Orlando City

2023 Orlando City Season in Review: Pedro Gallese

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

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8 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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