deep in stoppage time, only to see Jonathan Spector’s well-placed header steal the Lions a point.

Orlando won the first two meetings in 2016 by a combined score of 6-2. The teams split three meetings in 2015, with each going 1-1-1.

Match Overview

Orlando City enters this match on a five-game unbeaten run (4-0-1). The Lions are coming off a tightly contested 1-1 home draw against New York City FC on Saturday. The only Orlando goal was provided by Ramiro Enrique, but the Lions conceded a Hannes Wolf strike five minutes later. Enrique is in fine form, having scored goals in each of his last four games. Regardless of Orlando’s form, this competition is not part of the MLS regular season, so it’s difficult to know how teams and players will approach it. In addition, it’s not like the Lions have lit it up at home in 2024, amassing a poor record of 3-5-4 at Inter&Co Stadium. However, the Lions have been better of late, going 2-0-1 in their last three at home.

Montreal sits four spots and seven points behind Orlando in the Eastern Conference standings at the Leagues Cup break, struggling to defend in 2024. CF Montreal has allowed 49 goals this season, which is just one fewer than D.C. United’s conference-worst 50. The Canadian club, which is coming off a 1-0 home loss to rival Toronto on Saturday, is 2-7-4 on the road this season and is 0-7-3 in its last 10 road games against MLS competition (0-7-4 on the road in all competitions in its last 11).

A new competition offers hope for both teams, especially Montreal. There is not as much pressure to get a result for the underdog visitors, and it’s a chance to reset and chase a trophy. Ibrahim and old nemesis Josef Martinez are offensive players the Lions must account for, as they are Montreal’s leaders with six and five goals, respectively. Former Lion Ruan will present enough speed to keep up with Orlando City’s Angulo, so that will be an interesting battle to keep an eye on tonight (assuming both play).

“First, we are very excited to participate in this tournament. Last year, I thought it was a successful one, and the experience we had playing the two leagues was good,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the match. “We played against Houston [Dynamo] and Santos [Laguna], which is one of the best teams in Mexico, and the experience was good. Overall, we are preparing and respecting the tournament as much as we can. Everyone is excited to be a part of it.”

As of this writing, it doesn’t appear that availability reports will be a thing for the Leagues Cup, but it’s fair to say the Lions will be without Duncan McGuire (international duty), Mason Stajduhar (lower leg), and Michael Halliday (knee).

Match Content

Official Lineups:

Orlando City (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.

Defenders: Kyle Smith, Robin Jansson, David Brekalo, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson.

Defensive Midfielders: Cesar Araujo, Wilder Cartagena.

Attacking Midfielders: Facundo Torres, Martin Ojeda, Nico Lodeiro.

Forward: Ramiro Enrique.

Bench: Javier Otero, Rafael Santos, Luca Petrasso, Alex Freeman, Rodrigo Schlegel, Felipe, Jeorgio Kocevski, Favian Loyola, Yutaro Tsukada, Luis Muriel, Jack Lynn.

CF Montreal (3-4-1-2)

Goalkeeper: Sebastian Breza.

Defenders: Fernando Alvarez, Joel Waterman, Gabriele Corbo.

Midfielders/Wingbacks: Joaquin Sosa, Nathan Saliba, Victor Wanyama, Ruan.

Attacking Midfielder: Mathieu Choiniere.

Forwards: Matias Coccaro, Sunusi Ibrahim.

Bench: Jonathan Sirois, Lassi Lappalainen, Dawid Bugaj, Bryce Duke, Ilias Iliadis, Ariel Lassiter, Joseph Martinez, Kwadwo Opoku, Tom Pearce, Rida Zouhir.

Referees:

REF: Adonai Escobedo González.
AR1: Enrique Bustos Díaz.
AR2: Enedina Caudillo Gómez.
4TH: Lizzet Garcia Olvera.
VAR: Melissa Borjas Pastrana.

How to Watch

Match Time: 8 p.m.

Venue: Inter&Co Stadium — Orlando.

TV/Live Stream: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+.

Radio: FM 96.9 The Game (English).

Twitter: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow along at @TheManeLand, as well as Orlando City’s official Twitter feed (@OrlandoCitySC).

Enjoy the match. Go City!

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Orlando City

Examining the Sustainability of Ramiro Enrique’s Scoring Explosion

Is Ramiro Enrique’s scoring outburst sustainable, or is a regression to the mean on the horizon?

Published

10 hours ago

on

July 26, 2024

By

Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

Since Orlando City’s 5-0 thumping of D.C. United back on July 6, Ramiro Enrique has tapped into a red-hot vein of form. He’s got four goals in four games, matching his scoring output from the entirety of the 2023 season, and doing so in four matches and 245 minutes, as compared to 30 matches and 1,019 minutes last year. That brings us to the big question: is this sort of output sustainable?

We’ll start by looking at the expected goals on each of his four tallies. While xG isn’t a perfect statistic, it provides a fairly good measure of how good a chance is. To get a clearer picture, we’ll also take a look at each goal to help gauge how difficult the chance is.

Against D.C. United, Enrique latched onto a flicked-on header from a corner kick and used a header of his own to score the Lions’ fifth and final goal of the night. That strike had an xG of 0.1. In truth, that number seems a bit low to me, as once Enrique’s in front of his defender, he has the whole net to aim at, and the ball comes in at a great height for him to get his head on it. He makes no mistake and sticks it into the side netting, where the goalkeeper has no hope of reaching it.

Against the New England Revolution, the Argentine again scored from a corner, sneaking in front of goalkeeper Aljaz Ivacic and flicking the ball past him before he could collect Cesar Araujo’s header. His second goal of the season had an xG of 0.4. That number seems more reasonable to me. Once he does the hard work of losing his marker and getting across Ivacic, the goalkeeper is helpless to stop any ball that isn’t coming straight at him, and it’s a good finish.

Against Nashville, he collected a pass from Ivan Angulo a few yards outside of the six-yard box and blasted it off the crossbar and in. The tight angle from which he scored means the xG of 0.04 isn’t too surprising. Once again, Enrique managed to lose his defender and got himself into a really nice area of open space. The finish is outstanding, but it wouldn’t have been surprising to see a save or shot off target from this angle.

His fourth goal of the year had elements of skill and luck, as he redirected Martin Ojeda’s shot against NYCFC. The effort from Ojeda took a deflection off Enrique that caught the goalkeeper leaning the wrong way and had enough pace to carry it into the net, for an xG of 0.11. Again, I’m surprised the number is as high as it is. That’s probably due to the deflection happening in the box and leaving Matt Freese next to no time to react. While it was a clever touch to redirect it, there was also a good deal of luck involved.

Those totals add up to 0.65. In other words, Enrique would be estimated to score 0.65 goals off those chances (or one, rounding up, as there are no fractions of goals), and he instead bagged four. There are a couple ways you can view that. The optimist would say that he’s simply a good finisher and has been making the most of the chances that have come his way, even when they aren’t very good ones. The pessimist would say that him converting low percentage chances at this rate isn’t sustainable, and he’s due to regress back to the mean soon.

We can also look at the bigger picture of his statistics up to this point in the year. Across 11 games and 483 minutes, Enrique has taken 18 shots, put nine of them on target, and scored from four of those. He’s also got a season xG of 3.52, which is pretty much in line with his goal total of four, although he’s slightly outperforming it. That isn’t a bad thing though, as the best strikers score difficult chances too, not just the easy ones. Cristian Arango, Christian Benteke, and Denis Bouanga are the top three scorers in the league, and Bouanga is the only one not outperforming his xG (17.68 xG compared to 16 goals).

In my opinion, the truth of Enrique’s case lies somewhere in between. He’s put 50% of his shots on target this year, which is a great number, and getting the ball on frame is half the battle in this sport, so that’s an encouraging place to start. Each of his first three goals in 2024 came as a result of getting into space in a dangerous area and making no mistake with his finish once the ball arrived. Against D.C., he did well to get in front of his defender. In New England, he snuck in from the blind side of the defense. And against Nashville, he found space in the box and stayed onside until Angulo was able to find him. That sort of movement and ability to get yourself into dangerous areas is something that can be replicated, even if finishing low-percentage chances like the strikes against Nashville and NYCFC probably isn’t.

If Enrique continues being clever with his movement and finding dangerous spaces, Orlando’s offense has begun to look fluid enough that his teammates will find ways to get him the ball. As long as he keeps getting shots on frame and his finishing stays sharp, it isn’t unreasonable to assume that he’ll grab some more goals this year. It probably won’t be at the rate he’s done so in July, but if nothing else, he should be able to provide some extra firepower to an OCSC attack that has woken up in recent weeks. Keep your fingers crossed, folks. Vamos Orlando!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 7/26/24

Orlando City plays CF Montreal tonight, USWNT wins against Zambia, Marta provides assist in Brazil’s win, and more.

Published

12 hours ago

on

July 26, 2024

By

Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Mark Thor

Happy Friday! I hope the work week has gone easy on you as we get ready for a weekend filled to the brim with soccer to enjoy. The Olympic opening ceremony is also today, and I’m interested to see what the organizers in Paris have come up with. But for now, let’s get this Friday started with today’s links!

Orlando City Takes On CF Montreal Tonight

The Leagues Cup kicks off today and Orlando City will host CF Montreal tonight in its first of two group games. The Lions will then take on Atletico de San Luis on Aug. 4. It’s worth noting that these games will go into a penalty shootout if the score remains level after 90 minutes, with the winner of the shootout getting an extra point. The top two teams of each group advance to the next round and Orlando will play the Philadelphia Union, Cruz Azul, or Charlotte FC if it survives the group stage.

USWNT Beats Zambia in Summer Olympic Opener

The United States Women’s National Team started its Olympic campaign with a dominant 3-0 win against Zambia. The USWNT’s attack looked free and dangerous, with Trinity Rodman striking first and Mallory Swanson scoring twice in quick succession to give the USWNT a comfortable lead. Those goals also came before Zambia was reduced to 10 players after a red card to Pauline Zulu. The Orlando Pride’s Barbra Banda and Grace Chanda both started for Zambia, although Chanda was subbed out in the first half when Zambia had to make changes due to the red card.

There is some bad news along with the good for the USWNT though. Jaedyn Shaw missed out on playing in the opener due to a leg injury, and Sophia Smith had to exit in the 42nd minute.

Marta Assists in Brazil’s Olympic Win

The USWNT was far from the only team to win its first game of this year’s Olympics, as there were no draws after the first round of games. Pride star Marta provided the assist on Brazil’s only goal in a 1-0 win over Nigeria. Marta did well to pick out Gabi Nunes from a tough angle, and the striker had a great first touch and strike to put it away. Pride defender Rafaelle helped secure the shutout, with Brazilian goalkeeper Lorena coming up with huge saves as well. Elsewhere in Group C, Spain’s Aitana Bonmati had a goal and an assist in her team’s 2-1 win against Japan.

New Zealand struck first against Canada in Group A, but the Canadians rallied to come back and win 2-1. France scored three goals in the first half and survived a rally from Colombia in the second half to win 3-2. Germany may have had the most impressive win so far, beating a talented Australian side 3-0.

Analyzing New Zealand Ahead of Olympic Clash

The United States Men’s Olympic Soccer Team will aim to bounce back from a loss to France when it faces New Zealand on Saturday. New Zealand beat Guinea in its first game and is coached by Darren Bazeley, who led New Zealand to the knockout stage of the 2023 U-20 World Cup. Minnesota United center back Michael Boxall and Viking FK midfielder Joe Bell are two of New Zealand’s overage players and give the team some stability. Goalkeeper Alex Paulsen, who joined Bournemouth this summer, is capable of coming up with acrobatic saves to give the U.S. fits as well. As for New Zealand’s attack, midfielder Sarpreet Singh and striker Ben Waine are a couple of the dynamic players the U.S. will have to keep in check.

Bev Priestman Removed From Canadian Olympic Team

Canada will have to go the rest of the Olympics without Head Coach Bev Priestman, who was removed from the team by the Canadian Olympic Committee. This decision comes amid a scandal involving spying on New Zealand’s training, which led to Canada Soccer suspending Priestman for the rest of the tournament. Reports have also surfaced that Canada’s men’s and women’s teams have tried to spy on opponents for years, including during the women’s team’s winning campaign in the 2021 Olympics. Only time will tell if Priestman will coach the team after this tournament and if punishments for the team’s actions will be handed out.

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That’s all I have for you today. I hope you all have a fantastic Friday and rest of your weekend. Enjoy the Olympics!

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