Revisiting My Orlando City Preseason Takes

It seems like the first half of the season flew by as Major League Soccer and Orlando City now race headfirst into the dog days of summer. I figured that now was as good a time as could be to revisit some of my personal hot takes and preseason predications that I conjured up all the way back in February to see just how close to clairvoyant I truly am. If you need a quick refresher on my predictions, as well as those from the rest of the staff here at The Mane Land, feel free to check out the roundtable.

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

I made the bold prediction that bringing back and re-signing goaltender Pedro Gallese in the off-season instilled in me the most confidence as we entered into the 2023 season. In terms of accuracy regarding my prediction…spot on! The Peruvian No. 1 and OCSC statistical leader currently is tied for sixth in MLS for total clean sheets on the season, with six, has 44 saves on 60 shots faced — for an effective 73.3 save percentage, which ranks in the upper tier of keepers — and continues to dominate highlight reels with electrifying saves like this one that came within the first minute of play last week at Seattle.

It is clear that as Orlando continues to find chemistry in the field of play, the coaching staff and fans should have no questions regarding El Pulpo in net and the opportunity he gives the squad to be competitive match in and match out.

What is your biggest concern with Orlando City entering 2023?

I would have to rate my prediction regarding my biggest concern as fairly accurate. I said that my biggest concern would be with center back depth. We have seen various scenarios play out throughout the first half of the season where the heart of the defense has been stretched thin due to injury, schedule congestion, and yellow card accumulations. It started with Antonio Carlos missing several matches in a row to start the season. The simple fix was to plug Rodrigo Schlegel into the starting XI next to Robin Jansson, which is fine enough in theory until the need for additional depth creeps in. Luckily, Jansson has done well to stay healthy so far this season after missing the end of 2022 with a foot injury. And, like Jansson, Schlegel has also been available for the entirety of the season. Carlos has missed one match due to yellow card accumulation. Things appear to have calmed down for the back line and the lineup is more predictable, but the beginning of the season should still serve as warning that OCSC is just one injury or card away from feeling very thin on the back line.

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

While newcomer and MLS SuperDraft Pick Duncan McGuire has taken the season by storm and is undoubtedly the most exciting new player throughout the first half of the season, I still stand by my pick. I chose new Designated Player Martin Ojeda as the new Lion whom I was most excited to see take the field. An up-and-down first half of the season has seen Ojeda move to more of a supersub role (a role which I am all in on right now) as he finds his place and builds chemistry with players on the team. My honest assessment of his season so far is that he is playing sped up and needs to just take a big deep breath. The talent and ability are there, but too often Ojeda has sent his shot screaming into the stratosphere or trying to do to much to impact a moment.

Which 2022 newcomer will make the biggest leap in 2023?

Me and fellow staff writer Ben both predicted that Cesar Araujo would make the biggest jump this year out of the players who joined the team during the last campaign. I took my prediction one step further and believed Araujo would find himself named to the MLS All-Star Game as a defensive midfielder. A big swing and a miss…while Araujo has been solid on the season and does so many things that don’t show up on the final stat sheet, his game currently feels more or less like a copy and paste job from the year prior. There is still a lot of season left for Araujo to sprinkle in some new pieces of his game as he continues to grow in MLS, but I don’t think at this point that he has made the biggest leap from the 2022 newcomers.

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

The season is still way too young to see if I will hit the mark on my prediction that Orlando City will finish the season in fourth place. To say that the majority of the Eastern Conference is clustered together would be the understatement of the season so far, as only six points separate Orlando City from the fourth-place Philadelphia Union. However, only five points separate Orlando City from the 12th-place Chicago Fire. The margin for error over the last 15 games of the season feels razor thin at this point. Draw or drop a game you are supposed to win and you could find yourself completely out of the playoff picture.

I would have to give myself a B+ for those predictions thus far, but there are so many matches still yet to play out. Let me know in the comments below, how you felt that I did with my preseason thoughts and if you have any new hot takes for the second half of the season.