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2023 Orlando City Season in Review: Pedro Gallese

El Pulpo was again rock solid in net for Orlando City.

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11 months ago

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC

Orlando City signed Peruvian international goalkeeper Pedro Gallese on Jan. 17, 2020 from Alianza Lima after a few weeks of reports linking him with the Lions. It was a Targeted Allocation Money (TAM) signing. Although the club did not specify the length of the deal at the time, it ended up being through the 2022 season, and the Lions re-signed Gallese on Dec. 27, 2022 through the upcoming 2024 season with a club option for 2025. Since Gallese’s arrival, Orlando City has enjoyed stability and excellence at the goalkeeper position and has made the postseason every year.

Let’s look back on the Peruvian’s fourth year with Orlando City.

Statistical Breakdown

Gallese played in 30 of Orlando City’s 34 regular-season matches (all starts), logging 2,700 minutes. He stopped 70.5% of the shots he faced, which was his best save percentage since 2020, making 79 saves and keeping 10 clean sheets — a new career high for him in an MLS season and tied for fifth most in the league. He faced three penalty kicks and saved one in normal time. He passed at a 69.2% rate, which was the lowest of his MLS career to date, but he made his first two key passes. Attacking stats are rare for a goalkeeper, so it’s not surprising that he did not score a goal or assist on one. Defensively, he won 93.3% of his duels and 33.3% of his headed duels. He also recorded a tackle and 22 clearances. Gallese was fouled nine times without conceding any fouls and was booked three times. He was named to the Team of the Matchday four times — twice as the starter and twice on the bench — and was a finalist for MLS Goalkeeper of the Year.

In the playoffs, Gallese started and went the distance in all three of Orlando City’s postseason matches, logging 300 minutes. He made 12 saves and stopped 85.7% of the shots he faced while keeping two clean sheets. In fact, he didn’t allow a goal until extra time of the team’s third playoff game, and his team was down a man at the time. His two shutouts were the first postseason clean sheets in the club’s MLS era. He passed at a 62.6% rate in the postseason with 21 successful long passes but no key passes. He did not record a goal or an assist. He had two clearances in the playoffs. The goalkeeper did not commit or draw a foul in the postseason but he was booked once.

Although Gallese did not make an appearance in the 2023 U.S. Open Cup, he was the starter for both of Orlando City’s Concacaf Champions League matches against Tigres, playing all 180 minutes across the two legs. He was busy in those two matches, allowing just one goal and making 15 total saves on 16 shots on target (93.8%) with a goals-against average of 0.50 and a clean sheet on the road in Mexico. Gallese completed 28 of 49 passes (57.1%) in the competition. He did not have a goal contribution on Orlando’s lone strike of the tournament.

He also started and went the distance in all three of Orlando’s Leagues Cup matches, logging 270 minutes. He allowed five goals in the competition but two of those were from the penalty spot, recording a goals-against average of 1.67. He also stopped Hector Herrera in the post-draw penalty shootout against the Houston Dynamo, helping the Lions win on spot kicks. He made five saves on 10 shots on target for a 50% save percentage. He was booked twice in the competition.

Best Game

Gallese had a number of big games, and ironically most of those did not result in clean sheets. For example, he allowed three goals against Columbus on Sept. 16 but the Crew put 10 of their 15 shots on target, so he made seven saves and some of those were spectacular. However, I will go with a clean sheet for his best game — the Lions’ 0-0 draw at Tigres UANL on March 7 in Concacaf Champions Cup play.

Tigres peppered the Orlando goalkeeper with 22 shot attempts, putting eight of them on target. Gallese stopped all eight, finishing with a perfect save percentage and a clean sheet. It’s rare for an MLS team to go into Mexico in the competition and come home with a result but Orlando City did just that, thanks in large part to Gallese’s efforts at Estadio Universitario in San Nicolás de los Garza, Nuevo León, Mexico.

It was a fun matchup to watch as Gallese thwarted Tigres talisman Andre-Pierre Gignac time and again. Gignac attempted nine total shots and put five of them on target, only to see Gallese keep the door closed. He also made a difficult stop on Fernando Gorriarán’s first-half effort, fighting off a shot that skipped off the pitch in front of him, and denied Sebastián Córdova. Here are a couple of his notable stops in the match:

Gallese didn’t pass particularly well in the game, completing just 15 of 30 attempts, but that was what the game required, given the amount of pressure Tigres brought. Oftentimes he was just lumping long balls forward in hopes of something opening up at the other end or to relieve the pressure for the moment.

Given the environment, the opponent, the barrage of shots faced, and the pressure of the match — it was Orlando City’s first-ever game in the competition — it was a stellar performance for the Lions’ No. 1.

2023 Final Grade

The Mane Land staff gave Gallese a composite grade of 7.5 out of 10 for the 2023 season. This isn’t quite as high as the 8 he received in 2021 and again for the 2022 season, but it’s higher than the 7 out of 10 he received for his first season in Orlando. His scores over the last four seasons show how consistent he’s been while performing at a high level for the team. Gallese is still one of the league’s best shot stoppers, although he had a couple of odd gaffes in 2023 that we aren’t used to seeing. Considering the number of minutes he’s played for club and country over the last few years, that’s a remarkable run of form and consistency.

2024 Outlook

Gallese will be the starter whenever healthy enough to do so in 2024. He’s been one of the best goalkeepers in Major League Soccer since his arrival, although he perhaps flies a bit under the radar at times. There were a couple of uncharacteristic slips last season — notably a goal from long distance by Carles Gil just before halftime in the 2023 home finale and a spill against Nashville that ended up in the net but didn’t cost the team a goal due to Hany Mukhtar being offside in the buildup. Those two moments are aberrations in Gallese’s time in Orlando that will bear watching in the future, although he obviously played through a few knocks during the last couple of seasons. Gallese will be 34 in February, which is still in the prime years for a goalkeeper. He should have plenty left in the tank for 2024 (and beyond).

Previous Season in Review Articles (Date Posted)

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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

17 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

19 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

22 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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